The country has set a renewable energy target of 10% by 2035. Given its limited geographical landscape and renewable energy resource potential, interconnections with Malaysia and Indonesia could potentially offer significant benefits.

Planned development, including cross-border integration

Brunei Darussalam has no specific PDP. However, a Sarawak-Brunei Darussalam interconnection was included in the 2010 ASEAN Interconnection Masterplan Study (AIMS) II. Should this interconnection be developed, Brunei would most likely be a net importer of electricity.

In addition, the Asian Development Bank has proposed a Sarawak–Brunei–Sabah interconnection. If developed, Sarawak Malaysia would be able to sell power to Sabah Malaysia by wheeling power through Brunei’s power network. This would avoid the need to invest in dedicated transmission lines linking the two Malaysian states. For such a transaction to function, a wheeling charge arrangement would need to be developed.

Indonesia (West Kalimantan)

Indonesia’s Kalimantan region is abundant in coal and natural gas reserves. As such, it relies on coal generation for a third of its electricity needs, and natural gas for approximately a quarter. The single largest fuel source, however, is oil-based generation, which makes up almost half of power capacity and which primarily serves remote communities.

As in the rest of Indonesia, responsibility for developing and maintaining the power system on Kalimantan rests with PLN (see Sumatra section above for more detail). PLN is organised as three separate entities in Kalimantan: PLN West Kalimantan, PLN South and Central Kalimantan, and PLN East and North Kalimantan. Each is responsible for transmission, substation, distribution, load and customer management as well as the small power generators (from IPPs). Constructing interconnections among Kalimantan’s three subsystems is a priority for PLN.

Bengkayang in West Kalimantan is interconnected with Malaysia (specifically, Mambong in Sarawak) via a 275 kV line that was commissioned on 31 December 2015. The 128 km line has a maximum transfer capacity of 230 MW, and is used primarily to enhance reliability and to serve critical load. The line is widely regarded as beneficial to both parties, and is also seen as having improved economic conditions in West Kalimantan. This interconnection also displaced between 50 MW and 130 MW of diesel power in West Kalimantan with electricity from Sarawak, which is 75% from hydroelectricity. This translates into cost savings as well as lower carbon emissions for PLN.

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