KUCHING: Sarawak has started supplying electricity to Sabah through its power grid, marking a significant step towards realising a unified Borneo Grid, Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said.
He said the expansion reflects Sarawak’s emergence as a regional energy provider built on a strong foundation of renewable resources.
“Two days ago, we started supplying power through the Sarawak grid to Sabah.
“Now, we can form the Borneo Grid because we are supplying to West Kalimantan, and we have investment in North Kalimantan,” he said at a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between the Bintulu Development Authority and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd in Bintulu today.
Abang Johari said Sarawak’s role is expanding beyond Borneo, starting with Singapore to support the republic’s clean-energy transition.
“I was in Singapore together with the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim), and we are going to supply one gigawatt of energy to Singapore. It is not only energy that we are supplying (but) green energy,” he said.
On another note, Abang Johari said advances in solar technology and energy-storage systems are expected to transform the global renewable energy landscape and create new opportunities for Sarawak’s green industries.
He said countries worldwide are accelerating innovation in solar manufacturing as they pursue higher efficiency and new-generation materials.
“The storage of (solar) energy must be boosted. At the moment, it’s using battery.
“But there will be a new technology in terms of the solar panel that can store (energy) for a longer period than now,” he said.
He said these innovations include new technological materials that may eventually replace silicon, with China leading the migration in this field.
“China is good in this. A very fast technological migration in China. Maybe one day you don’t need silicon any more.
“They use a new technological material as absorption of sunlight,” he added.
– Bernama
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
