LONDON: Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg led a state government delegation to visit the Drax Power Plant located in North Yorkshire, England on Monday afternoon, local time.
Also accompanying the Premier of Sarawak was his Deputy, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Sarawak State Secretary, Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment, Datuk Len Talif Salleh, Chief Political Secretary to the Sarawak Premier, Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, and Sarawak State Financial Secretary, Dato Sri Dr Wan Lizozman Wan Omar.
Also present were Sarawak Deputy State Secretary (Economic Planning and Development), Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel, Chairman of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), Tan Sri Datuk Amar (Dr) Abdul Aziz Dato Husain, Group Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Energy Berhad, Datuk Sharbini Suhaili, and Permanent Secretary to the Sarawak Ministry of Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Abang Ahmad Abang Morni.
Soon after their arrival, the Sarawak Premier and his delegation members were given a briefing by Drax Plant Director, Bruce Heppenstall.
Energy in the Drax Power Plant is generated through wood pellets with a generating capacity of 3.9 gigawatts.
The power plant is the second largest producer of sustainable biomass globally, and the United Kingdom’s (UK) largest source of renewable power by output.
In addition, Drax is progressing options for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Speaking when met after the work visit, Datuk Patinggi Abang Zohari said that the Sarawak government will make calculations in utilising biomass waste by converting it into efficient energy.
"We have reviewed, and we see that there are many new things that we can learn from the briefing earlier and also in our visit. Here they produce approximately 3.9 gigawatts (of power) and they use wood residues imported from Canada and the United States.
"Perhaps the cost is high due to logistics costs but what is necessary is that we understand the technology to utilise biomass waste by converting it into energy, and when we return (to Sarawak) later, we will do the calculations," he said.
In the meantime, the Premier of Sarawak said, the state government sees a great potential in converting biomass waste through fuel known as wood pellets in producing renewable energy.
"If we have a new and efficient energy plant, Sarawak can produce renewable energy from our existing waste sources, but I see that in general we can generate power through biomass waste by converting it into energy.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Premier is scheduled to speak at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Semiconductor Summit in the House of Commons, UK Parliament on Tuesday.
He will also witness the signing and exchange of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SMD Semiconductor and UK-based CSA Catapult.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Zohari and the Sarawak Government delegation will then leave for Poland to attend the Hydrogen Technology Forum and participate in the 'Regions for the Planet' debate session. -UKASnews
