KUCHING: Alstom Power (Alstom), one of the world leaders in clean power generation, believes that a balanced energy mix is the answer for a reliable energy supply and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission.
Alstom president Philippe Joubert said recently that any economy should diversify its electricity generating sources to meet the growing demand as well as the need for environment protection.
He pointed out that even though power generated by fossil fuel would still dominate the world, renewable energies such as hydroelectricity and wind had slowly gained its importance in many economies.
“The latest market trend shows that 45 per cent of new technologies would be focused on low carbon emissions, which is clean power.
“Since the power sector is growing in Asian countries, it has become necessary for any economy to have a balanced energy mix for reliable energy supply and a reduction of CO2 emissions,” he reasoned.
According to the International Energy Agency, future world electricity demand was projected to grow at annual rate of 3.2 per cent in the period 2006 to 2015, slowing to two per cent a year on average in 2015 to 2030.
He said Alstom, being the only company with business activities in all power generation sectors, was capable to offer the best technology mix for plant operators to choose a balanced clean power portfolio.
“Alstom is one of the few companies in the world that has technologies in all types of power from fossil fuel, hydro, nuclear to wind. We provide the cleanest power solution, which is not only to set up new plants but also to clean the existing plants,” he said.
Services offered by the French company allowed power plants to reach a higher efficiency and decrease their emissions.
“For new plants, the best available technology for efficiency is the goal. Improved efficiency means a low rate of fuel used per MW (megawatt) of electricity. Efficiency gains translate to less CO2 emission,” Joubert explained.
The main challenge for existing plants was to retrofit them to further reduce CO2 emission.
To achieve this, Alstom had taken the lead in setting up new standards and initiatives for de-carbonising fossil-fuelled power generation, through retrofitting, improved efficiency and carbon capture and storage.
“Alstom is the first in the world to develop systems to capture CO2. We firmly believe that CO2 capture and storage is a must and as such, our company is at the forefront of development to produce reliable, cost effective solutions for CO2 capture in zero emission plants,” Joubert said.
Alstom operates in more than 70 countries and employed about 96,500 staff.
In Malaysia, Alstom was involved in Bakun Hydroelectric Dam, supplying four units of 315MW turbines and generators.