KOTA KINABALU: Several districts in eastern Sabah experienced power supply disruption starting this afternoon because the Kolopis-Segaliud intermediate connection line in Ranau being installed tripped due to a 'transient fault'.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mohd Yaakob Jaafar said the supply disruption occurred on line number 1 of the 275kV Kolopis-Segaliud intermediate connection when Sabah Electricity was carrying out restoration in the final phase of transferring conductors from the Emergency Restoration System (ERS) temporary tower to the newly completed permanent tower for line number 2.

"At the time of the incident, only line number 1 was affected, supplying 138MW of electricity to eastern Sabah.

"Investigation work to identify the cause of the power trip is being carried out and the technical team of Sabah Electricity will continue with on-site inspection tomorrow due to (current prevailing) bad weather and heavy rain that is blocking the access route along the line," he said in a statement here today.

He said, however, the electricity supply to the affected districts, namely Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau, was fully restored at 5.24 pm today.

"The restoration of supply was carried out in stages starting at 2.03 pm and Sabah Electricty appreciates the patience and concern, while apologising to all consumers on the east coast of Sabah who were affected," he added.

Since March, Sabah Electricity has accelerated the implementation of the replacement of two 275kV towers on the Kolopis-Segaliud transmission line in Ranau district that were damaged (rendered unstable) due to soil movement, to ensure stable continuity of electricity supply to eastern Sabah.

Efforts to speed up the replacement work were made possible with help from the state government together with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).