Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg

KUCHING: Sarawak Energy’s inaugural Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum (Saref) is an important initiative to bring together key players and stakeholders to discuss renewable, sustainable and clean energy development for the region and beyond.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the two-day forum, which starts today, also serves as an opportunity to share with the region and the world Sarawak’s successes and challenges.

“We are also encouraged to explore new sustainable energy strategies aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),” he said in his message published in the Saref souvenir programme booklet.

The chief minister said the Sarawak government fully subscribes to SDG, particularly SDG 7 which calls for affordable and clean energy.

“We have a strategic plan to ensure that all homes and businesses in Sarawak have access to reliable, renewable and affordable electricity through the Accelerated Rural Electrification Masterplan.

“We aim to light up about 20,000 more rural households in the next few years by extending the grid infrastructure and constructing standalone microgrid schemes using alternative renewables like solar or micro-hydro technologies,” he said.

Abang Johari added that by 2020, about 1,000 more villages across the rural interior of Sarawak will have access to reliable electricity – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As the Sarawak government intensifies its efforts to achieve full electrification by 2025, it also recognised the importance of sharing the state’s energy affordability, sustainability, reliability and security with its neighbours, he added.

“Towards this end, we are building interconnections to share our renewable energy resources, beginning with the first export of power to West Kalimantan in 2016.

“This lays the foundation for the Borneo Grid, a cross-border power connectivity plan that will strengthen the grid, improve reliability and reduce energy poverty in our region,” he remarked.

Apart from that, Abang Johari said Sarawak is also leading the exploration of alternatives in renewable energy with Southeast Asia’s first integrated Hydrogen Production Plant and Refueling Station.

“The facility is a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility of hydrogen as part of a green energy mix in our public transport network. We are currently testing three hydrogen fuel cell buses as part as our efforts to improve public transport whilst reducing environmental impact.”

He also said hydropower has been the catalyst to drive the state’s development in the past decade under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

“Our energy mix has evolved significantly from the predominantly fossil-based energy generation to about 75 per cent renewable hydropower today, reducing our carbon emission intensity by 76.5 per cent since 2009 and contributing significantly towards Malaysia’s Paris Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 target,” he said.