Lynda Hong Channel NewsAsia 6 Feb 13;
SINGAPORE : Singapore's largest power generation company Senoko Energy is close to fully replacing oil with gas to fire its plants.
The firm announced this when it inaugurated a S$1 billion conversion project on Wednesday.
Senoko Energy invested S$1 billion to convert three oil-fired 250 megawatt steam plants into two gas-fired plants.
The new plants will have a capacity of 862 megawatts and feature energy-efficient gas turbines.
The wholesale energy supplier currently has nine power plants, of which only two are oil-fired.
Brendan Wauters, President & CEO, Senoko Energy, said: "Actually in 2012, we have already moved 95 percent of our generation to being gas fired, we do expect to 100 percent gas-fired generation."
Senoko Energy now uses piped natural gas from Indonesia and Malaysia.
But it is looking to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the upcoming LNG Terminal on Jurong Island which is expected to make up one-fifth of its future gas supply.
S Iswaran, Second Trade and Industry Minister, said: "When the LNG terminal becomes operational in the second quarter of this year, there will be greater availability of gas for power generation in Singapore. At the same time, more of our generation companies are expected to undertake re-powering projects to upgrade their plant turbines. These are exciting developments for the power sector, as our generation companies embrace new and cleaner technologies to improve performance and capitalise on the growth opportunities within the sector."
Senoko Energy's latest oil to gas conversion reused 30 percent of the original material.
Capacity has also increased by 14 percent.
The re-powered plants took 32 months to build and will have a total capacity of 862 megawatts, enough to power half of the HDB flats in Singapore.
They will also reduce about one million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
- CNA/ch
Greener, more efficient gas plants at power firm
Grace Chua Straits Times 7 Feb 13;
SENOKO Energy, Singapore's largest power-generation firm, has completed a $1 billion repowering project that could cut its carbon emissions by an estimated one million tonnes a year.
Starting in 2008, the company began converting three old oil-fired plants with a 750MW capacity into two gas-fired ones with a capacity of 862MW.
Not only are the new turbines cleaner, they also use less fuel than the oil-fired turbines, which were commissioned three decades ago. Yesterday, the company officially announced the completion of the conversion.
The gas-fired turbines operate on a combined-cycle basis, to burn gas, produce electricity and heat, tap waste heat, boil water, and generate electricity from steam. If they work round the clock, the daily output of the new turbines is enough to power more than 4,000 four-room HDB homes for a year.
In all, Senoko has 3,300MW of generation capacity and supplies about 30 per cent of local energy needs. The upgrade also increases its ability to take advantage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the upcoming terminal set to open this year, said Senoko president Brendan Wauters.
He said LNG will eventually make up about 20 per cent of the firm's feedstock.
The new plants emit 40 per cent less carbon dioxide than the old ones for the same amount of energy produced, he added.
Today, almost 90 per cent of Singapore's electricity is generated using natural gas, according to Energy Market Company reports.
Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said that more generating companies here were expected to undertake similar repowering projects. "These are exciting developments for the power sector, as our gencos embrace new and cleaner technologies to improve performance and capitalise on the growth opportunities within the sector," he said.
Some companies made the switch previously, and others will add new gas-powered generation capacity in the next two years.
GMR Energy (formerly Island Power) plans to complete an 800MW power station on Jurong Island at the end of this year. YTL PowerSeraya replaced three oil-fired steam turbines with an 800MW gas-fired plant in 2010, so it is not planning to convert more just yet, said CEO John Ng.
