Our Focus On Hydro Power
KUCHING: Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Ali Hassan says the State Government knows all along that coal is not a renewable source of energy.
He said the State Government included coal in the ‘list of renewable energy’ as it wanted to exploit the resource to ensure that the State will be able to meet the energy demands of heavy industries in the State in the near future.
“Yes, we know coal is not renewable. The energy that we focus on for Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) is hydro power through the exploitation of our rivers,” Tengah told a press conference after the official opening of Arcardia and the launch of Ryegates housing project here yesterday.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Planning and Resource Management Haji Mohd Naroden Majais, Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development Datuk Haji Daud Abdul Rah-man, and Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Water Supplies) Sylvester Entri.
Tengah was asked to comment on a news report that appeared on a national daily quoting the Miri-based Borneo Resources Institute’s stron criticism of the Sarawak government’s move to classify the exploitation and mining of the 1.156 billion tonnes of coal reserves as part of its “renewable energy” projects.
The institute, a Sarawak-based environmental watchdog group with global links, wants the Ministries involved in environmental management at state and national levels to explain to the Malaysian public how the mining of coal could be categorised as “renewable”.
The news report had also quoted the Institutes’s Executive Director, Mark Bujang, as saying that the State Government had already included the mining of coal as part of the multi billion-ringgit projects to be carried out under the SCORE initiatives.
“We object to the move to categorise such an environmentally-hostile project as a renewable energy project because it is very misleading. Coal is a mineral that will be exhausted. It cannot be regenerated.
“The mining of coal is one of the most environmentally-damaging and polluting project on Earth. The burning of coal in power plants produces huge volume of green-house gas, and has caused tremendous climatic changes all over the world.
“The extraction of coal from the ground and from underground mines have caused irreparable environmental damages. These woes have been seen all over the world, especially in coal-producing countries.
“How is it possible then for Sarawak to classify coal-mining and the use of coal for power-generation as one of the projects approved under the renewable energy corridor?” Mark was quoted as saying.
On the recent announcement that Sarawak had secured a US$11 billion (RM38.5 billion) investment from China to fund a few hydro-dam construction projects and other energy-intensive projects in the SCORE region, Tengah, who is also Minister of Public Utilities, said that the investment was very “timely, as it would hasten the pace of developing the various hydro dam projects necessary to produce power for heavy industries.
“We need more energy than the present amount to take us to the next level - heavy industries. I have just returned from the Mukah Press Metal, wherein I was informed that to produce 50,000 tonnes of aluminum, a smelting plant requires at least 100 megawatt. Since it plans to produce 100,000 tonnes annually, we will need to generate another 100mW.
“We have to tailor their needs with our planning,” he added.
When Bakun (Dam) is completed, the State Government will embark on other hydro-projects such as Murum, Baram, Limbang, and Lawas.
“These projects definitely need a lot of funding as we need to provide infrastructure and pay the necessary compensation. The proposed hydro dam projects will be implemented in stages,” he added.
Currently, the State only generates about 1,000mw of power mainly for domestic use, and for light industries.
24 Jan 2010 Eastern Times
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