KUALA LUMPUR: It is highly possible that power supply from the Bakun hydro power plant may not come to Peninsular Malaysia by 2015 – the reason why Tenaga Nasional Bhd is mulling the idea of expanding its Janamanjung coal plant to meet future demand, its president and chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamed Noh, said here yesterday.“We think power from Bakun cannot be delivered to Peninsular Malaysia by 2015 due to recent developments under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) that need the power supply,” he said.
“We need new capacity with the current demand trend that we are experiencing,” he said, adding that the recent demand peak was 14,983 MW, way above TNB’s anticipation of 14,500 MW.
“Hence, expanding the coal plant is the most economical way,” Che Khalib told reporters here yesterday.
He, however was not able to give details of the possible expansion, saying it was still at a very preliminary stage.
Nevertheless, he said the plant is expected to be more costlier as super critical technology will be used in line with the government’s aim to reduce carbon emission.
“It will be green technology that will have minimal impact to the environment.”
The consultant for the preliminary study of the plan will be appointed this week, and the process will take six months for them to study and come back to TNB, he added.
OSK in its research note yesterday said that the power sector is abuzz with talk that TNB plans to expand the generation capacity of its coal-fired power plant in Manjung, Perak.
Called phases four and five, OSK said TNB will seek to increase capacity by 2000MW (1000 x 2) from its current capacity of 2100MW (700MW x 3), at an estimated cost of at least RM6-RM7 billion. The Manjung facility is under its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tenaga Janamanjung Sdn Bhd.
TNB is expected to call for the appointment of a consultant or owner’s engineer, after which the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) tenders will be called, assessed and a contractor appointed, possibly by next year.
“We believe the Manjung expansion is indeed a possibility, with other coal plant expansion possibly at Tanjung Bin in south Johor as well as Jimah in Negeri Sembilan. Gas will still likely be in short supply until the LNG regasification plant is built and LNG imports begin in 2013.”
Even then, if gas is bought at international prices, gas fired generation will cost more than coal fired generation and TNB may prefer new coal generation. — Bernama