Hakim Hayat
Over 1,100 joined a programme to raise awareness on environmental sustainability through education tour of Tenaga Suria Brunei (TSB) solar farm since September.
The Ministry of Energy and Green Brunei with the support of Mitsubishi Corporation officially closed the programme yesterday in a ceremony that also saw a prize presentation to winners of art and video competitions organised by the Co-Curriculum Education Department of Ministry of Education (MoE).
Minister of Energy Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein was guest of honour for the closing ceremony held at Prime Minister’s Office.
Deputy Minister of Energy Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Matsatejo bin Sokiaw and Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam Eiji Yamamoto were also present.
General Manager of Mitsubishi Corporation Brunei Liaison Office Masaki Fujiwara expressed hopes that the programme had raised awareness among young people and the community, and that visitors gained benefits during the tour of Tenaga Suria Brunei.
Legislative Council member and co-founder of Green Brunei Yang Berhormat Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari said the programme was aimed at attracting interests of the young generation to venture into the renewable energy industry and research on climate change.
She said, “The visits allowed the participants to learn in depth about the operations and maintenance of the solar power plant.
“Throughout the visit, we received feedback, ranging from not realising that Brunei has already begun research in renewable energy to being hopeful that we will see more usage of solar power in Brunei to wanting to do their internship at TSB and simply being curious about the technology itself.”
The event also saw the launch of an educational book and video to create awareness on climate change and environmental matters.
Over 890 students from 34 schools took part in the art and video competitions to increase awareness and promote innovation and creativity among youth on climate change.
For the art competition, Nurzahin Zharfan bin Mohd Halim from Kasat Primary School won the boys category and Chiew Yu from Chung Hwa Middle School, Bandar Seri Begawan won the girls category. For the video competition, the top prize went to Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Secondary School in Tutong.
Tenaga Suria Brunei plant is an on-grid 1.2-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant commissioned in 2010. At present, the plant contributes about 0.14 per cent of the country’s total power generation capacity and is operated by the Department of Electrical Services under the Ministry of Energy.
