Malaysia: Sarawak Energy awards $188M power transmission contract

Sarawak Energy has awarded a $188 million contract to Sinohydro Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd-Trenergy Infrastructure Sdn Bhd joint venture for the 500kV transmission backbone (Packages B & C) works.

Trenergy Infrastructure, a wholly owned company of Sarawak Cable, together with its China based joint venture partner Sinohydro, will construct two sections of the 500kV backbone - Mapai to Lachau (Package B) and Lachau to Tondong (Package C).

Spanning over 500km from Similajau in Bintulu to Tondong in Kuching, the project is expected to be completed in Q1 2016.

The company said the tender for the different packages of the 500kV has been on international tender, following the stringent procurement process in Sarawak Energy.

Sarawak Energy said the 500kV backbone transmission project will be crucial for Sarawak's future. "With the completion of this second grid, the state will be well protected against the incidence of system blackout," it said.

The 500kV transmission backbone project will support the future development of Sarawak Energy's generating system and provide a secured supply to the fast-expanding SCORE customers. In turn, more transmission capacity is required to strengthen the current electricity supply into Kuching and southwestern Sarawak.