The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), a cooperation initiative of four neighboring countries, is pushing for an energy interconnection between Palawan and the Malaysian island of Sarawak.
Romeo M. Montenegro, head of the Philippine Coordinating Office for BIMP-EAGA and Deputy Executive Director of Mindanao Development Authority, said during the 54th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee on Culture and Information (COCI) meeting held at Princesa Garden Resort in Puerto Princesa City that Sarawak is a potential power source that can support the needs of Palawan.
“Sobra sobra po ito, hindi kaya ubusin ng Sabah, even Brunei Darrusalam,” he said.
He said that Sarawak has a 3,000-megawatt hydropower plant, which is one of the world’s largest constructed only five years ago.
The southern tip of Palawan and northern part of Malaysia has a distance of only more than 100 kilometers apart.
BIMP-EAGA covers the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and West Papua of Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
Montenegro said that they have requested the Department of Energy (DOE) last year to conduct three possibility studies, one of which is proposed submarine cable to link from Malaysia to Palawan.
Montenegro said that he learned from the DOE that Palawan will be connected to Mindoro and Luzon by next year.
“We are looking forward for DOE to prioritized connectivity of Palawan with Mindoro and the rest of Luzon, so that the proposal for Malaysia and Palawan interconnectivity will push through, it can expand to other parts of the country to make the market more viable,” he said.
Montenegro explained that power interconnections crossing countries is happening under ASEAN, where Singapore sourced its power from hydropower plant in Laos that crossed Thailand and Malaysia.
Southeast Asia is touted as one of the most dynamic regions expected to spur economic growth and increased development. Increase in power demands is expected to surge in order to support the emerging growth hubs, therefore there must be adequate supply of electricity.
Montenegro said that power interconnection all of ASEAN countries is envisioned by 2020.
Electricity demand in member states of the ASEAN grew 5 to 6 percent yearly from 2016-2020. Expecting this inevitable surge in demand, the idea of an ASEAN Power Grid (APG) was proposed in 1997, as part of the ASEAN Vision 2020.
The APG aims to ensure regional energy security and enhanced electricity trade across borders. This was facilitated through the ASEAN Power Grid Consultative Committee (APGCC) that aims to develop a common ASEAN policy on power interconnection and trade.
Currently, the interconnection projects are on a cross-border bilateral basis. These projects with power exchanges and purchase target to hit more than 10,000 megawatts in 2020 and 16,000 megawatts beyond 2020.
Montenegro explained that the APG has evolve beyond bilateral exchanges to sub-regional power interconnections. The Lao-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS) Power Integration Project (PIP) would be the region’s first regional power interconnection that started in 2018.
“Because of ASEAN, Singapore buy electricity from hydro power plant in Laos, that crossed from Thailand-Malaysia and bring cheaper electricity in Singapore,” he said.
Montenegro said that while other ASEAN countries are mostly interconnected, Philippines is still not connected to their electric grids.
“Under ASEAN masterplan, sila po mostly interconnected na, tayo na lang hindi pa. Palawan holds that missing link in terms of power and energy,” he said.