NEWS & UPDATES

MIRI, THURSDAY, 14 APRIL 2016:  Temporary load shedding was undertaken in some parts of Miri from 9 to 11 April during evening peak load hours when a power transformer at Tudan 33KV substation was found faulty on 9 April.  

The load shedding exercise - requiring power to the affected areas to be temporarily shut-down - was necessary to manage the power supply constraint caused by the faulty transformer.  The exercise ended when immediate work to divert the load from the affected Tudan substation to a newly commissioned substation in Permyjaya was successfully completed on 12 April.

The areas affected were Senadin, Desaras, the northern part of Permyjaya, Curtin University, Tudan, Desa Murni, Desa Pujut, Desa Indah, and IKBN. Customers in these locations experienced outages of up to one hour during the load shedding period.

"There were two 33KV transformers with 25 MVA capacity each at Tudan substation. When one of them is faulty, the load which is normally supplied from this transformer needs to be diverted to other substations," said Choo Min Chong, Sarawak Energy’s Regional Manager for Northern Region.

"Due to high load during evening peak load hours, we had to undertake temporary load shed to customers in the areas connected to the feeders from Tudan Substation.  The night load shedding had to be continued until 11 April due to the complexity of the fault.

Repair works on the faulty transformer is still ongoing and expected to complete in a week’s time.  With the present circuit rearrangement and loading condition, we do not foresee the need for any further load shedding. However, we will continue to closely monitor and manage the load distribution especially during peak hours," said Choo.

Sarawak Energy regrets the inconvenience caused due to the interruptions and seeks the patience and understanding of its customers while various upgrading works are underway to reinforce the electrical network for Miri.

With a population of more than 350,000 and the second largest city in Sarawak, Miri is an important load centre for the state and is one of the areas of focus of Sarawak Energy's upgrading works.