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Tanjung Batu Laut Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts18
Sources reviewed10
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The best-supported project is the paired Kampung Tanjung Batu Darat and Tanjung Batu Laut solar-battery-diesel system near Sandakan/Kinabatangan, Sabah—not confidently the same-named Tawau locality in the archived record. It was delivered under Malaysia's rural electrification program around 2010 for approximately 127-128 households. A later engineering table reports 200 kWp PV, approximately 675 kWh of batteries, and two diesel sets rated 270 and 350 kW, while Optimal Power Solutions' announcement gives only aggregate power-conversion figures across three separate Sabah sites. The record must avoid assigning those portfolio totals to Tanjung Batu Laut alone.

Research status
Contemporary 2011-2012 reporting describes the system operating successfully and converting the two villages from six-to-eight-hour household diesel service to continuous electricity. A 2015 risk-management study still treated it as an operating utility PV-battery-diesel case. Current Malaysian records confirm a Kampung Tanjung Batu Laut in Sandakan, but no credible post-2015 site-specific output, maintenance, battery replacement, or outage report was found. Current operation in July 2026 is therefore unverified, and the archived Tawau location should be marked as disputed rather than silently retained.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
4.27147, 117.87134
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Tanjung Batu Laut Microgrid?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Kampung Tanjung Batu Darat and Kampung Tanjung Batu Laut communities

Beneficiary villages, reported as approximately 127-128 connected houses in contemporary/project-study sources. [4][3]

Organization

Ministry of Rural and Regional Development Malaysia (KKLW)

Government sponsor/procuring authority under the Bekalan Elektrik Luar Bandar rural electrification program. [2][3]

Organization

One Alternate Energy Sdn. Bhd.

Lists completion of solar-hybrid system management work for four Kinabatangan villages in September 2010 with SESB as end user; the public milestone does not itemize its exact Batu Laut equipment scope. [7]

Organization

Optimal Power Solutions

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Optimal Power Solutions Pty Ltd.

Power-conditioning, control, system-integration, and remote-monitoring supplier across the Sabah project package that included Batu Darat/Laut. [2]

Organization

Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB)

Utility/end user associated with the rural hybrid project and responsible for Sabah electricity service; contemporary sources describe the solar hybrid as supplying the paired villages. [2][4][7]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

Storage
NA [1]
Photovoltaic capacity
A 2015 engineering table reports 200 kWp for the combined Kampung Tanjung Batu Darat and Laut project. This is the strongest located site-specific rating. [3]
Battery capacity
Approximately 675 kWh in the 2015 project table. Contemporary reporting identifies large lead-acid storage but does not provide maker, model, usable capacity, or replacement history. [3][5]
Diesel generation
The 2015 table reports one 270 kW and one 350 kW generator (620 kW aggregate). Generator manufacturer/model and whether both ratings are prime or standby were not found. [3]
Connections
Approximately 127-128 houses across the paired villages. An APEC case narrative gives roughly 200 people; the differing household/person figures may reflect partial or approximate counts and should not be forced into a household-size calculation. [4][3][5]
Service improvement
Continuous/24-hour supply replaced individual diesel generators that had generally run about six to eight hours per day. [4][5][6]
Portfolio-level OPS package
Across three Sabah locations—not Batu Laut alone—OPS announced 430 kW of PV, at least 50% expected fuel reduction, and 710 kW of proprietary inverter capacity: two 250 kVA hybrid power conditioners, two 30 kVA hybrid power conditioners, and four 100 kVA grid-export conditioners. [2]
Location
Official 2024 spatial records list Kampung Tanjung Batu Laut in Sandakan, matching the engineering literature's Sandakan/Kinabatangan project. Malaysia's geographic gazette also lists a separate same-named locality in Tawau, explaining but not validating the archived location. [8][9][3]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Hybrid power conditioning

Optimal Power Solutions

OPS proprietary hybrid power conditioners and grid-export conditioners were supplied across the three-site Sabah package. The public announcement does not map a particular inverter count/model to Batu Darat/Laut, so the 710 kW portfolio rating is not assigned to this plant. [2]

02

Photovoltaic array

Model not publicly disclosed

Approximately 200 kWp site-specific array. No reliable module manufacturer/model was found. [3]

03

Battery storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Large lead-acid battery bank reported at approximately 675 kWh. Chemistry is described in the APEC case narrative, while exact cell and inverter specifications remain undisclosed. [5][3]

04

Diesel generator sets

Model not publicly disclosed

One approximately 270 kW and one approximately 350 kW unit in the engineering table. No supportable maker/model attribution was located. [3]

05

Monitoring and control

Optimal Power Solutions

Computerized solar/battery/diesel dispatch and remote monitoring supplied as part of the integration package. [2][5]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Dispatch architecture

    PV supplies daytime load and charges the battery; computerized controls start diesel generation when solar and stored energy are insufficient, enabling continuous power without running village diesel sets continuously. [5][6]

  • Location correction

    Contemporaneous and engineering sources place the paired Batu Darat/Laut project in Sandakan/Kinabatangan. Because a distinct Kampung Tanjung Batu Laut also exists in Tawau, the legacy 'Tawau' label is ambiguous and should not be treated as confirmed project geolocation. [10][3][8][9]

  • Portfolio-allocation warning

    OPS's 430 kW solar and 710 kW inverter figures cover Batu Darat/Laut, Kuamut, and Kuamut Seberang collectively. Allocating the full package to this record would materially overstate its equipment. [2]

  • Early outcomes

    Reporting after commissioning described 24-hour household electricity, better lighting and refrigeration, and reduced reliance on individual gensets. These are qualitative early outcomes rather than audited lifetime performance. [4][6]

  • Current-data gap

    No credible source located after the 2015 engineering study reports site-specific energy production, diesel savings, battery replacement, outages, customer count, or whether the original controls remain in service. Present operation is therefore unresolved. [3]

Provenance

10 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Improving Risk Management for Utility PV-Battery-Diesel Mini-grid Projects in Sabah, Malaysia

    Hazelton, Bruce and MacGill / engineering conference paper · Secondary research

  4. [4]
    Solar hybrid system lights up two villages in Sabah

    The Star via Eco-Business · Secondary research

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
    Solar hybrid system for rural Sabah

    Energy Commission of Malaysia · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Our Milestones

    One Alternate Energy Sdn. Bhd. · Primary source

  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    Sabah Geographical Names Gazetteer

    MyGeoName / Government of Malaysia · Primary source

  10. [10]
    Tanjung Batu Laut - archived legacy record

    Microgrid Projects via Internet Archive · Archived source

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