KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 10): Sarawak Energy Bhd group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sharbini Suhaili has been re-elected to the board of the International Hydropower Association (IHA).

The Sarawak utility company said in a statement that Sharbini is among 18 people who form the new board, on a two-year mandate beginning from October, to guide IHA's work and priorities in clean energy transition.

Other board members from the East & Asia Pacific region include former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

IHA was created under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 1995 as the voice of sustainable hydropower.

Sarawak Energy said Sharbini has been serving on the IHA board since 2017 after he took over as the company's CEO.

Sharbini said his re-election is a recognition of the group's "strong commitment to sustainable hydropower development in meeting Sarawak and the region's need for affordable, reliable and renewable energy while progressing the UN Sustainability Development Goals for a sustainable energy future".

According to Sarawak Energy, the company has under Sharbini's leadership advocated for large hydropower to be recognised as part of Malaysia's renewable energy mix.

This, it added, was realised earlier this year when the federal government included large hydropower as part of the renewable energy definition for Malaysia.

Sarawak Energy, Malaysia's largest renewable energy developer and provider, is currently adopting IHA's Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol for its ongoing 1,285 MW Baleh Hydroelectric Project.

Sarawak Energy, in its statement, noted that Sharbini is also one of the speakers at the opening plenary of the ongoing 2021 World Hydropower Congress, alongside Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, International Energy Agency executive director Dr Fatih Birol, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, and IHA president Roger Gill.