RESEARCH & COLLABORATION

Research and Development activities in Sarawak Energy are generally organised into five broad domain areas as show below. It covers improvement and enhancement projects focusing on the company core businesses in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. The consideration of environmental concerns and sustainability issues is an area of growing importance as we embark on developing the various natural indigenous energy resources for social and economic development of Sarawak. The other researches involve exploring new or alternative energies such as solar and microhydro for electrifying remote rural villages. Initial plan is also being put in place to investigate hydrogen and fuel cell technologies that would complement well with the hydropower generation, while keeping a close eye on potential disruptor technologies such as distributed generation and electric mobility.

BIOLOGICAL & PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Under this research programme, Sarawak Energy collaborates with local academic institutions such as University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and Curtin University Malaysia Sarawak in the areas of Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology, Geomorphology and Limnology.  Initiatives are also on-going to establish new research collaborations in the field of Downstream Flow Regimes (Environmental Flows).  The objectives of these research collaborations are to develop a detailed scientific understanding of the environment within which our projects are located, aiming to facilitate effective decision-making centred upon sustainable project development and management.  These efforts will inherently progress capacity building both within the organization, as well as the local academic community.

CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Our research collaborator for the Greenhouse Gas Project is Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)—an international university in Canada well-known for their research in understanding the GHG emissions from both the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

This collaborative research focuses on quantifying reservoir GHG (carbon dioxide and methane) emissions from the various emission pathways as well as understanding the dynamics of water column processes which lead to GHG production and emission within our water catchments.  Studies of this nature will contribute to long-term goals of mapping our carbon footprint, in line with the global initiative on climate change mitigation.

Initial results have indicated that our reservoir surface may at times in fact act as a carbon sink, contrary to popular belief that tropical reservoirs are a constant source of GHG emission.  Such phenomena raises interest as to what biogeochemical processes within the water column causes these conditions.

Sarawak Energy is also establishing studies to understand the nature and underlying processes of hydrogen sulfide production within our reservoir systems, in hopes to better manage the environmental effects of this gas which is produced as a by-product of organic matter decomposition.

OVERACHING STRATEGIES

Sarawak Energy actively continues to seek establishment of research collaborations with various local and international academic institutions to enhance the advancement of scientific knowledge of our environments in hopes to align and adopt these valuable information for the betterment of our projects through development and implementation of science-based management strategies.