Rural Electrification in Sabah: Which Villages Still Lack 24-Hour Power?

How many Sabah villages have electricity?

SE-RAMP 2040 puts rural electrification in Sabah at 98.3% in 2021 and sets a target of 100% by 2030, meaning 24-hour electricity for every rural home.

Status as of September 2026: in June 2025 the chief executive of the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) said 96% rural electrification had been achieved. The two figures appear to be counted differently; we have not found an official explanation. In August 2025 he said the state government had set up a special committee, using 2022 census data, to coordinate the push to 100% by 2030.

How do remote villages get power?

There are two main routes, according to SE-RAMP:

• BELB (Bekalan Elektrik Luar Bandar): the federal Rural Electricity Supply programme under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. It either extends distribution lines to a village or, where that is not economical, builds an alternative system such as a solar hybrid station or micro-hydro. It also installs village street lights (Lampu Jalan Kampung). Village profiles collected through district offices go to SESB, which plans supply for 2021 to 2030.
• Community mini-grids: Sabah NGOs including TONIBUNG, PACOS Trust, Forever Sabah and Green Empowerment have developed toolkits to plan and build renewable mini-grids, including micro-hydro, for a target of 200 remote villages far from the current and planned grid. SE-RAMP says this work fills gaps where BELB faces difficulties.

Under SE-RAMP's Strategy B4, the Energy Commission of Sabah and the federal rural development ministry lead, with SESB, UPEN Sabah and NGOs as stakeholders.

Where are Sabah's off-grid power stations?

SE-RAMP counts 48 off-grid stations across Sabah that are not connected to the main grid: 33 solar hybrid stations, 11 rural stations, 2 minor stations and 2 mini-hydro plants.

Source: SE-RAMP 2040, printed p.111. The list reflects the plan's 2023 snapshot; some stations may since have been connected to the grid.

Which villages get connected first?

SE-RAMP describes a three-step method for deciding how to supply unelectrified villages:

1. The community: number of households, adults and children, village land size and population density.
2. The technical challenge: distance to the main grid (transmission and distribution lines needed) and the terrain: mountains, islands or deep jungle.
3. The economics: economic activity in the village and the cost per household of connecting it to the grid.

In practice this means small, remote or island villages are more likely to get an off-grid system than a grid line.

What goes wrong with off-grid stations?

SE-RAMP lists problems SESB has faced with its solar hybrid stations:

• Short battery life: manufacturers recommend replacing the batteries after about five to seven years.
• Diesel costs: as batteries degrade, the stations burn more diesel. In 2018, nine solar hybrid stations used 1.97 million litres of diesel costing RM4.33 million.
• Technical support: it is hard to get manufacturers' help to troubleshoot inverters and renewable systems.
• Getting there: maintenance crews face long journeys, for example when the village jetty is far from the station.

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