KUCHING, Feb 18: Major transmission line connection works to progress the new Tondong substation’s commissioning will continue until March, which could cause intermittent supply interruptions.
According to Sarawak Energy in a media release, these critical works to connect the new 500/275/132KV substation with the Mambong-Matang transmission lines require one of the two circuits to come offline temporarily, leaving only one line in operation throughout the works.
This increases the risk of supply interruptions when tripping occurs.
The utility company explained that the recent supply interruptions on Thursday night and Friday morning experienced in Kuching were due to the ongoing connection works that affected areas receiving supply from the Mambong-Matang line, including a section of Petra Jaya, Matang and Batu Kawa.
The interruptions lasted around 30 minutes before progressive supply restoration began.
Before commencing the connection works, Sarawak Energy has put contingency plans in place, which has helped mitigate and reduce the duration of these interruptions.
Sarawak Energy Group chief operating officer James Ung assured customers that their technical teams are working to complete the connection works as quickly as possible to get the Tondong substation commissioned safely.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers during the recent outages and thank them for their patience and understanding as we progress works to provide them with a more reliable supply system.
“We will continue to monitor the performance of the supply lines, and we also have our operations team on standby to ensure system recovery in the shortest time possible if tripping occurs.”
Sarawak Energy has issued a notice on the scheduled shutdowns of the Mambong-Matang transmission lines, which will be done in two phases from Feb 7 to 18 and from Feb 21 to March 4, subject to weather conditions. During the shutdowns, only one of two circuits will be in operation.
Once completed, the new Tondong substation, which forms an integral part of the 500KV transmission backbone project, will provide the much-needed reinforcement for Kuching city’s supply system and improve supply reliability.
The facility also connects the new 500KV circuits to the existing 275KV main State Grid via the Mambong-Matang lines to meet growing local electricity demand in the rapidly growing area and accommodate future capacity growth at the Tondong substation.
Members of the public can contact Sarawak Energy Customer Care Centre at 1300-88-3111 or utilise Sarawak Energy mobile app SEBcares to obtain the latest updates on the connection works and report outages to assist in assisting in the speedy restoration of electricity supply. — DayakDaily
