Sabah to get two energy ships to increase electricity supply

KOTA KINABALU - Two energy ships will be provided to increase the electricity capacity in Sabah, according to its Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Ir Shahelmey Yahya.

Shahelmey who is also the state's works minister said, the energy ship that will be provided in Sandakan and Lahad Datu is one of the initiatives to avoid any serious electrical technical incidents in the state.

“As we know in the last three weeks we have experienced a situation when the electricity demand has almost reached the maximum level with the amount that can be supplied

“So when that happens, the SESB enforces power rationing to ensure that there is a safety margin in the grid system on the electricity supply to avoid more serious technical incidents from happening,” he said.

He said this during the Program Dialog Siswa that took place at the UiTM Sabah,Kota Kinabalu campus at Dewan Al-Bukhari on Thursday.

According to Shahelmey, SESB and the state government are also increasing the capacity of electricity through mobile genset, thetwo energy ships is the state's recent efforts to increase electricity capacity in Sandakan and Lahad Datu

“With these power ships and gensets, the energy sources will be supplied to Sabah’s electricity grid system which will be in a more stable state, so the infrastructure in terms of energy is in a good state as well,” he said.

When asked by reporters more about the energy ship, he informed them it will arrive in the next two or three months.

“When the energy ship operates to produce energy, a margin of more than 200 megawatts will be achieved and of course, this will provide m more electricity supply

“On the other side, at the west coast we have power plants but in Sandakan and Lahad Datu are the areas that do need additional electricity supply to ensure the economic activities in the area can be carried out without interruption,” he said.