BAKUN HYDROELECTRIC PLANT

Operational Excellence is one of Sarawak Energy’s key focus areas and hydro power plant performance and reliability are important parameters to be monitored to ensure its operation is at highest efficiency.

Bakun HEP Performance

The Bakun HEP’s performance in terms of Equivalent Availability Factor (EAF) maintained at above 90% since 2018 and achieved its target with a Forced Outage Rate (FOR) below 1%. Despite all the challenges, Bakun HEP's total generation has increased by 1.1% from the year 2021.

Year	Equivalent Availability Factor (EAF, %)	Forced Outage Rate (FOR, %)
2018	92.23	0.23
2019	97.13	0.70
2020	94.84	0.40
2021	95.68	0.40
2022	93.88	0.67
2023	96.37	0.29
2024	97.04	0.40

Net Energy Generated

Disclosure	Unit	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Bakun	MWh	14,351,890.004	15,424,402.003	14,680,879.002	16,239,095.001	16,549,475.00*

The data has been assured by a third party for Sarawak Energy Sustainability Report 2022

Enhancing the operational performance of Bakun HEP

1. Rerating of Bakun Units
Bakun HEP has successfully performed reliability testing to run the machine at 10% or 30MW higher than the installed capacity, generating up to 330MW for Unit 1 to Unit 4 each. This increases the total generation by Bakun HEP up to 2,520MW.

2. Generator Testing and Model Validation
Bakun generators can run at a stable condition with the successful improvement of generator performance after generator testing and model validation in October 2022, which involves the tuning of the Governor and Excitation system. This will improve the power quality and grid stability upon any disturbances happening in the grid.

3. Major Improvement Works
Automatic Tube Cleaning System (ATCS) and Partial Discharge Retrofitting are among the major ongoing improvement projects that have improved the effectiveness of the machines in monitoring and performance. ATCS is an automatic system to clean the Heat Exchanger with an interval of 4 hours to change over to prevent fouling or scaling in the tubing. At present, 6 out of 10 ATCS have been installed with a proven result where reducing the labour-intensive cleaning work of the Heat Exchanger, resulting in a cost saving of approximately RM600,000.

Enabled measurement of Partial Discharge (PD), which is an indication of insulation issues in electrical equipment and to minimise such risks, PD measurement is a reliable and non-intrusive method that can be used to assess the condition of an electrical asset. PD online monitoring and detection to record real-time data for analysis to detect and prevent severe failure of the stator winding insulation, ensuring long-term, reliable operations of electrical equipment.