Hydropower from East Malaysia's Bakun Dam to Feed Developed West

by Lazylizards | April 26, 2009 at 05:33 pm

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After being dogged by numerous delays since the late 90's Asian financial crisis and lack of a clear direction for completing this massive project - rainforests the size of Singapore will be flooded - the Malaysian government has reportedly given a go-ahead for the project that will divert up to 2,400 MW of power generated by the dams in the less developed Sarawak state to urban West Malaysia.

Energy Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui told the Star daily the cabinet had approved plans for a 700km (435-mile) undersea cable to transmit power from the dam to Johor state, a project dropped after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Chin said the government had decided to invest in the multimillion-dollar project as it would be cheaper than building power plants on the peninsula, the newspaper reported.

Last month, the government said the Bakun project would be ready by 2011, four years later than planned, with the completed project expected to cost 7.5 billion ringgit (2.09 billion US dollars).

Many in West Malaysia would probably welcome this development if it would mean the availability of power at lower cost and which is cleaner than that generated from coal, still a fuel of choice in parts of SE Asia. Moreover, East Malaysia has a much smaller population and fewer industries to consume even a part of energy from the 2,400 MW capacity - something they don't need for years to come.

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