KUCHING, Nov 30: Sarawak Energy Bhd’s 624MW Balingian Coal Fired Power Plant, which is due for full commissioning in the third quarter of 2019, recorded a 13 million safe man hours over the project duration.
The state energy giant today celebrate the safety achievement with hundreds of their staff, contractors and members of the community at the project site.
Group CEO Datu Sharbini Suhaili congratulated all Sarawak Energy staff and their contractors of the Balingian Project Team.
“This demonstrates that we can achieve our goal without any harm to our people with the right commitment,” he said through a statement.
Sharbini also thanked the Ministry of Utilities, Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Department of Environment (DOE), Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) Sarawak, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and Bomba as well as the community for their support since the project started in May 2014.
“Upon completion, Balingian Coal Fired Power Plant will add an additional 624MW of generation capacity to the state grid. The facility will utilise indigenous Sarawak coal, found in the vicinity of the plant location, to help us meet demand from both our retail and bulk power SCORE customers,” he said.
Balingian Coal Fired Power Plant is the first plant in Malaysia to use circulating fluidised bed boiler or CFB technology, allowing it to handle a wide range of coal types, including high moisture coal commonly found in the Balingian region. It is also the largest of its kind in South East Asia.
“With more efficient technology, we are taking a step further into ensuring optimal utilisation of local coal resources. This new technology will reduce the emission of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide by more than 40 per cent, improving the environmental footprint of the plant,” he said.
Sharbini was joined by SEB Power chief executive officer James Ung and Sarawak Energy executive vice-president (Project Execution) Pramod Kumar.
The project’s early earthworks were by Sarawak Energy’s contractors, Hock Peng Furniture and General Contractor and Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd followed by the building of plants and facilities by Shanghai Electric Group, Hock Seng Lee Bhd, GE Power Services and PPES Works-Larico JV.
Amongst those present were Shanghai Electric Power Generation Engineering vice managing director Sha Yunfeng and Liaw Sung Guan from the Electrical Inspectorate Unit.
There was a strong community element during the celebration of the safety milestone, where activities including a Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Run, a safety poster colouring contest for children were organised to build and foster relationships with the community in the area.
Safety-themed competitions, including housekeeping and unsafe acts/unsafe conditions identification contests, were also held among Sarawak Energy’s employees and its contractors to further instil safety into their culture.
The state-owned energy development company and power utility harness the state’s indigenous coal resources to ensure the security of supply in order to continue to provide all Sarawakians with reliable and affordable power. — DayakDaily
