KUCHING, Oct 26: Sarawak Energy Berhad and Swedfund International AB today signed a grant agreement to study the limits for Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) Penetration in Sarawak.
Under this agreement, Swedfund International AB will fund Sarawak Energy’s study to determine the acceptable limits of variable solar into the future grid system without affecting the State’s energy stability and reliability.
Sarawak Energy was represented by its Group Chief Executive Officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili and Senior Vice President for Legal, Land and Company Secretary, James Paul while Swedfund International AB was represented by its chief executive officer Maria Håkansson and legal counsel Philip Reznik.
Speaking at the virtual signing ceremony, Sharbini said the State’s hydropower resources allow it to generate predominantly renewable, reliable and affordable energy to power the socio-economic development of Sarawak and beyond, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and global effort to combat climate change.
“This has been proven effective as we are able to provide our people with affordable and clean energy, attract investments into Sarawak and significantly decarbonise our power system by over 70 per cent from 2011 to 2020.
“We will continue to maintain a predominance of renewable hydropower and target to incorporate 300MW of large scale solar in our generation mix by 2030.
“Thank you to Swedfund International AB for offering to finance the Variable Renewable Energy Penetration Study. The result for this study could help us to better plan the integration of solar into Sarawak’s future grid system,” he said.
At the same time, Håkansson said the grant agreement would enable the company to move forward with the important study on variable renewable energy penetration.
“The agreement also launches a collaboration between Sarawak Energy and Swedfund International AB which we hope will be mutually fruitful and long-lasting.
“For Swedfund, it is of great value to support Sarawak Energy in the transition towards reducing CO2 emissions. Fighting climate change and its consequences is a key element in Swedfund’s mission to reduce poverty,” she said. — DayakDaily
