KUCHING: State power company Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) has been granted a licence to prospect for coal in three areas, covering some 40,000ha, in the coastal town of Balingian in central Sarawak.

The general prospecting licence is to facilitate a regular supply of coal for SEB’s newest 600MW coal-fired power generating plant expected to be commissioned next year, Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan told reporters at SEB’s Hari Raya gathering yesterday.

The licence is for two years with an option to extend for another two. SEB currently has a 270Mw coal-fired power plant, owned by its subsidiary Mukah Power Generation Sdn Bhd (MPG) near Mukah, 32km away. It also has one at Kampung Sejingkat, about 30km outside Kuching. Awang Tengah said the new plant is located in Balingian to take advantage of the huge coal reserves in the area.

SEB’s chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit said new coalfields were needed as the new plant required a supply of about 90 million tonnes of coal for the next 30 years. He said the prospecting work could cost SEB between RM20 million and RM30 million.

The Balingian coal-fired power plant is part of the generation mix SEB plans to have. The others are hydro and gas. 

He said by the year 2020, SEB’s generation mix could be 60% hydro, 20% gas and 20% coal.

Currently, the mix is 75% hydro with coal and gas making up the balance equally. SEB’s hydro generation plan is courting controversy at home and abroad as it would destroy a large swathe of the state’s pristine rainforest and displace thousands of tribespeople. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on August 11, 2015.