National Grid (Malaysia) - Major Incidents

Major Incidents

• Following a major system collapse in 3 August 1996, TNB has undertaken joint studies with Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to develop a controlled islanding scheme to prevent the occurrence of a complete system collapse by ensuring continuity of supply to the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan and Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). The islanding scheme would basically be a "last line of defense" after all the normal emergency countermeasures such as underfrequency load shedding have operated.
• In 13 January 2005 a power blackout on northern peninsular Malaysia occurred when a transmission line near Serendah, Selangor, had broken down. In response to this, the Central Area Reinforcement (CAR) project was approved to ensure security of power supply to the Klang Valley.
• In 22 April 2008 Sabah had the worst power outage since the commissioning of the east west power grid. Suspected vandals are believed to have removed steel pieces of a 132kV transmission tower that led to its collapse, triggering a major power blackout. An emergency temporary tower was to be built immediately but it also collapsed during construction killing a TNB personnel. On 1 May 2008, another tower collapsed due to missing structural members of the tower that were suspected of being stolen.