KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is making headway in enabling a robust supply of cleaner energy across the region as the country is key player in regional power grids such as the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore power integration project (LTMS-PIP).
However, it will be important for the government to diversify the sources of these power imports to mitigate any potential shortage risks, said General Electric (GE) Gas Power president of commercial (new units) for Asia Pacific and China Venkat Kannan told the New Straits Times.
"Shifting completely to renewables energy is not practical since such sources have variable availability, for example the volume and direction of wind and amount of available sunlight cannot be completely managed.
"Our recommendation is to enable grid firming or grid balancing, (also known as capacity firming or renewable firming), which is the addition of another energy resource to a renewable power plant to provide secure, stable, sustainable, and reliable power when the sun is not shining, or the wind is not blowing.
"Highly efficient combined-cycle gas power alongside renewable sources will strengthen the grid, where renewables with variable availability would be complemented by dispatchable backup power such as natural gas power plants or batteries to ensure full proof reliability of the whole regional power grid," he added.
As Malaysia moves away from coal to more energy efficient sources such as gas and renewables, industry players and operators also need to commit to reduced or near zero carbon emissions for operations, while ensuring power that is sustainable and reliable.
Venkat said GE Gas Power was committed to promoting gas turbine technology, as the right solution to couple with renewable energy to support power demand in Malaysia as the country planned to move on from coal power, with all retired power plants to be replaced by gas plants in the next 10 years.
GE Gas Power is also committed to exploring upgrades for Malaysia's existing gas turbines.
This includes revamping gas power assets to ensure high levels of efficiency in the near term, on top of increasing the use of cleaner fuel alternatives such as hydrogen and carbon capture technology.
GE Gas Power has been working closely with local infrastructure providers, supplying equipment and services to organisations like Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).
With the largest base of installed gas turbines in Malaysia, GE Gas Power had grown with the country's power development needs, Venkat said.
"To date, we have worked with national providers and partners such as Edra Energy Sdn Bhd and Southern Power Generation Sdn Bhd (SPG) to install the 9HA.02, the world's most efficient gas turbine at sites such as the Track 4A Sultan Ibrahim power plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor and also the recently operationalised Track 4B plant at Melaka, Malaysia's largest combined cycle plant that powers low-carbon energy for the nation," he said.
Venkat also pointed out that most of the electricity generated in Peninsular Malaysia today was from coal, a cost-efficient fuel, contributing to about 65 per cent of electricity generated for Peninsular Malaysia.
"Given that about 80 per cent of total greenhouse emissions are contributed by the energy sector, and in line with Malaysia's net-zero aspirations for 2050, there needs to be a strong commitment from power industry stakeholders for reduced or near zero carbon emissions for their operations, and enabling the right balance between cost and environmental impact will be critical for Malaysia's future.
"We believe that Malaysia's existing and future power plants can be decarbonised and avoid carbon lock-in which prevents the transition to cleaner sources of energy.
"These goals can be achieved via hydrogen or carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS)," Venkat said.
GE Gas Power also sees opportunities to improve power plant efficiency with digital technologies and smart software applications that better orchestrate complex electrical systems and predict issues ahead of occurrence.
"The same advances that artificial intelligence has brought to healthcare or transportation, can also be leveraged to empower Malaysia's national grid operations," he said.
Aside from new power plants, GE Gas Power also sees significant opportunities to modify existing power plants and reduce their current emission limit, which is on average at or above 100 parts per million (ppm) to meet the 75 ppm standards as per the latest government's requirements.
According to Venkat, GE Gas Power was constantly searching for ways to improve and optimise the service it provided to clients with existing power plants in Malaysia, such as Track 4A, Track 4B and Tanjung Kidurong among others.
"While there has been challenges related to the pandemic, GE Gas Power is committed to collaborating closely with customers, partners and energy providers on the ground to ensure we deliver in terms of safety, quality, and on time delivery.
"With proven expertise in managing large scale power projects for more than 80 years, we have been designing gas turbines for power generation, and GE Gas Power is a trusted and reliable partner of choice in Malaysia's pathway to a decarbonised energy future and help meet the growing power demand in Malaysia," he said.