Now comes news that Tenaga is planning two new hydroelectric plants in Terengganu and Pahang (see report below).

Doesn’t this fly against the justification for the laying of submarine cables to transmit electricity from the Bakun Dam in Sarawak to the peninsula – that there would be no need for expensive new capacity on the peninsula?

Energy Minister Peter Chin said last month that the Cabinet had agreed that opting for the Bakun submarine cable project would be better than continuing to build new power plants in the peninsula. “In the long term, it will be more economical and viable to transmit power from Bakun to Peninsular Malaysia even though the undersea cable project will be very costly,” he said.

So, what’s going on?  Was Peter Chin unaware of these two new dams in the peninsula – or was he simply having us on?

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The on-off project to lay undersea cables to transmit electricity from the jinxed RM7 billion Bakun Dam to the peninsula is now on again.

This time we are told the undersea cables will cost RM9 billion and that the cables will transmit electricity to the peninsula as well as Sabah. Brunei is reportedly also interested.

MRCB has been mentioned in a Star news analysis as a leading contender for the land-based transmission network.  The same Star report also notes:

Maybank Investment Bank also observed that among the states, Sarawak had the largest allocation under the second fiscal stimulus. Political analysts noted that Sabah and Sarawak had become politically important states.

The rollout of projects in these two states will provide opportunities for home-grown contractors such as Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Naim Holdings Bhd and Hock Seng Lee Bhd. They have an advantage in being more familiar with the local landscape and people.

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