The Bakun Dam (Malay: Empangan Bakun) is an embankment dam located in Belaga District, Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the Balui River,[2] a tributary or source of the Rajang River and some sixty kilometres east of Belaga.

Even in Peninsular Malaysia, however, there is an oversupply of electricity, with Tenaga Nasional Berhad being locked into unfavourable purchasing agreements with Independent Power Producers.

Other members of the consortium are WCT Berhad, MTD Capital, Ahmad Zaki Resources, Syarikat Ismail and Edward & Sons.

A Ting-owned company, Global Upline, was rumoured to have been awarded a contract to undertake "biomass removal" in the flood basin.

[citation needed] Usage of the generated capacity was to have been by a proposed aluminium smelting plant in Similajau, near Bintulu, approximately 180 km inland from the dam.

[17] The project is a joint venture between Dubai Aluminum Co, Ltd (Dubal) and Gulf International Investment Group (GIIG), an investment fund jointly set up by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar, and Dubai-based international financier Mohamed Ali Alabbar.

Rio Tinto announced in August 2007 that they had signed a deal with Malaysian conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) to build an aluminium smelter.

The third is the revival of the submarine HVDC cable under the South China Sea to transmit electricity from Borneo to Peninsular Malaysia.

[21] Concurrently with the merger, the contractor Sime Engineering will takeover the ownership of the Bakun Dam project.

[22] Sime Engineering Sdn Bhd has filed a suit against AZRB over alleged breaches in the Malaysia–China Hydro joint venture agreement dated 12 June 2002 relating to the Bakun dam.

AZRB was served with a writ summons and statement of claim dated 12 Oct by Sime Engineering claiming "RM15.24 million for alleged breaches by AZRB of the Malaysia–China Hydro JVA" relating to Bakun hydroelectric project package CW2 – main civil works.

[25][26] The Bakun dam flooding commenced on 13 October 2010[27] with a faulty start[28] and will put 700 km2 of land underwater – equivalent to the size of Singapore.

The rainforest of this part of Southeast Asia has some of the highest rates of plant and animal endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this dam has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.

[29][30] Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents (mainly Kayan/Kenyah) of the indigenous peoples who lived in the area to be flooded.

[31][32] Concerns were raised also about such things as the relocation of people; the amount of virgin tropical rainforest that had to be cut down (230 km2); possible dam collapse issues; increase in diseases with waterborne vectors such as schistosomiasis, opisthorchiasis, malaria, and filariasis; and sediment accumulation shortening the useful lifespan of the dam.

[38] The permanent dam components are as follows: There are four major transmission line sections:[41] The first consists of an HVAC double circuit overhead line running over a distance of 160 km from Bakun Dam to Similajau Static Inverter Plant, situated east of Bintulu.

[44] The last section on the Malay Peninsula will consist of an overhead DC powerline running from Tanjung Leman to the static inverter plant at Bentong.

[citation needed] The revived submarine cable portion is to transmit the electricity generated at Bakun Dam in Borneo to Peninsular Malaysia, possibly by 2012.

The consortium partners' equity possibly will be Sime Darby (60%), Tenaga Nasional (20%) and the Malaysian Ministry of Finance (20%).

The proposed concept is for two 800 MW cables being laid about 660 km under the South China Sea from the Sarawak shore to Yong Peng on Peninsular Malaysia.

The contractor is rumoured to be Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB), a public listed company on the KLSE.

[46] On 7 January 2008, Sime Darby announced that they had appointed a financial adviser for the undersea power transmission project.

[47] After many delays, Sarawak Energy Berhad announced that the contract to build the submarine cable would be awarded in mid-2010 with international tenders to be called in early 2010.