Introduction

The Department of Electrical Services (DES) of the Ministry of Development is the government agency responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Brunei Darussalam. DES also sets the standards for the electricity usage in public buildings and oversees their overall electro-mechanical maintenance.

The country's energy policies provide a reliable, continuous, and safe supply of electric power to all consumers. Electricity is supplied by DES and the Berakas Power Company Sdn Bhd (BPC), an independent power utility. Metering and cable supply had been privatized to make them more competitive and efficient.

The country's electrical power system has 3 independent networks, namely: Network 1 which supplies power to Brunei Muara, Tutong and Belait District; Network 2 which provides power in the Temburong District and Network 3 in selected load centres in the Brunei Muara District.

DES is the operator of Networks 1 and 2, which have four generating plants with total installed capacity of 449 MW. 

BPC is the operator of Network 3 with three (3) generating power plants.  The total installed capacity is 259 MW and are inter-connected by a triangular network which is separated from the DES grid. 

The three independent power generation, transmission and distribution networks are not interconnected. 

To date, about 99.66% of the population has been provided with electricity from the grids.  About 1,000 people in remote rural villages are not enjoying the benefits of grid electricity.  Small portable generator sets are used to generate electricity.