It’s madness: nuclear plant, 12 dams, undersea cables

 Posted by on 24 July 2008  26 Responses »
Jul 242008
 

What on earth are our energy planners thinking of?

First of all, we have 40 per cent reserve capacity in the peninsula. TNB is now paying capacity charges for electricity it buys from the independent power producers which it doesn’t need.

Then, there is the plan to transmit a huge chunk of the electricity from the Bakun Dam from Sarawak over to the peninsula via undersea cables. But hold on, the submarine cables, which would be the world’s longest, would now cost RM15 billion. Alamak! So how? Sime Darby has already pulled out from the project.

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Undersea cable cost for jinxed Bakun doubles to RM15b

 Posted by on 14 July 2008  16 Responses »
Jul 142008
 

I have always believed that the Bakun Dam has been jinxed, ever since the developers messed with the ancestral lands of the indigenous people and displaced them from the site.

Now we are witnessing a re-run of the scandal involving the second Penang bridge, which we might not even need in the first place. The figures are almost identical – except that for the Bakun Dam, the cost of the undersea cables is quoted in US dollars instead of ringgit.

In the case of the second Penang Bridge, the estimated cost has soared from RM2.7 to close to RM5 billion in a year or so.

In the case of the Bakun undersea cables, according to an Edge report, the cost of the cables has soared from US$2.5 billion (RM8 billion) to US$4.7 billion (RM15 billion), which is the figure quoted by a consortium led by Sumitomo.

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Tenaga’s high employees’ benefits poser (updated)

 Posted by on 18 June 2008  27 Responses »
Jun 182008
 

UPDATED Tenaga’s employees’ benefits have increased by 81 per cent over the last two years, compared with only a 14 per cent rise in wages and salaries. That’s what a quick look at its financial statements reveals.

The Khazanah head honcho had earlier defended the high salaries paid to the top officials in GLCs in this excerpt from a report in The Star today:

His comments, as reported by Bernama, were in response to comments in blogs that Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh and CFO Datuk Izzadin Idris were getting a huge (an unconfirmed 100%) salary increase.

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Why the generous subsidies for IPPs?

 Posted by on 9 June 2008  17 Responses »
Jun 092008
 

Oil price hike protest in Ipoh (Source: Unknown; forwarded via email)

So Petronas and the Malaysian government says subsidies distort the market. Of course, the withdrawal of subsidies will encourage conservation of a scarce resource – which is a good thing. It might even reduce pollution and congestion. Roads were noticeablly less congested in parts of Penang and KL today. Traffic on the Penang Bridge heading to the island at 5.20pm – peak time – was smooth; the usual bottleneck after the toll plazas, as the mutiple lanes narrow down to two lanes, was gone.

But has the government given much thought to the impact of the removal of oil subsidies on the poor – and even large segments of the middle-class, who are rapidly moving down to the ranks of the poor in terms of real purchasing power?

One key question has not been answered: why a sudden complete removal and not a gradual phasing out? Come on, tell us how much profit Petronas made for the year ended 31 March 2008. The figures should be available by now, even if the annual report isn’t ready. Continue reading »

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