By Yee Mei
KUCHING, May 30: Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg believes that solar power will be cheaper within the next ten years.
Speaking at the Sarawak Energy Vendor Awards (SEVA) 2023 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) tonight, Abang Johari said solar technology is similar to IT technology.
“I had explained that when I was the industry minister, we were involved in solar cells. So the process of storing energy and data is more or less the same.
“In future, there is the possibility that the cell will get smaller, perhaps nano-sized, and that will enable us to store more energy in that particular cell, and the cell would become cheaper,” he said.
The Premier then recalled that some 40 to 50 years ago, computers’ storage systems were as big as a cupboard.
“But today, it (technology) is only in the palm of your hands—everything is there. In other words, that will be the migration of solar cells, similar to what happened to data cells. The only difference is one is data, and the other is energy.
“I believe that in the next ten years, solar (power) will be cheaper and with plenty of sunlight, we can produce energy from our solar system,” he said.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah; Minister of Utility and Telecommunication Datuk Julaihi Narawi; Deputy Minister for Utility and Telecommunication (Utility) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi; Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (Entrepreneur Development) Dr
Ripin Lamat; Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni; Deputy State Secretary (Economic Planning & Development) Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel; Sarawak Energy chairman of Bumiputera Participation Board Committee (BPBC) Dato Idris Buang and Sarawak Energy Berhad chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili were also present tonight. — DayakDaily
