Powerat lessthan
6,25sen per unit
sv Jose Barrock
arawak ttidro sdn nhd,
the unit of the Minister
of Finance Inc that man-
ages the Bakun Hydro-
electric Dam, is said to
be close to concluding a
power purchase agreement (PPA) with
Sarawak Energy Bhd at 6.25 sen a unit,
sources say.
It is understood that Sarawak ttid-
ro has budged from its earlierasking
price of seven sen a kwh as pressure
mounts on it to find a buyer for the at nine sen per kwh, the tariff ratr
electricity that will soon be generated would have given Sarawak Hidro ar
by the nrvrz.+ billion Bakun dam.The estimated revenue of about RM1.z
first turbine is to start commercial
operations in July.
"The rate does not take into ac-
count the water levy that Sarawak
Hidro has to paythe state.If thewater
levy is stripped out, Sarawak Energy
pays only 5.25 sen per unit,which is
a giveawayr" says a source.
It is understood the state is charg-
ing Sarawak Hidro a water levy of
one sen per unit of electricity gen-
erated.Sarawak ttidro is said to have
givenwayon the levydespite its ear-
lier grouses over other dams such
as Pergau and fenyir in Peninsular
Malaysia paying only about half a
sen per unit.
News reports had said that the
one-sen water levy comes up to aboul
RM15o million ayear.
rhis effectively cuts Sarawak Ener'
gy's cost to 5.25 sen per kWh,which ir
closerto its earlier asking price of fivt
sen, compared with Sarawak Hidro'r
price tag of seven sen per kwh.
Negotiations between Sarawal
Hidro and Sarawak Energyto acquirt
power from Bakun have been goinS
on for several months now.
Initially, Sarawak Hidro had start.
ed rnrith a price tag of slightly belov
Lo sen per kwh. rt was reported that
billion a year, which would be palat
able, considering its investment o:
RM7.4 billion.
The interest cost alone for tht
loan to complete the dam comes tc
RMToo million ayear and,after strip
ping out maintenance costs,a higher
rate would leave something for repay.
ment of the loan.
A rate of o.zs sen means the rev.
enue for Sarawak Hidro will be con
siderablylower.
On the other hand, the rate woulc
favour Sarawak Energy and its planr
to sell the electricity to aluminiurr
smelters establishing a presence ir
Sarawak.
col{TtituEs oN PAGE 6r
More power- guzzling factories
FRO}I PAGE 12 Australia-based OM Holdings Ltd),Asia Miner-
At present, two smelters have already ex- als Ltd andtokuyama Corp.
pressed interest to set up plants in Sarawak Previous reports had stated that the smelt-
a CMS-Rio Tinto Alcan ioint venture and erswerewilling to payfourUS cents per kwh,
-another headed by SmelterAsia. SmelterAsia which at the time of the negotiations worked
is a joint venture between Gulf International out to 13.6 sen at an exchange rate of RM3.4
Investment Group Holdings sdn ghd andAlu- to the US dollar. rf the reports are accurate,
minium Corp of China. Sarawak Energywill enioygood margins if it
on top of that, Sarawak Energy has inked gets the Power at 6.25 sen Per unit.
aPPAwith an existing smelter Press Metal Other than Bakun,sarawak Energyhas the
ehd.
- option of buying electricity from the 944mw
Other power-guzzling factories to be set Murum Dam, which is being built now and
up in Sarawak include OM Materials (a unit of targeted to generate electriciffby 2oI3. tr