NEWS & UPDATES

MIRI
6 JULY 2020

Grid electricity supply to Marudi was restored safely on Saturday, 4 July, following more than two days of extensive repair works to replace snapped power lines on a 33kV high tension tower suspected to have been struck by lightning.

Lau Kim Swee (刘金瑞), CEO of Syarikat SESCO Berhad (SESCO), utility arm of Sarawak Energy said, “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to the residents of Marudi and thank them for their patience and kind support over this time. The team will continue to monitor the performance of the supply lines and will remain on standby until we are assured that the system has really stabilised.”

The replacement power lines were energised on 4 July, at 6pm and supply to the area progressively restored until stable supply reached all affected areas at 7:10pm. Repair works include replacing the broken conductors and cracked insulators.

“We are glad that despite some difficult weather, water and terrain condtions, the team was able to restore supply safely. Safety is top priority for us at Sarawak Energy so the team was only allowed to start work after it was deemed safe,” he said.

Prior to energisation of the lines, the majority of Marudi was provided with electricity through 10 mobile gensets to provide temporary supply to critical facilities and as many residential areas as possible.

Following the interruption at 4pm on Thursday, Sarawak Energy had intensified efforts to restore supply to the riverine town and its surrounding areas, increasing manpower resources and bringing in machinery.

Recent heavy rainfall had caused flooding at the location of the tower and to perform repair works, Sarawak Energy’s technical team had to wade through chest-high water levels of swamp and muddy terrain caused by a torrential thunderstorm before reaching the site at 4am on Friday, 12 hours after the outage occurred.

Lau added, “We appreciate the team’s efforts in overcoming these challenges and doing the necessary rectification works to restore supply safely as soon as possible.”

Regular patrol works are done to inspect the 44km power lines that transmit electricity from Marudi Junction Substation to Marudi. The power lines traverse forested areas and also private oil palm plantation estates, obstructing smooth access in the event of a fault.

Repair works completed and supply to Marudi was fully restored on Saturday at 7:10pm.

Repair works being done on the 33kV high tension tower.

Sarawak Energy’s technical team wading through flood waters and muddy conditions to fix the damaged facility.