A worker conducts repair works on the high-tension power lines.
MIRI: The grid electricity supply to Marudi was restored safely last Saturday, following several days of extensive repair works on the power lines over a 33kV high-tension tower, suspected to have been struck by lightning.
Lau Kim Swee, chief executive officer of Syarikat Sesco Bhd – the utility arm of Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) – remarked: “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to the residents of Marudi and we 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 at 6pm on Saturday and power supply to the area had been progressively restored, until stable connection reached all the affected areas at 7.10pm.
Repair works included replacements of broken conductors and cracked insulators.
“We are glad that despite the difficult weather, water condition and terrains, the team was able to restore supply safely. With safety being a top priority for us at SEB, the team was only allowed to start work after everything was deemed safe,” said Lau.
Prior to re-energisation of the lines, most parts of Marudi were provided with electricity through 10 mobile generator sets to provide temporary supply to critical facilities and as many residential areas as possible.
Following the interruption at 4pm last Thursday, SEB 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, SEB technical team had to wade through chest-high water over swampy and muddy terrains, caused by torrential thunderstorm, before reaching the site at 4am on Friday – 12 hours after the outage struck.
Lau added: “We appreciate the team’s efforts in overcoming these challenges and doing the necessary rectification works to restore supply as safely and as soon as possible.”
Regular patrol works are done to inspect the 44km power lines that transmit electricity from Marudi Junction sub-station to Marudi.
The power lines traverse forested areas and also private oil palm plantation estates, obstructing smooth access in the event of a fault.