Rising to the Challenge

The World Energy Outlook in 2015 forecasted Malaysia’s energy demand to almost double between 2015 and 2040, with coal becoming the primary fuel in the country’s energy mix. This fuel landscape will impact the country’s CO2 emissions per capita, but structural changes—like new, efficient steam power plant developments—are expected to help reduce Malaysia’s carbon intensity by 33%. 

TNB Janamanjung is leading the way as the operator of the region’s first ultra-supercritical power plant. GE answered TNB’s call by taking the lead on the construction of Manjung 4, as well as its power equipment. GE supplied the full EPC for the 1,010 MW net ultra-supercritical power plant including its boiler, steam turbine, generator, and complete set of Air Quality Control Systems (AQCS).

AWARDED EPC CAPABILITIES

Together with its consortium partner, CMC Engineering, GE successfully delivered the project in just four years and within budget. Acknowledging its world-class EPC capabilities that enable power producers such as TNB Janamanjung to deliver on both their power and environmental commitments within a very dynamic industry, GE Steam Power Systems received awards from Asian Power and International Project Management Association for this project.

GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND

Datuk Shamsul Ahmad, the Managing Director of TNB Janamanjung, once said in April 2016, “The world, and especially Malaysia, requires accessible, reliable and sustainable energy … and GE will provide the solutions".

During Powering Thailand event in September 2017, Ir. Mhd Shukree Shahabudin, Head of Manjung 4 said, "Strong cooperation and on-site support has led to remarkable plant performance and availability,” and “GE provided timely responses, sufficient technical support and strong partnership to effectively resolve any complications that arose including fine-tuning of the equipment over the warranty period."

By choosing GE, TNB Janamanjung is already seeing benefits. In addition to its incredible efficiency 10% higher than the global average, the plant has achieved extremely high availability, particularly during the second year of operation with a 97% availability rate (excluding planned outages), exceeding its target rate while allowing TNB to reliably deliver full base load to the grid.

Manjung 4 has also benefitted from minimized unplanned downtime, with an unplanned outage rate of only 2.4% as at the end of August 2017, compared to the world standard at 4%. Higher availability and less unplanned downtime adds up to more value for TNB Janamanjung.

Manjung 4’s sophisticated environmental control technologies can significantly reduce SO2 and NOx emissions up to 70% compared to other Manjung units. GE’s Seawater Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) system achieves more than 90% SO2 removal, setting Manjung 4 at 200mg/Nm3—significantly below World Bank standards of 750 mg/Nm3.

The sum of solutions implemented at the Manjung 4 plant will lead to a total 4-5% emissions reduction compared to previous units, a strong environmental win for the region.