KUCHING: Building cascading dams in the rural areas of Sarawak is considered safe as it has been done in other parts of the world.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said this after a non-governmental organisation (NGO) had raised concerns.
Among other things it claimed that the idea of constructing cascading dams is costly and that the social, economic and the environmental problems in rural Sarawak caused by the construction of mega-dams in past years have not been resolved yet.
“Of course it is safe. I mean, it has been done in other parts of the world. It cannot be not safe, otherwise it won’t be done in other parts of the world.
“Sarawak Energy will look into this more deeper as we will conduct more research especially on its technical part,” he told reporters after officiating at the Borneo Environmental Conference (BEnConf) 2023 here, Wednesday (Nov 15).
Earlier in his speech, Dr Hazland said there are plans to build cascading dams on the smaller rivers of Sarawak, which may include areas such as Baram and Kapit.
He said the government had started its green energy transformation drive back in 1985 with the first dam built in Batang Ai with a 108 megawatt (MW) capacity, followed by the commissioning of Bakun in 2011.
He said the other dams namely Murum dam which was commissioned in 2014, with a capacity of 944 MW and Baleh dam with a capacity of 1,285 MW, set to be commissioned by 2028, will give Sarawak a 5,400 MW capacity.
“We have to upgrade our power to 8,000 MW by 2030.
“So, in the next six years, we have to upscale from 5,400 to 8,000 through floating solar on the dams.
“This is so that we can take in the heavy industries especially the hydrogen industries,” said Hazland.
This inaugural BEnConf 2023 is jointly organised by Natural Resources and Environment Board Sarawak, Insitut Kimia Malaysia Sarawak branch and Sarawak Energy, with the theme ‘Knowing and Managing Climate Change’.
This conference has gathered scientists, conservationists, policymakers and relevant stakeholders to share their knowledge, experiences and innovative solutions in managing climate change.
