KUCHING, Aug 19: Limbang Power Station is now operating at sufficient capacity to meet demand during peak consumption in Limbang with 10 generator sets online.
Supply stability in the main districts of the northern region has improved following safe completion of repair works on two faulty generator sets at the Limbang Power Station. Electricity supply has also been boosted with two additional sets procured to stand in for two other generator sets currently still under repair.
Sarawak Energy’s technical team accelerated repair works over two days to bring two faulty generator sets back online following detection of electrical faults on the sets on Monday morning (Aug 16). Both generators resumed operations at 4pm and 5pm respectively on Wednesday (Aug 18).
Due to the faulty generators, Limbang Power Station was running on only eight out of twelve generator sets at maximum capacity over the repair period with power supply insufficient to meet demand during peak hours. This required Limbang Power Station to undertake load shedding, a process to balance load demand during peak consumption hours.
As a result, residents in several areas of Limbang including Medamit, Bukit Danau and Tedungan experienced intermittent supply interruption from Monday to Wednesday as repair works on the two generators sets continued.
However constant electrical supply was maintained to critical facilities as these were prioritised during load shedding. As further contingency, Sarawak Energy also deployed a mobile generator set as a ready backup for the PPV Dewan Suarah COVID-19 vaccination centre.
Regional Manager for Northern Region Tan Joo Kok said Sarawak Energy was appreciative of the patience and understanding shown by residents of Limbang as the generation and operation teams focused their efforts on repairing the two generators.
“We had to perform load shedding to some areas particularly during peak hours when load demand exceeds the available generator capacity. We understand and regret the inconvenience this must have caused the community who were affected by the load shedding. The team will continue to closely monitor the performance of the generator sets,” he said.
Meanwhile, plans to connect Limbang as part of the Northern Grid extension project to enhance reliability of supply are ongoing.
When the Limbang Town Extra High Voltage 275/33/11kV substation is completed by the target date of 2023 and the Limbang EHV line ready in 2024, Limbang will be connected to Sarawak’s main power plants though the Grid.
The new substation will be equipped with two units of 20/25 MVA transformers and Limbang’s distribution network will be reconfigured upon the substation’s completion to cater for the future load growth in the district. — DayakDaily
