Abang Johari delivers his keynote address at SIEW2025 in Singapore today.

KUCHING (Oct 27): Sarawak’s plan to export one gigawatt (1GW) of green energy to Singapore is expected to commence around 2032, once the undersea transmission cable linking both regions is completed, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Speaking to reporters after delivering his keynote address at Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2025, Abang Johari said the project had moved into its implementation planning phase following conditional approval granted by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) last month.

“We expect the project to begin around 2032 once the undersea cable is completed because our electricity will have to be transmitted through the seabed.

“This will be a major project, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, as it involves power transmission from Sarawak to Singapore via an undersea cable,” said Abang Johari.

He said discussions have also been held with Singapore’s ministers to finalise the implementation mechanism of the project.

“Alhamdulillah, everything seems well organised and I would like to thank Sarawak Energy staff who resolved several technical issues that have now been agreed upon between us and Singapore,” he said.

Abang Johari said the undersea cable system will be developed by a consortium with participation from Malaysia and Singapore, and financed by the consortium alongside international financial institutions.

“This is one of the largest projects in the Asia-Pacific region involving Sarawak and Malaysia working closely with Singapore.

“If this project succeeds, and I believe it will, it will set a precedent that allows Sarawak to supply energy to the whole ASEAN region,” he added.

The Premier said the renewable energy export plan forms part of Sarawak’s broader strategy to position itself as Borneo’s clean energy hub, supported by expanding power generation from hydro, solar, and biomass sources.

“We have set our target to generate 10 gigawatts of power by 2030 and 15 gigawatts by 2035.

“With this capacity, we will have a surplus of energy which we are already sharing with West Kalimantan, and soon we will connect our grid to Sabah and Brunei Darussalam,” he said.