Malaysia commissions its first big BESS at the Sejingkat power plant

Sarawak Energy has commissioned a 60 MW / 82 MWh battery energy storage system at the Sejingkat power plant near Kuching, described as Malaysia's first utility-scale battery. Energised in December 2024 and formally launched in February 2025, it provides spinning reserve along with voltage and frequency regulation, and serves as a testbed for integrating more renewable energy into the Sarawak grid.

Local reporting put the investment at about RM128 million for a system of 22 containerised battery units. It sits at the ageing Sejingkat coal plant, which is being gradually phased out, giving the project a transition narrative as the state repurposes an older thermal site toward a cleaner, more flexible grid.

Sarawak runs an unusually green grid for Malaysia, led by large hydropower plants such as Bakun and Murum and backed by coal and gas. Batteries add fast-responding reserve and stability services that thermal and hydro plants deliver more slowly, and give the utility a way to absorb variable solar as it scales renewables.

Group chief executive Sharbini Suhaili said initiatives like the battery both safeguard supply reliability and strengthen the utility's ability to power communities. The state has signalled it may replicate storage at the Batang Ai hydro dam and deploy mobile battery units for rural areas, suggesting the Sejingkat system is the start of a wider rollout rather than a one-off. It aligns with Sarawak's Post COVID-19 Development Strategy, which names renewable energy as a route to high-income status by 2030.