Sabah cuts power outage duration by half, eyes sub-100 minute annual target by 2030
Chief Operating Officer Ir. Ts. Mohd Yusmanizam Mohd Yusof (pointing) inspecting one of the Distribution Automation system panels installed in Kundasang, Ranau.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's average electricity interruption duration has more than halved over the past decade, and Sabah Electricity is now aiming to reduce it even further — to under 100 minutes annually by 2030.
This goal is part of Sabah Electricity's strategic plan to enhance power reliability through the expansion of Distribution Automation systems, which have been progressively installed statewide since 2018.
Chief Operating Officer Mohd Yusmanizam Mohd Yusof said the state's System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) was around 500 minutes in 2014, but had dropped to 207 minutes by 2024.
'With continued investments in automation, grid upgrades, and cable insulation, we're confident we can bring SAIDI to below 100 minutes by 2030,' he said when met during a visit to one of the Distribution Automation system sites in Kundasang.
The system allows Sabah Electricity's control centre in Kota Kinabalu to remotely detect faults, isolate damaged segments, and restore supply to unaffected areas — without having to dispatch technicians to the scene.
Without the system, teams would need to travel physically to the site, often delayed by traffic or weather, resulting in longer power restoration times.
In the Ranau district — an interior highland area located about 110km east of Kota Kinabalu — the system has been operational since last year. The SAIDI there dropped from 230 minutes in the January-April period of 2024 to just 165 minutes this year, marking a nearly 30% reduction.
Kundasang, previously one of the worst-hit areas with up to 800 minutes of disruptions annually per customer, has also seen significant improvement.
So far, Sabah Electricity has installed Distribution Automation systems at 681 locations across Sabah and Labuan, including rural and interior areas such as Beluran, Tulupit and Kundasang. It aims to increase this to 1,250 locations by 2030.
Yusmanizam said the utility provider's long-term transformation strategy includes replacing bare overhead lines with insulated cables, alongside adopting new digital infrastructure.
'With these combined efforts, we hope to match the reliability levels of Peninsular Malaysia, where the SAIDI currently stands at about 50 minutes,' he added.
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