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By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Sept 6: The floating solar farm at the Batang Ai Hydropower Plant has the potential to plant up to 1,500MW of solar capacity, and once commissioned it is expected to offset around 52 kilo tonnes of carbon emissions annually, according to Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Abang Johari stated this during his speech at the Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum (SAREF) 3.0 held today at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here.
“Sarawak Energy is developing its first floating solar farm at the Batang Ai HEP – it is expected to be commissioned in 2024 and will be Sarawak’s first major generation hybrid between hydro and solar.
“Once commissioned it is expected to offset around 52 kilo tonnes of carbon emissions annually – contributing to the further decarbonisation of our grid.
“Based on our generation and network capacity until 2031, we have the potential to plant up to 1,500MW of solar capacity,” he said.
Furthermore, the Premier mentioned that Sarawak Energy has also embarked on a pilot 60MW Battery Energy Storage System or BESS, which will be located at its Sejingkat Coal Fired Power Plant.
“The BESS will provide critical grid services, such as peak shaving as well as spinning reserve, and optimise generation assets – minimising the carbon emissions associated with traditional power generation.
“It will also help mitigate the intermittency issues associated with variable renewable energy such as solar – making them more viable,” he added.
Also present at the forum were Ambassador of South Korea to Malaysia Lee Chi Beom, Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni, Sarawak Economic Planning Unit director Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) Energy Sdn Bhd CEO Robert Hardin, Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) senior vice president of corporate strategy Abang Arabi Abang Narudin, Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) Research Planning and Coordination diretor Dr Lee Ho-Mu, and SEDC general manager Abdul Hadi Datuk Abdul Kadir. — DayakDaily
