- The Star reported that the Sarawak government is going ahead with the development of two major hydroelectric dams under its SCORE project.

- Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said the state is proposing to build Baram and Balleh dams with installed capacities of 1,200MW and 1,295MW respectively.

- This would effectively bump up Sarawak’s hydro capacity to nearly 6,000MW. The target is for Sarawak to have potential hydropower resources totalling 20,000MW, with another 8,000MW coming from coal.

- We understand that the Baram dam would be a roller compacted concrete type with its crest elevation set at 185MW.

- On the other hand, Baleh would be a 204-metre high concrete faced rockfill dam with a gated chute channel spillway, an intake structure, five power tunnels as well as a power station housing five generator units.

- Sarawak Energy Bhd’s (SEB) corporate communication manager Ahadiah Zamhari was recently quoted as indicating that the Baram dam’s social environmental impact assessment (EIA) study is in the final stage, and a report is near completion.

- We are encouraged by this development. The roll-out of both dams will likely act as a positive lever to boost SCORE’s energy capacity to meet increasing power requirements of energy-intensive industries.

- At the moment, power from the existing 2,400MW Bakun and 944MW Murum dams have been pre-sold.

- While the exact timeline remains unclear, we expect both projects to be rolled-out within the next one to two years. This should have a spillover effect for local Sarawakian contractors.

- Notably, Sarawak Cable (BUY, FV: RM2.33/share) could be a key beneficiary of more power transmission lines that SEB would likely need to construct to meet future power load capacity. Select contractors such as Hock Seng Lee (BUY, FV: RM2.40/share) and KKB Engineering (HOLD, FV: RM2.71/share) may also benefit from a portion of civil-related works for the dams.

- Likewise, Bintulu Port (unrated) could benefit from increased throughput capacity once the new Samalaju port is ready. 

Source: AmeSecurities