The southern region of Peninsular Malaysia was not 'targetted' for isolation and shut down by national power company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), but is always susceptible to outages of power because it does not generate sufficient electricity of its own, said an industry expert familiar with TNB's power system.

Whereas the southern states of Johore, Melaka, Negri Sembilan as well as the southern portion of Selangor are dependent on power generated in the central zone, in which Kapar's Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz power station is situated, states in th eastern zone can adequately derive energy from their own power stations, such as those in Pakar and Kenyir, he added.

States in the northern zone, likewise, were unaffected by Thursday's blackout because they are able to generate electricity adequate for their needs from such power stations as those in Perai, Temenggoh and Lumut, said the source who requested anonymity.

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz power station, near the port of Klang in Selangor, is the station that saw the tripping of the busbar and, thereby, the cut-off of power between the sources of generation and the transmission lines which convey electricity.

Tripping causes disconnection

However, the trip and the sudden loss of 1,700 megawatts did not in themselves cause the blackout in the three southern states together with the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, explained the source.

"The tripping of the busbar, as well as the standby busbar, caused the generation of power to be disconnected from the transmission of power. That loss led to an imbalance between the amount of power demanded in the southern region and the amount available to be supplied from the central region," he said.

"It was this 'disequilibrium' that led to the automatic and total shutdown of the power system in the south."

Whereas investigations are currently underway to determine the exact reasons why the busbar at Kapar tripped, local dailies reported TNB chief executive officer Che Khalib Mohd Noh as having said two power stations were being planned to secure power supply in the south.

"The power station to be built in Port Dickson and Tanjung Bin are among the measures taken to secure the power supply in the southern region," he told reporters Thursday.

No guarantee

Commenting on premier Abdullah Ahmad Bdawi's statement that he hoped TNB will make sure there will be no more blackouts, malaysiakini was told that his statement may result in 'unnecessary inconvenience', as blackouts will not in all probability be totally eliminated.

"Blackouts will probably occur again. There is no guarantee anywhere in the world that electricity will run without disruption. There will be damages. The problem lies in mitigating those damages as much as possible."

Aside from the extent of a power outage and the implications upon the running and operations of businesses and industries, an issue raised yesterday in several reports on Thursday's blackout pertained to the safety of people caught in transport systems.

There were several incidences of people caught in elevators as well as trains trapped in tunnels or on high ground midway between stations, raising questions of the safety mechanisms available.

The issue of available reserve water supply in cases of blackouts was also raised after Selangor water supply company Syabas announced a 24-hour disruption of water supply in Shah Alam, Cheras, Ampang, Semenyih and Damansara, whereas all areas affected by the outage Thursday saw power restored by five in the afternoon.