Sarawak Energy Berhad and Sembcorp Utilities are advancing commercial and technical development of a 1-gigawatt renewable power export from Sarawak to Singapore, with three multi-jurisdictional regulatory approvals now secured and a front-end engineering design study underway through cable supplier Prysmian. Disclosed by Sarawak’s Utility and Telecommunication Minister Datuk Seri Julaihi Narawi at the State Legislative Assembly on May 18, the update marks the most detailed official progress statement on the project since EMA’s conditional approval in October 2025, and comes alongside parallel pipeline disclosures for Brunei and Peninsular Malaysia.
Key Facts At A Glance
- Sarawak Energy Berhad and Sembcorp Utilities received conditional approval from Singapore’s Energy Market Authority on October 17, 2025 to import approximately 1 GW of low-carbon electricity from Sarawak
- The project received National Security Council Malaysia clearance in December 2025 and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore approval in February 2026; commercial and technical work has since commenced
- The subsea cable route spans approximately 720 to 750 kilometers from Tondong, Sarawak to Changi, Singapore, traversing the Muri-Midai corridor in Indonesian waters, and will be underwritten and built by Singapore
- Prysmian Group, selected as preferred cable supplier in March 2025, is expected to complete the front-end engineering design study in 2026; the project is targeted for operations around 2035
- A separate 30 MW export to Brunei is at the Power Exchange Agreement negotiation stage, with commencement expected in early 2027
- Federal government approval has been granted for a preliminary study on at least 1 GW of exports to Peninsular Malaysia, using the same Muri-Midai corridor, with Sarawak Energy Berhad and Tenaga Nasional Berhad at the early study stage
- Sarawak currently exports up to 230 MW to West Kalimantan, Indonesia since 2016, and 30 MW to Sabah since December 2025
Sarawak’s Grid Export Footprint
Sarawak Energy Berhad entered 2026 as the only Malaysian utility with active cross-border power exports to multiple jurisdictions. The state-owned developer has been exporting up to 230 MW of hydropower to West Kalimantan, Indonesia since 2016 under the Trans Borneo Power Grid interconnection, a Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area priority project supported by the Asian Development Bank. A 30 MW export to Sabah commenced December 13, 2025, via the 326-kilometer Lawas-Mengalong 275-kilovolt transmission line, with a scale-up to 300 MW planned. The Sarawak-Sabah link was officially energized on January 24, 2026 and is treated by BIMP-EAGA as the foundational eastern leg of the ASEAN Power Grid.
Minister Julaihi’s May 18 ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly formalized the current status of three additional export corridors: Singapore, Brunei, and Peninsular Malaysia. Together, these would take Sarawak’s export pipeline from its current combined capacity of roughly 260 MW to a potential ceiling above 2.3 GW if all projects reach operation.
The Singapore Project: Regulatory Pathway And Infrastructure
The 1 GW Sarawak-Singapore project is the most commercially advanced of the three new corridors. Singapore’s Energy Market Authority granted conditional approval to the Sembcorp Utilities and Sarawak Energy Berhad consortium on October 17, 2025, alongside a ceremony held at the 43rd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, witnessed by Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof and Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Energy Tan See Leng. SP PowerInterconnect serves as technical partner to the consortium.
Malaysia’s National Security Council approval followed in December 2025, and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore issued its clearance in February 2026. The two regulatory clearances opened the path to active commercial negotiations and technical development, which the minister confirmed are now underway. The federal government has separately approved the cable route: approximately 720 kilometers of subsea cable from Tondong in Sarawak to Changi in Singapore, routed through the Muri-Midai corridor in Indonesian waters, with roughly 20 percent of the cable run in Malaysian waters.
Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian, selected as preferred supplier in March 2025, confirmed that the route involves two cables, each approximately 750 kilometers long, at a maximum water depth of around 100 meters. Prysmian’s CCO Detlev Waimann stated in October 2025 that the project would become the longest submarine power interconnector in the Asian region. A front-end engineering design study, which will include seabed surveys and materials optimization, is expected to be completed in 2026. Operations are targeted around 2035.
The power to be exported to Singapore is to be generated predominantly from certified sustainable hydropower in Sarawak, to receive certification under the Hydropower Sustainability Standard. Singapore is bearing full infrastructure costs: the cable is to be built and financed by Singapore, with Sarawak selling electricity only. Tariff terms remain commercially confidential. Julaihi confirmed discussions between Sarawak Energy and Singapore are “very advanced.”
For Singapore, the project forms a direct contribution toward its national target of 6 GW of low-carbon electricity imports by 2035. The Sarawak 1 GW approval, combined with an earlier conditional approval for 1.2 GW from Vietnam also held by Sembcorp Utilities, gives Sembcorp alone 2.2 GW in approved or conditionally approved import capacity, according to the company’s October 2025 SGX filing.
The Brunei Corridor: Power Exchange Agreement In Negotiation
Sarawak’s export plan to Brunei is at an earlier regulatory stage. A memorandum of understanding between the governments of Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam was signed on September 3, 2025. As of May 18, the two sides are negotiating a Power Exchange Agreement, a step required before grid interconnection work can proceed. The planned infrastructure is a 275-kilovolt high-voltage alternating current overhead transmission line from the Tudan substation in Miri, Sarawak, to Kuala Belait and Lumut in Brunei, connecting the two grids via a cross-border overhead corridor rather than a subsea route. Julaihi confirmed the initial export target is at least 30 MW, with the project still at the feasibility stage. Electricity exports to Brunei are expected to commence in early 2027.
Peninsular Malaysia: Federal Approval, Preliminary Studies
The Peninsular Malaysia export corridor is the earliest in development. The federal government has approved the proposal for an interconnection of at least 1 GW from Sarawak to West Malaysia, and Sarawak Energy Berhad and Tenaga Nasional Berhad have commenced a preliminary study. The cable route would use the same Muri-Midai corridor planned for the Singapore project; Julaihi said it remains technically unclear whether the two cables could share the same route or whether a separate installation would be required. As with the Singapore project, the buyer bears infrastructure costs. Commercial terms are under negotiation and Julaihi stated they will remain confidential until Sarawak Energy decides to announce them.
Capacity And Strategic Positioning
Sarawak Energy Berhad is Malaysia’s largest renewable energy developer and holds autonomous energy legislation under Sarawak’s state energy laws, separate from the Energy Commission framework applicable to Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. The utility’s current hydropower capacity stands at approximately 3,500 MW, with plans to expand to 4,800 MW; the state is also targeting 1,500 MW of solar capacity. Sarawak has committed to maintaining at least 60 percent renewable capacity mix by 2030.
ASEAN’s Interconnection Masterplan Study (AIMS III, 2021) estimated that connecting ASEAN’s 10 member states’ electricity networks would require more than US$16 billion in infrastructure. The Sarawak-Singapore subsea cable alone is one of the most technically complex components of the ASEAN Power Grid’s eastern system, alongside the BIMP-EAGA framework that underpins the Borneo Grid’s connectivity from West Kalimantan to Sabah to Brunei to the Philippines.