Bakun Dam Free From Earthquake Threat

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Nov 21 (Bernama) -- The Bakun Dam's 2,400 MW hydroelectric project is free from any earthquake threats, the State Legislative Assembly was told on Monday. State Public Utilities Minister Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said Sarawak was not located in the earthquake prone zone and the possibility of the dam posing safety issues like earthquakes, should not arise. "Furthermore the dam was designed and constructed with a large safety margin against any tremor experienced in the area," he said when winding up speech for his ministry at the state assembly here on Monday. Amar Awang said the Zipingbu dam in China which had a similar design with the Bakun Dam was constructed in the active seismic belt but could sustain the devastating Sichuan earthquake and until now has been certified safe. He said the electricity tariffs in Sarawak was still low compared to the Peninsula, despite claims that the tariff here was more expensive. "The state’s average electricity price of 30 sen/kWh is lower compared with 33 sen/kWh charged by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) after the latter’s upward tariff revision in June this year," he said. To ease the burden of consumers, he said domestic consumers in Sarawak using less than 100 units are given 10 sen/kWh discount by SESCO and those consuming below RM20 (US$6.32) would not have to pay their bills as the state government subsidised these consumers. "In 2010, the total subsidies amounted to RM11 million and benefited about 98,000 consumers," he said. He also clarified that the proposed 12 sites for hydropower development in Sarawak was not final and there was a need of detailed feasibility and engineering studies to determine if these sites are feasible for the construction of the hydropower dams or otherwise. "The construction of the dams found feasible will only be carried out based on the demand. In other words, the construction will be customer-driven to match the requirements of the industries, domestic and commercial needs and for export of excess power," he added. -- BERNAMA Malaysia