NEWS & UPDATES

Kuching, 4th July 2014:  Sarawak Energy today assured the people of Sarawak that the Murum HEP has been subject to stringent quality controls and will be completely safe.

Sarawak Energy CEO, Datuk Torstein Dale Sjoveit said that “Once again, the Sarawak Report has misrepresented the facts, as part of their agenda to undermine Sarawak Energy's  efforts to support the development of the State.   

Torstein went on to say: “Sarawak Energy has developed stringent processes to ensure that quality issues are detected at an early stage.  The engagement of international experts such as Norconsult is part of our system of stringent quality control to ensure that materials and workmanship are of the highest possible standard.

“In the case of Murum HEP, SEB is implementing a rigorous Completion Management System (CMS) which includes inspections of the runners. The findings from these inspections have been reported to our EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor Three Gorges Development Company (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for rectification.”

“TGDC has given its full commitment to complete the necessary rectification and has engaged the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to execute the necessary works. These rectification works are currently in progress and will be completed by the end of August 2014.”

“These issues will not impact the commissioning schedule of the plant”.

Sarawak Energy has nothing to hide in relation to this matter.  Instead, Sarawak Energy has implemented a disciplined process to bring in international specialists to carry out checks at different stages of the project.  The problems found on the turbine runner are rectifiable and do not pose any danger to the workers or compromise project safety.  Likewise, there will not be any additional cost to SEB as claimed by Sarawak Report.   

In addition to the runner tests, there is a comprehensive testing program during the commissioning of each machine which ensures the stability of the generating unit prior to hand over from the contractor.

According to NorPower Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary company of Norconsult) Managing Director, Thor A. Lynaas, “These inspections are routine and part of Completion Management System (CMS) and the concerns raised by Norconsult in the report are rectifiable as confirmed by the Contractor and OEM.”