| People


and future generations can enjoy this planet we call home. We, as the hydropower industry, can help. But we are still very traditional and tend to be a little preoccupied with ourselves. We need to get out of our echo chamber and unite our voices and make them loud enough to be heard far beyond the boundaries of our industry. That is the contribution I personally believe I can make.


Opportunities and challenges in Europe Climate change is not a challenge for a region. Climate change is a challenge for the world. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports, climate pledges from governments will fall well short without a doubling of hydropower capacity by 2050. As IEA Director Fatih Birol says: “Hydropower is


the forgotten giant of clean electricity, and it needs to be put squarely back on the agenda if countries are serious about meeting their net zero goals.” Taking action now is possible, it is in our hands


to move. However, in deregulated markets such as Europe, things may be a little more complex to implement. Although everyone agrees on the need for additional capacity, what most projects have in common, is the lack of a long-term vision to address the topic of profitability. Those and other roadblocks must be identified and addressed.


Key lessons


One of the biggest lessons for me was the illustration of how we can be successful as people faced with crisis and uncertainty. For me there are three aspects to this: 1. Set a clear goal and pursue it. Without a goal we cannot align the vectors of our actions. If we don’t have the discipline to pursue what we have said in the first place, intensity gets diluted and we will slow down or get lost on the way to our goal.


2. Play as a team. We are all natural beings; natural beings are only stable in a diverse environment where they can rely on each other. No one part of this system is good enough to survive on its own. When we are weak, we rely on the strong to pull us through but the strong in one instance may be the weak in another. Only if we watch out for each other and listen to each other can we make sure we have the biggest possible base to learn from.


3. Decide with data, empathy and experience. Data is the way that helps us understand what we cannot detect with our natural senses. We should listen to it just as we listen to sound with our ears or react to touch. Trusting our sensory system and the analysis it provides, coupled with experience of our past and empathy, has brought us to be successful as human beings.


Memorable project To me the Wudongde Hydropower plant in China is probably a prime example how we as an industry help address climate change. We were able to connect the power plant to the grid last summer. It is estimated that the clean energy produced by the Wudongde hydropower plant will save about 12 million tons of standard coal per year. Likewise, the power plant is expected to reduce


emissions of more than 30 million tons of carbon dioxide. These figures say everything about what hydropower can do and why I think this is a memorable project. ●


Sharbini Suhaili is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Energy. He is a member of the IHA Board and represents the Asia, East and Pacific region


In 2016, I was appointed the Group CEO of Sarawak Energy, a state-owned energy development and power utility group of companies. We are the primary electricity provider in Sarawak, a territory located on Malaysian Borneo and are implementing the government’s vision to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity through affordable, reliable and renewable energy. Sarawak Energy has been an IHA platinum member and sustainability partner since 2010 and I have been serving as an elected IHA Board member since 2017.


Election to the IHA Board Re-election to the IHA Board is reaffirmation of Sarawak Energy’s standing amongst established global hydropower players. It is a recognition of Sarawak Energy’s efforts and strong commitment to sustainable hydropower development in meeting the region’s need for affordable, reliable and renewable energy while progressing the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals for a sustainable energy future. It also gives us the leverage we need to continue advancing sustainable hydropower in the ASEAN region.


Since becoming a member of the IHA we have been advocating for sustainable hydropower by showcasing its benefits through active communication campaigns, in conferences and talks regionally and internationally as well as through mass media and our own media platforms. Being on the IHA Board is a testament to Sarawak Energy’s valued contribution and the importance of our voice on sustainable hydropower development worldwide - despite being relatively a smaller organisation from the island of Borneo compared with the other hydropower development companies in the IHA.


Left: Sharbini Suhaili, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Energy, says it is important to ensure that “sustainability is embedded in how we do business”. Hydropower remains the best option for us here in Sarawak, he adds, but a key challenge over the past decade has been the acceptance of large hydropower in the energy trilemma of affordability, reliability and sustainability


www.waterpowermagazine.com | Yearbook 2022 | 17


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