KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), the state's electricity provider, has signed a USD$500mil (RM1.51bil) to provide 500 megawatts of power for 20 years to OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, which will be building a ferro-alloy smelting plant.

This is the largest investment made by OMH which is a Singapore-based company.

The company is a 80:20 joint venture between OM Holdings (OMH)group and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB).

Thursday's signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA) with OM Sarawak came two weeks after SEB inked a similar agreement to provide 270MW to Asia Mineral Ltd, another pioneer investor in Samalaju.

SEB chief executive officer Torstein Sale Sjotveit said the 500MW would represent nearly 80% of the firm's supply from the 944MW Murum dam currently being built.

Electricity for energy-intensive industries in Samalaju will first come from the 2,400MW Bakun dam.

He said the inking of the PPAs had proven wrong critics who had claimed that there would be a glut of power in Sarawak.

"SEB is committed to support and drive the SCORE (Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy) agenda.

"Being a catalyst for investments in SCORE and the state, SEB provides quality and affordable power," added Sjotveit at the signing ceremony here.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud witnessed the event.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/2/nation/20120202122019&sec=nation