Works to start on Baleh hydro dam, tenders out for 3 packages Monday, 13 July 2015 By: JACK WONG Artist impression of Baleh dam in Sarawak. Inset quote from interview with Torstein. KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) has tendered out three of the eight major work packages for the estimated RM9bil 1,285MW Baleh hydroelectric dam project. Group chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit said the tenders for the project’s explosive magazine and diversion tunnels packages had closed and the bidders were currently being evaluated. Tender for the third package – operator’s village – will close this month, he told StarBiz. The remaining five packages are jetty, bridges and road, main civil works, main electrical mechanical works, transmission line and substation. To maximise local content and in line with Sarawak government’s policy to maximise local benefits, Sjotveit said only Sarawak companies might be allowed to bid for five of the packages – jetty, bridges and road, explosive magazine, operator’s village, power transmission line and substation. “For the three international contracts (diversion tunnels,main civil works,and main electrical mechanical works), emphasis is also given to ensure tangible participation of local companies. “The tenderers are required to state the maximium amount of local content in their tender submissions and this will be considered as one of the evaluation criteria,” he added. Sjotveit said the commencement of the contract and procurement process was to ensure SEB had an open and transparent process that meet international standards as well as the project’s schedules once the final approval from the state government was obtained. SEB secured the approval of the project’s social and environment impact assessment (SEIA) report from Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board in March. The Baleh dam is the second major hydro project to be undertaken by SEB. The state-owned company has invested some RM4bil in the 944MW Murum dam, which is now in full commercial operation following the completion of the reliability run of all its four turbines. The proposed Baleh dam, Murum dam and the 2,400MW Bakun dam (which is owned by the Federal Government via Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd) are located in the upper reaches of the Rejang basin in Kapit division in central Sarawak. The electricity generated is to be supplied to the energy intensive industries in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score). Unlike the Bakun and Murum projects which had to relocate thousands of villagers whose homes had been submerged in the dam water, there is no need to resettle villagers in the Baleh project although 10 communities comprising more than 1,160 families in the catchment area would be affected to some extent. The dam site catchment covers an area of 5,625 sq km and runs to the Sarawak- Kalimantan border. When fully commissioned,the 188m-high concrete face rockfill Baleh dam is expected to generate a minimum 941MW of firm energy. Sjotveit said SEB hoped to commence construction work for the Baleh dam project by next year. “It is anticipated that the construction of the dam, power station and machine installation will take seven years to complete, with the first turbine unit scheduled for commissioning by 2023 and completion (for remaining turbines) in 2024,” he added. Sjotveit said SEB was using its current sukuk musyarakah programme totalling RM15bil to finance the Baleh dam project. The electricity from Baleh dam will support Score’s phase 2 development for more industries, including downstream. According to the project’s SEIA report, the base load demand for Score is expected to be 2,550MW in 2020,and this could potentially reach 3,700MW by 2025. Besides power supply from Bakun and Murum dams, Score would draw electricity from a 600MW coal-fired power plant which is currently being built in Balingian, Mukah Division. SEB is taking all the power produced by Bakun dam under a power purchase agreement with Sarawak Hidro. “At any time, we are drawing from Bakun what is necessary to fulfill our supply commitments to our customers,” Sjotveit pointed out. Under Score phase 1, energy-intensive industries, such as aluminium, ferrosilicon and manganese alloy smelting plants, are already in operation or in advanced stages of being set up in Samalaju Industrial Park,Bintulu. Also in commercial production is a polycrystalline silicon plant. Sources: http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/07/13/Works-to- start-on-Baleh-hydro-dam/?style=biz .