Tuesday April 01, 2008

Singapore : Tuas Power may build $2 billion coal-fired plant

businesstimes.com.sg, reuters.com :

Tuas Power is looking at building a $2 billion coal-fired plant - the first here - its president and CEO Lim Kong Puay told The Business Times after Huaneng completed its $4.2 billion purchase of Tuas Power earlier. For this, it will tap on new owner China Huaneng Group's experience with the fuel. Huaneng, which has installed generating capacity of more than 71,000 MW in China - 8 times the combined 9,070 MW of the three biggest generators here - has considerable experience and expertise in coal-firing. Mr Lim said: "It's business as usual." But what is clearly different is the company's plan to consider coal-firing. Singapore gencos looked at the option several years ago, but it has not resurfaced until now.

Tuas Power now operates 1,460 MW of combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) which use natural gas to produce electricity more efficiently and economically than conventional steam plants. As standby capacity, Tuas Power also has 1,200 MW available from two 600 MW steam plants - and it is these which it is now looking to convert to either two CCGT units with a total capacity of 800 MW, or two 500 MW coal-firing units giving a total capacity of 1,000 MW. 'The coal-firing option would probably cost around $2 billion. By comparison, going the CCGT route would involve about $700-800 million of capital investment,' Mr Lim said. 'But coal-firing overall is cheaper than gas. While it involves higher capital costs, it will result in lower operating costs.'

- In the history of bad ideas, this has got to rank pretty high up there amongst the worst of the lot. First, you have a government which goes and signs the Kyoto Protocol to cut emissions of CO2 to try to combat climate change, calls for a public consultation on "National Climate Change Strategy", and then turns around and is now telling people they want to build a coal power plant. What the hell were they thinking?

Oh wait, you say. The government has sold off the power generation plant to an external company, so they have nothing to do with the matter. Oh really. Look, they sold Tuas Power off for S$4.2 billion to a China company. And not just any China company, but one which has a capacity of 71 thousand mega-freaking-watts of coal power back in China. China is ALL about coal. China is 80% coal powered. When the Singapore government sold off Tuas Power to this China company, they must have known that the next move that the new owners will consider is a coal power plant right here in Singapore. What the hell is this? We are taking not one, but two, three or four steps backwards.

By adding a coal power plant, Singapore will be increasing its share of coal power in terms of total installed capacity from 0% (where it should be) to 11%. Is this what we are to expect from a country that says it wants to fight climate change? That asks its citizens to go green, to buy hybrid cars, to recycle their waste? I think not! And yet here they are. A single 1000MW coal plant will negate everything that we have achieved so far in terms of climate change strategy.

As a peakoiler who studies energy obsessively, I know very well that what we need is baseload power. I know very well what is happening with the natural gas situation in Malaysia and Indonesia (they are both running out, and 80% of Singapore's electricity is generated from natural gas). When it comes down to matters of practicality, because we simply don't have the options of geothermal and hydro, we have exactly 2 choices left for baseload power : coal and nuclear.

By going nuclear, we would at least have been taking the moral high ground : we would be choosing zero emissions, low pollution, and minimal resource consumption in order to achieve our goal of producing more energy. By going coal, we will be taking the easy way out : let's screw global warming, let's screw climate change, never mind that it emits millions of tons of climate-changing carbon dioxide, never mind that it emits millions of tons of soot and particulate pollution, let's go and take the cheapest and easiest option. This is extremely disappointing.

See also :

1. Singapore to join Kyoto Protocol
2. National Climate Change Strategy call for consultation
3. Indonesian firms to build LNG terminal (and why Singapore should go nuclear)

(2008-04-01 07:57:42 SGT) [Energy] Permalink Comments [2]

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