of these dams, which threaten to displace tens of thousands of Sarawak natives and flood hundreds of square miles of Sarawak's precious tropical rainforests. Technical specifications The permanent dam components are as follows: Main dam Maximum height above foundation of 205 m, and crest length of 750 m, volume of fill is 16,710,000 m3. Crest elevation is 235 m above sea level (ASL), maximum flood level is 232 m, operating levels maximum 228 m and minimum 195 m. Reservoir area at 228 m ASL is 695 km2, and with a catchment area of 14,750 km2. Gross storage volume is 43,800 million cubic meters. Power intake structure – 8 bays with 16 roller gates. Gated spillway – gated concrete weir with chute and flip bucket, with capacity of 15,000 cubic meters per second. Power tunnels – 8 tunnels of 8.5 m diameter each with lengths of 760 m each. Powerhouse Surface powerhouse, with 4-level measuring 250 m length × 48 m width × 48 m height with 8 penstocks to powertrains comprising 8 vertical-shaft Francis turbines of 300 MW each, 8 air-cooled generators of 360 MVA each and 8 oil-immersed transformers of 360 MVA each. Transmission lines There are four major transmission line sections: 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. The three further sections consist of a bipolar HVDC 500 kV line. The first section of this line running from Similajau Static Inverter Plant to Kampung Pueh on Borneo will be implemented as overhead lines with a length of 670 km. The next section is the submarine cable between Kampung Pueh to Tanjung Leman, Johor. It will have a length of 670 km. It is planned to be implemented by 3 or 4 parallel cables each with a transmission capacity of 700 MW. 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. As part of the transmission works two converter stations will be built at Bakun and Tanjung Tenggara. The HVDC lines will connect to the National Grid, Malaysia operated by Tenaga Nasional Berhad. Revival of submarine cable component The revived submarine cable portion is to transmit the electricity generated at Bakun Dam in Borneo to Peninsular Malaysia, possibly by 2012. The