KUCHING, July 30: Sarawak Energy is prioritising reinforcement of its electricity network system for residents at Lundu and Sematan, which are currently being supplied through very long feeder lines that are susceptible to interference and faults.
According to Sarawak Energy utility arm Syarikat SESCO Berhad’s Chief Executive Officer Lau Kim Swee in a statement today, efforts are being made to reinforce the supply system for residents at Lundu and Sematan.
“We are currently working to shorten the lines by creating additional circuits following the completion of the Tondong Substation. We would like to assure our customers at Lundu and Sematan that we are prioritising efforts to improve and strengthen reliability of supply for these areas.
“We understand the inconvenience they face whenever they experience a supply interruptions and our operations team are placed on standby for 24-hours a day and seven-days a week, for immediate deployment to minimise interruption time,” he said.
Currently, Lau noted, they are receiving their electricity supply from the Batu Kitang substation through double circuits 33kV overhead lines that runs a great distance of about 100km and long lines are susceptible to disturbances.
“A fault at one point can affect the whole network leading up to Sematan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Energy vice president for distribution Yusri Safri said the team continues to monitor the performance of the supply lines and are watchful especially on supply to critical facilities like clinics and water treatment plants.
“We are also mindful of the vaccines storage centre for Lundu and Sematan and our team are in close communication with the State Health Department should they need backup supply.
“Should an interruption occur, we will do whatever is necessary to restore supply as soon as possible,” he said.
On 25 July, supply to Bau, Lundu and Sematan was interrupted due to a fault on one of the electrical towers which affected the Batu Kitang- Bau line. Sarawak Energy’s team had to perform an emergency shutdown at 12.30pm on July 26 to allow repair works on the tower, and the works was completed and supply were normalised at 2.50pm.
About a week ago, a landslide near Kampung Haji Baki along Jalan Batu Kitang occurred around midnight damaging electrical cables which affected supply to residents from Batu Kitang all the way to Sematan. Sarawak Energy’s operations team managed to restore supply at around 2am through another circuit.
Over the next few years, supply to Lundu and Sematan is expected to be strengthened with the construction and installation of 132KV transmission lines (initially energised at 33kv) from Tondong to Lundu for significant improvement on supply reliability for Bau, Lundu, Sematan and Telok Melano. — DayakDaily
