26 November 2001 (Business Times)

SMALL returns, high investment cost and limited customer base are some ofthe reasons why the renewable energy sector is not getting the desiredattention from locals, said Tenaga SPL Sdn Bhd’s managing director DrSalim Sairan.He said although numerous incentives have been provided by the Governmentto encourage more participation in the sector, the number is still small.“The sector is still new. In the current economic conditions, not manyplayers are willing to venture into something which they are not familiarwith,” he told Business Times in an interview.To date, two out of four companies, Jana Landfill Sdn Bhd and Bumi BiomassSdn Bhd, have signed the renewable energy electricity purchase agreement(Repa) with Tenaga Nasional Bhd for a period of 15 years and 21 yearsrespectively.The other two companies, one based in Sabah, are expected to conclude theRepa with the national utility giant by the end of the year.Another factor that stopped industry players from venturing into therenewable energy sector, according to Dr Salim, is the small output bythese power plants, which is between 5MW and 10MW, compared with theconventional plants.“It is small because the industry has yet to identify how long theseresources can meet the demand to produce electricity. Currently, ourresources are landfill gas and biomass, which is an oil palm waste,” hesaid, adding that this is not an economies of scale project.A study by Tenaga SPL shows that Malaysia will be able to produce about600MW of electricity using oil palm waste by 2005 and 2006, and by thenthe industry will require about RM2.7 billion investment to set up thepower plants.The country also has the potential to produce about 50MW of electricity bythen using the landfill gas. Malaysia currently has 200 landfill gassites.“A feasibility study has to be conducted by the regulators with the helpof industry players to see the full potential of our 200 landfill gassites,” Dr Salim urged.As for Jana Landfill, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga SPL,the company is implementing a 2MW landfill gas power plant at Air HitamSanitary Landfill in Puchong, Selangor.This, according to Dr Salim, is to support the Government’s initiatives onfifth fuel policy using renewable energy to meet the 5 per cent of thetotal energy production.The company will also be signing a strategic partnership agreement withWorldwide Land Sdn Bhd, which will be the operator of the landfill site.Dr Salim said before the inception of this project, a detailed feasibilitystudy was jointly conducted by Tenaga SPL and Worldwide Land.Worldwide Land has been granted by the State Government of Selangor tooperate, maintain and manage the 58ha of the landfill site in Puchong.The feasibility study was mainly funded through the Malaysian ElectricitySupply Trust Account under the Ministry of Energy, Communications andMultimedia as well as a grant obtained from the UK Government’s Foreignand Commonwealth Office under the Climate Change Challenge Fund.The landfill gas power project will be implemented in two phases. Thefirst phase will be the implementation of a 2MW plant while the second isan additional 3MW.Currently, there are more than 1.5 million tonnes of waste alreadydeposited at the Puchong site. Landfill gas is generated through thenatural decomposition process of municipal waste at the landfill site.The main component of landfill gas are methane (between 50 and 60 percent) and carbon dioxide (between 30 and 40 per cent).The cost for the 2MW plant is estimated at RM10 million and theconstruction is expected to begin soon. It is scheduled for commercialoperation in August 2002.The major components of the plant are gas extraction and collectionsystem, spark ignition power generating plants, control equipment andinterconnection system.Special network of polyethylene pipes will be laid to extract and collectthe landfill gas. The gas is then piped to the power generating plant, inwhich gas filtering, treatment and combustion will take place.The gas engine is equipped with a generator whereby electricity isproduced and then connected to the national grid through a nearby 11kilovolt (kV) interconnection system.This landfill gas power generation project is a realisation towards usingrenewable energy as the fifth fuel and the Government’s goal of achieving5 per cent of the total power produced from renewable energy.This plant is also a showcase that renewable energy from landfill gas is acost-effective alternative fuel energy resource.The landfill gas project also contributes to the community as it mitigatesemission of greenhouse gases as well as reduces the odour level insurrounding areas.