Green energy plan can end power woes in Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah needs an immediate and efficient green energy plan to resolve its power woes.

Kalabakan MP Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh, who made the call, said Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) should abandon its plans for a 300MW coal plant and consider the potential of green energy from the abundant supply of oil palm biomass.

He said SESB’s persistence in going ahead with a coal-fired power plant was “outdated” as coal would create environmental problems.

“How reliable is coal supply as we will have to import it, and what happens if countries like Indonesia stop their export?” asked the outspoken MP, whose constituency has been hit by frequent power failures.

Ghapur said it was also uneconomical in the long run to use coal as a source of energy as it was not conducive to Sabah’s fragile eco-environment.

He said enough studies had been done by experts confirming that biomass was a viable source of green energy.

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has also confirmed that there was about 8 million tonnes of biomass from 160 palm oil mills.