Power returns to Sabah’s east coast after tower repair works completed

KOTA KINABALU: The restoration works for the 275kV Kolopis-Segaliud transmission line, whose tower was toppled in a landslide last week, have been successfully completed with a second ‘Emergency Restoration System’ (ERS) tower erected.

The completion of the second tower link at the landslip area for the West Coast to East Coast power grid is expected to stabilise power for consumers, especially those on the east coast, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Yaakob Jaafar said.

He said the restoration was a follow-up to the incident of a tower pole collapsing following a landslide on Sept 13, which affected the transmission of electricity to the East Coast of Sabah.

“On Sept 17, the 275kV Kolopis-Segaliud transmission line (line one) was successfully reconnected at 8.10pm.

“This reconnected the East Coast of Sabah to the grid system and restored electricity supply to areas that had been cut off.

“The second 275kV Kolopis-Segaliud line was successfully energised at 9.10pm, Sunday,” he said in a statement here Monday (Sept 22).

He said the effort was the result of the sacrifice, expertise and extraordinary commitment of the technical team and Sabah Electricity employees who worked tirelessly day and night.

According to him, both lines are now connected to the Sabah grid system, while expressing appreciation for the efforts of the entire technical team and Sabah Electricity to ensure that the grid system could be restored.

Mohd Yaakob said the complete success was also the result of close cooperation between the Sabah state government, technical teams, contractors and other stakeholders.

Following the collapse of the tower on Sept 13, the east coast suffered severe power cuts as the water situation became critical in areas like Sandakan and Kinabatangan.

Water treatment plants in those areas could not operate due to the power failure.

With the first emergency tower set up, Sabah Electricity managed to restore power to the Sandakan area while other areas slowly limped back to normalcy.