“There are currently no competitors out there that have the engineering capability to meet every spectrum of the power business, from the exploration and production stage right up to the supplying power to end-consumers.
“With that, the Bakun dam power project is definitely one of the areas that we are interested in, given that we have the technology that covers the entire spectrum of the energy business,” Siemens executive vice-president of energy sector (Asean) Prakash Chandran told The Edge Financial Daily last week.
The entire Bakun undersea cable project is believed to worth up to RM9 billion. The first power transmission through the 
undersea power cable is scheduled for 2013 and the second cable in 2015.
The hydroelectric dam project is targeted to generate 2,400 megawatt (MW) of power, of which 1,600MW will be transmitted to peninsular Malaysia.
Among the areas where tenders for the Bakun transmission system that have yet to be awarded includes the design, manufacture, testing, delivery, installation and commissioning for the HVDC link for power transmission.
The cables will cover a distance of 670km from the Bakun power plant to the peninsula. The cable project will be undertaken by a joint venture company formed by Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Sarawak Energy Bhd and Ministry of Finance, Inc.
Meanwhile, Prakash also said Siemens Energy was developing new technologies and innovative solutions to meet global energy needs.
He said Siemens was placing high priority on renewable and green energies, citing solar, hydro and wind as a having good prospects.
Prakash said Siemens had also consistently been involved in the building of skills and human capital in this region, in order to prepare a workforce with expertise to take on the new technologies.
Meanwhile, Siemens’ vice-president of business development (oil and gas sector) Keiren Lake said the oil and gas industry was another sector that offered great potential, in particular gas exploration and production.
“Malaysia, together with Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have large undeveloped and recoverable gas fields and are increasingly becoming the centres for oil and gas in this region. We will be working closely with oil majors operating in this region, including Petronas, which we have a very good working relationship with,” he said.
Commenting on the price of oil, Lake said while its fair price was hard to determine, the sector was seeing a revival in optimism among oil majors and service providers, indicating that the price level was at a comfortable zone.
“We are seeing the return of some investments that would otherwise have been put on hold, including in those marginal fields and deep-sea explorations,” he said.
Siemens Group of Companies has been in Malaysia since 1972 and has a workforce of about 4,000. Siemens AG is a global powerhouse in electrical and electronic engineering, energy, and healthcare sectors. In its fiscal year 2008, the group recorded revenue of €77.3 billion (RM379.78 billion) and a net income of €5.9 billion.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, June 15, 2009.