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Batang Ai area can produce 2,000 MW of solar energy

Posted on by darion

LUBOK ANTU, June 20 — Prime Minister Tan Abang Johari Openg today said the Batang Ai Dam area has the potential to generate 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power using solar technology, based on calculations for 60 percent of its total area of ​​8,500 hectares.

He added that the Batang Ai floating solar farm, which will generate 50 MW of electricity, covers just 86 hectares, or 2 percent of the 8,500 hectares.

“So there is huge potential for us to generate more than 2,000 MW of renewable energy just from Batang Ai,” he told reporters after a working visit to a floating solar farm in Batang Ai.

He added that according to Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), Batang Ai will produce electricity not only through hydropower but also solar energy.

He added that the construction of the floating solar farm has reached 30 percent progress and its launch is scheduled for the end of October this year.

Construction work on the project, which is being carried out by a joint venture between SEB, China Power International Holdings and solar energy company Trina Solar, officially began on June 20 last year.

Once completed, the solar farm will have the capacity to generate 50 megawatts (MW) of energy.

The Batang Ai Dam, commissioned in 1985, has an installed capacity of 108 MW of electricity.

“This means that once the floating solar power plant is completed, we will have 158 MW of power from Batang Ai,” he said

Abang Johari said the state government will designate areas on the Bakun and Murum dams where solar panels will be installed.

He added that the Bakun dam area has the potential to produce 500 MW and the Murum dam can produce 600 MW of solar energy.

“We have foreign investors who want to invest in these two areas… we have signed a memorandum of understanding with a company from the United Arab Emirates and they are among the investors who want to invest in these two areas,” Abang Johari said.

Earlier, Abang Johari was briefed about the floating solar farm by SEB Group chairman Datuk Sarbini Suhaili.