Pima 16

SPECIALREPORT Malaysia’s Tanjung

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CRITICALLY ADVANCED

PUB: Exclusive interview with Mr. Chong Hou Chun

CHINA ON TRIAL ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES FINALLY EXECUTED PAGE 40

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VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3

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• FUEL CELL FOCUS• CYBER SECURITY & CHINA• DIAGEO & GREEN INDUSTRY

KEPCO AND THE PHILIPPINES:

EXPANDING ON PROMISE

THE DOMINANCE OF CHINA: Shanghai Electric and Harbin in Manufacturing Roundtable

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So... How do you like our new look?Power Insider Magazine has had a makeover! We decided to freshen up and add a number of exciting new features as well. Make sure you check out our News pages and Events Listing, and let us know what you think of our roundtables. !is issue of PI Magazine Asia will focus on !ailand and China. We’ve got a fantastic article from SEAREPA on !ai mini hydro, and an exclusive interview with EGAT. However, it has been China that has commanded most of our attention. We would be lying if we told you that this issue had been a breeze. It would be a fabrication to describe the Chinese power industry as transparent. !is is because, as my sta" writers have been asserting regularly, China is a researchers nightmare, as the data is simultaneously abundant and elusive, and trying to pin down power plant speci#cations and installed capacities is not a task for the faint hearted. You either have six di"erent sources telling you six di"erent things, or you’ll encounter total silence. !is is the Chinese power industry in a microcosm; it is a $uid and colossal oxy-moron. !ere are #ve major state owned enterprises that call themselves Independent Power Producers. !ese same “IPPs” claim to produce 50% of China’s electricity, but the source of the remaining 50% remains a mystery until you investigate the Big Five’s multiple subsidiaries. !e dominance of these companies is startling in a country that claims to be opening up their power market. You’ll notice this dominance in a new addition to PI Magazine: our Country Directory. Every issue, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive, country speci#c guide to the power industry. !is two page data guide will include power capacities and energy mix, top projects under construction and the players in the manufacturing industry.

Our frustrations with China must be shared with the foreign companies that seek to invest in China’s vast, but closed, energy sector. !e Chinese are extremely reluctant to award tenders for power projects to foreign IPP’s. Instead, Chinese companies sign technology transfer contracts, in which obliging companies like Foster Wheeler and Westinghouse form JV’s to assist in the development of Chinese made power equipment. After that, Chinese companies strike out on their own, and start exporting as well. !is technique of technology absorption has had a proli#c impact on the manufacturing industry, and is the subject of a roundtable, with contributions from Shanghai Electric, Jiangsu and Harbin. We also have a report on the EU Commission’s anti-dumping charges. Other highlights include a report on China’s clean coal technology, a whole section on fuel cells, and an overview of Alstom’s Tanjung Bin 4 power plant. We have some fantastic interviews with PUB, MWM and Plansee, and some great contributions from Itron, KEPCO Philippines and Quartzelec. Also, our Managing Director, Sean was lucky enough to be invited to the Diageo Group’s Korean facility to investigate their green manufacturing solutions. It’s a jam packed issue, we’d love to know what you think about our new look and features. Don’t hesitate to contact us on our website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and LinkedIn account to voice your opinion.

RACHAEL G. STEPHENS, [email protected]

!is is the Chinese power industry in a microcosm; it is a "uid and colossal oxy-moron.

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4 POWER INSIDER MAY / JUN 2013

Contents May / June2013

4844

62

40

18 Critically Advanced: Tanjung Bin 4 Alstom takes us on a tour of their Malaysian coal power project.

26 Thailand’s Micro-Hydro Potential SEAREPA tell us about their work with micro hydropower in Thailand.

36 Survival of the Fittest Robin Samuels catches up with Trina Solar

38 Manipulating Backsheet Design How Backsheet design can improve the performance of solar modules.

40 China on Trial Chinese Solar Manufacturers feel the pinch with EU anti- dumping duty.

48 Condition Monitoring Systems We look at how systems like Quartzelec’s LifeView system can help reduce risks and costs.

52 KEPCO and the Philippines A look at KEPCO’s expanding business ventures in the promising Philippine market.

62 Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Have you arrived? Robin Samuels examines the exciting developments in SOFC, with some expert input.

68 China, Cyber Security and Industrial Espionage Chris Hefferan analyses China’s cyber weapons.

75 The Engineering Consultant Boris Smondack explains the importance of this role for hydropower projects.

78 Make Data Work for You Itron make the case for District Metering Analysis.

83 The Water Hammer Phenomena Arjang Alidai and Daniel Rudolph talk testing in desalination plants.

90 Raising a Glass for Green Industry MD Sean Stinchcombe takes a tour of Diageo’s Korean factory.

FEATURES


INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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10

80

REGULARS06 News May and June’s biggest headlines from the Asian power market.

10 China Versus Carbon PI takes a look at the achievements of China’s clean coal technology market.

55 Technology Focus This issue, fuel cells take the spotlight.

92 Country Directory: Thailand An overview of Thailand’s power industry and significant projects.

94 Country Directory: China An overview of China’s power industry and significant projects.

98 Event Directory and Advertiser’s Index.

INTERVIEWS & OPINION32 Pioneering Gas Technology in Malaysia An interview with Ruprecht Latterman.

44 The Dominance of China Shanghai Electric, Harbin and Jiangsu give their opinion on China’s manufacturing dominance. 60 Plansee and SOFC An interview with Dr. Adreas Venskutonis.72 EGAT’s Power Plant Developments An Interview with Mr. Soonchai Kumnoonsate.80 PUB and Water Supply An interview with Mr. Chong Hou Chun.86 Ensuring Quality, Minimizing Waste The W.O.G Group’s work on waste water in Southeast Asia.

SPECIALREPORT

SAUDI ARABIA!e Ministry of Water and Electricity in Saudi Arabia plans to tender the country’s biggest sewage treatment plant in Jeddah, as the Kingdom’s spending on water and sanitation projects is expected to reach $6.4 billion USD in 2013 alone.

THAILAND!ai Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal has given EGAT the green light to proceed with a plan to build coal-powered plants in Myanmar and Cambodia – providing !ailand with 10,000 MW of electricity.

News from around Asia!e past two months have resurfaced some underlying capacity issues in both Vietnam and !ailand. Both countries have experienced major blackouts highlighting the distinct supply and demand shortfall in many parts of South East Asia. !ese incidents have been o"set swiftly with the exciting news of Tata Power bagging a big 1,200 MW plant in Vietnam, EGAT’s memorandum of understanding for power purchase from China following Myanmar gas supply disruption, and the !ai company also pledging to press ahead with the Krabi coal plant in the Southern province despite public opposition.

!e biggest news of the month has to lie with the assertive actions of the EU with ruthless anti-dumping measures placed on the Chinese manufacturers for the solar business. Other incidents surround e#orts from the powers that be in China to impose sanctions on low calori$c value coal, some very large hydro projects coming to light in India, Indonesia & China, and new large scale solar opportunities appearing in Japan on a daily basis as the country emerges as the standout PV market globally. !is is all combined with major investment into desalination and water treatment in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia calling for billions of dollars worth of investment into the Kingdom’s upcoming sanitation and potable water infrastructure.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE NEWS STORIES USE THE QR CODES TO VISIT OUR ONLINE NEWS PAGE1 Visit an app store and download a free QR reader.2 Look for the QR codes on the pages of Power Insider.3 Scan the code by holding your smartphone over it and enjoy the extra Power Insider content.


REGULARS


NEWSDESK

JAPANTokyo Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co. are in talks for a rare joint construction of a 600 MW coal-#red thermal power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, east of Tokyo, hoping to reach operation by 2019.

CHINAChina Guodian Group receives approval to build the 20 GW Shuangjiangkou hydropower project that will become the tallest dam in the country at 1,030ft costing a $4 billion USD.

CHINAChina Southern Power Grid sign MOU with EGAT to supply electricity from major hydroelectric plants through new transmission lines in China’s Yunnan province via Laos to !ailand.

SOUTH KOREASouth Korea announce plans to launch a scheme that will cap around 70% of its greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in the Korean carbon price reaching the penalty level of $90/tCO2, higher than any other in the world.

INDIAAPGENCO has identi#ed 100 potential sites to set-up mini hydro projects throughout Andhra Pradesh to provide relief to one of India’s most power starved regions.

Timeline !ere’s always plenty going on in the Asian energy market, and the Spring of 2013 has been no exception! Here is PI Magazine’s timeline of top picks to guide you through the most signi$cant developments in May and June.

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WIND WORLD INDIA TAKE POLE POSITION

Suzlon Energy concedes the top spot in the Indian wind business for the #rst time in ten years. Wind World India take pole after installing 454 MW of turbine capacity last #scal year.

21MAY

THAILAND BLACKOUT HIGHLIGHTS IMBALANCE IN SUPPLY & DEMAND

Southern !ailand experienced a massive power blackout in 14 southern provinces, highlighting the huge supply and demand unbalance for the South.

22MAY

China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) has announced that the #rst domestically-produced steam generators for Taishan 2 are now #nished.

TAISHAN 2 STEAM GENERATORS NOW FINISHED24

MAY

!e Indian government broadcast plans to roll out Rs 43,000-crore ‘green energy corridor’ project to facilitate the $ow of renewable energy as part of the Indian smart gird.

NEW GREEN ENERGY CORRIDOR FOR INDIA29

MAY

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3 NEW SOLAR POWER STATIONS FOR JAPAN

Sumitomo Corp will build three solar power stations in Japan with a combined capacity of 49 MW. !e plants are going to be in Ehime, Fukuoka and Hokkaido and are scheduled for completion in 2015.

04JUNE

ROOFTOP SOLAR SCHEME FOR JAPAN FARMERS

Mitsubishi discuss a scheme with National Federation of Agricul-tural Cooperative Associations to promote installation of distributed rooftop solar systems using the roof-tops of facilities owned by farmers in Japan farms into solar farms.

05JUNE

ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES BEGIN IN CHINA

O%cial start date of the #rst phase of anti-dumping duties imposed on China by the EU Commission. Imports of solar panels, wafers and modules will incur a tax of 11.8% until August, when the tax will leap up to 47%.

05JUNE

KOL DAM PROJECT GETS GREEN LIGHT

NTPC are given the green light from the Indian envi-ronmental ministry for their 800MW Kol Dam project on the Satluj river in Himachal Pradesh.

06JUNE

TATA POWER CO WINS CONTRACT FOR LONG PHU 2, VIETNAM

India’s Tata Power Co. Ltd wins a contract to develop the 1200MW Long Phu 2 coal-#red thermal power plants in South Vietnam.

07JUNE

>CHINA DESALINATION PRICING MECHANISM PROBLEMS

China’s State Oceanic Administration claim that a lack of an e"ective pricing mechanism for water produced by desalination is a"ecting the development of the country’s seawater desalination industry.

14MAY

OVERSEAS WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN LONG AN PROVINCE, VIETNAM

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) launch an overseas water treatment plant in Long An province, Vietnam. !e new plant has an output of 1 million litres of drinking water daily and is linked wirelessly back to Singapore, where it is managed remotely.

16MAY

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China Versus Carbon: The Explosion of Clean Coal Technology

REGULARS

One of the biggest issues in the Chinese fossil fuels industry is carbon emissions, and how to mitigate them. Rachael G. Stephens looks at how China is having its cake and eating it too, with the rapid deployment of Clean Coal Technologies.

hina’s coal consumption is not easily exaggerated. !e Asian nation devours coal with a veracity that leaves the rest of the world #guratively breathless,

whilst the inhabitants of its cities literally choke on the pace of economic and industrial expansion. At 47%, nearly half the world’s coal consumption takes place in China, reputed to have been the world’s biggest coal

producer for the past 2000 years. In 2011 alone, China burnt 3.8 billion tons of the valuable black stu". China is consuming so much coal that despite having the third largest coal reserve in the world, they became a net importer in 2008. Trends suggest that the country’s usage will only continue to spiral upwards. In order to support China’s voracious economic growth, more and more coal applications will be added to the energy mix. According to the IEA, China will add an

additional 600GW of new coal-#red power generation by 2035, a number that exceeds the current coal capacity of the USA, EU and Japan combined.

Global VillainWith this in mind, it is easy to understand why China has become the ultimate global villain, considered an enormous stumbling block for governments that are trying to slow climate change and reduce carbon emissions;

C

REGULARS: CHINA VS CARBON


if the rest of the world puts their back into the cause, and this one nation does nothing, it’s still only half a job. China isn’t unsympathetic to the environmental cause. Growth in the renewable energy sector is expeditious and sizable, particularly for wind and solar (though not without consequences; see our China on Trial report for details). However, whilst coal is running out, it is still the most abundant and e%cient energy source, and because of the existing infrastructure and technology, it is still the cheapest. China needs cheap power to electrify its booming industry.

Harsh RealitiesChina has realised that there aren’t a lot of choices to be made. According to the journal “Foreign Policy” Xiao Yunhan, a leading energy thinker at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, argued that “even if China utilises every kind of energy to the maximum level, it is di%cult for us to produce enough energy for economic development. It’s not a case of choosing coal or renewables. We need both”. !is harsh reality doesn’t change the fact that China is belching out ozone damaging emissions, and they have to be mitigated. It has been acknowledged that the development and deployment of clean coal technologies are crucial to promote sustainable development in China in their 12th Five ear Plan (2011-15). During the 12th Five Year Plan,

investment in pollution control will grow by 57.4%, and the Central Government’s budget for pollution alleviation is 210.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. !e new national standard for air-polluting emissions require that all newly built thermal power plants should emit no more than 100 mil-ligrams ofnitrogen oxides per cubic meter, and the existing plants should be transformed before July 1, 2014.

Utilizing Clean Coal TechnologyWang Shiwen, President of the China Environmental Investment Union, says environmental protection investments are two pronged: those for postponing or preventing pollution, and those for combating the damage wrought by pollution. !e clean coal technology being utilized in China largely follows these two prongs. Burning coal cleanly has already started in China with the consolidation of their coal assets. Over 80GW hours of small and old power plants have been shut down since 2006, replaced with modern plants that produce signi#cantly less CO2. It is the technology that is going into these new power plants and being retro#tted onto older ones that this article will focus on. PI Magazine will look at how Chinese power plant operators and manufacturers are installing clean coal technology like FGD systems, SCR, CFB and supercritical boilers, and the research that is going into carbon capture and storage.

Flue Gas Desulphurisation Systems (FGD)Whilst some of China’s old, dirty plants are being replaced; a more realistic option for some facilities to reduce emissions is to install FGD systems. FGD represents an attractive market in China. Notorious for the appalling inner city air quality, the Chinese government is insisting on the installation of FGD systems at all new

Trends suggest that the country’s usage will only continue to spiral upwards. In order to support China’s voracious economic growth, more and more coal applications will be added to the energy mix.


power plants, and have implemented a rigorous retro#tting program. Over the next 11 years, China will add 32,000MW of FGD per year. To put that in perspective, the world has been adding FGD at a rate of 19.000MW a year. !e installed capacity of FGD systems in China will rise to 723,000MW in 2020, with China spending more on FGD systems than the rest of the world combined.

Initially, China had to import FGD technology, with system suppliers teaming up with major licensors like Babcock & Wilcox, Alstom, Hitachi, Ducon, Wul", and

Mitsubishi. Currently, the FGD market in China provides opportunitiesfor component

manufacturers because of this reliance on foreign know-how.

However, China is becoming very proactive in developing domestic technology. For example, FGD slurry recycle pumps, originally available only from a few European and American

suppliers, are now being o"ered by Chinese companies, and ceramic scrubber nozzles are now also available from multiple sources within China. Companies such as China National Electric Engineering CO. LTD. are now o"ering full EPC services for the installation of FGD systems, showing how quickly domestic production in China can pick up and become competitive. CNEEC have provided FGD technology for the Huanrun Yixing power plant, and can provide EPC services overseas as well as at home.

DeNOx systems and SCR China has shown how serious they are about reducing pollution by implementing a measure considered unnecessary by many other Asian nations. It is now mandatory for all new thermal installations to have DeNOx systems integrated into their pollution control. DeNOx systems use the Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) process to strip the $ue gases of poisonous nitrogen oxides before being released into the atmosphere. A catalyser system utilises a reaction of ammonia or urea with the NOx, converting the gas into nitrogen and water vapour. Whilst a very e"ective system, it also very expensive. !e materials required for e%cient and long lasting use can discourage a plant operator, and as a result some Chinese vendors have tried to compromise by investing in cheap catalysts. Unfortunately, this hasn’t saved the end user any money. As the Chinese proverb states, cheap things are good, but good things are never cheap. Low cost catalysts have been found to show signs of early degradation and poisoning, which has reduced the e"ectiveness of the DeNOx systems and forced maintenance and early replacement, making the initial outlay a pointless waste of money.

!is issue has been brought to the forefront of the industry by Mr. Wang Zhenbiao, Vice President of Datang International Power Corporation, who has highlighted how essential it is to invest in the correct equipment. He summed up the industry zeitgeist nicely by using his company as an example; Datang International Power Corporation is under enormous pressure to utilise e"ective air pollution control, with the company having to invest heavily in DeNOx systems in their $eet of thermal installations. Mr. Zhenbiao reports that the company had to consider carefully their system selection, revealing that some plants faced di%culties with catalysts sourced from local manufacturers. !ese catalysts showed signs of the premature erosion described above on the titanium structure, which has resulted in heavy replacement costs. Mr. Zhenbiao is keen to avoid such instances in the future, after feeling increasing pressure on fuel cost following Beijing’s vow to ban all low quality coal imports. Datang International Power Corporation can be held up as an example as to why it is essential to make that expensive but sensible investment in high quality catalysts from reputable suppliers.

The Right Equipment for the JobContinuing to use coal as the main source of power generation has a number of signi#cant disadvantages. One of these problems has prompted a $urry of technological research and development in order to better utilise coal. !is issue is coal quality, and the lack thereof. So many older installations require high quality coal in order to burn e%ciently, and reserves of such coal are becoming increasingly scarce and more expensive. In order to optimise high quality coal or utilise cheaper, dirtier coal, the Chinese have led the world in the installation of clean coal technologies. Two main categories of technology have made a particular impact: ultra supercritical boilers and Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) combustion.

Ultra Supercritical TechnologySupercritical technology manipulates the molecular forces that holds together three states of water; solid, liquid and gas. !e supercritical technology applies an enormous amount of pressure to the steam produced in a thermal boiler, which forces the molecules together until the steam becomes like a liquid again, while retaining the properties of a gas. !is is called a supercritical $uid, which provides excellent energy e%ciency by allowing the supercritical steam turbines to be driven at higher speeds using the same amount of energy as traditional steam power. !is results in less CO2 released in to the atmosphere. Ultra Supercritical thermal power plants increase the temperature and pressure on the steam even more, raising energy e%ciency to around 46%. China has enthusiastically promoted

Coal in China

FAST FACTS

China has the third largest coal reserves in the world, with an estimated 128 billions short tons

China’s coal reserves are equivalent to about 13% of the world’s reserves

China is the largest coal producer in the world

27 Chinese provinces produce coal

Northern China has the most accessible reserves

Coal makes up 70% of China’s primary energy consumption

In 2011,China consumed 4 billion short tons of coal


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ultra supercritical technology. Some commentators have even suggested that they are miles ahead in terms of utilisation and installation, outstripping the USA and Europe. Many Chinese vendors acquired the technology through equipment transfer agreements with foreign partners, but just like FGD equipment, Chinese manufacturers quickly began producing their own versions. Up to 2011, there were approximately 100 domestically manufactured 600MW supercritical units installed in China, with contracts for another 200 signed.

Shanghai ElectricShanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd. is one of the largest diversi#ed equipment manufacturing groups in China.In 2000, Shanghai Electric successfully manufactured China’s #rst 600MW supercritical thermal generator, and their equipment accounts for around half of the sets already installed in China. In 2006, Shanghai Electric built China’s #rst 1,000MW ultra supercritical generator, and was able to apply this technology in 2009 by commissioning the 2GW Waigaoqiao III Power Plant. !ese GW class ultra supercritical turbine generator units have set a world record in high e%ciency coal consumption, as the average coal consumption is only 282g coal per kWh. Shanghai Electric has been commissioned to manufacture 66 sets of 1,000MW class ultra supercritical generator units, which account for more than 50% of the total domestic market share. By the end of 2009,

20 units were delivered and consecutively put into operation in China’s major

power plants such as Yuhuan, Taishan, and Ninghai.

Alstom and Wuhan

Boiler CompanyIn August 2007, Alstom acquired 51% of Wuhan Boiler Company,

and in 2009 relocated the company to a new

factory in the Wuhan East Lake Development Zone. !e factory covers 463,000 square meters with a total investment of 900 million RMB, and employs over 2,046 people. It is Alstom’s

largest boiler manufacturing facility in the world, and one third of the products are exported. !e JV produces high e%ciency 600MW supercritical boilers and 1,000MW ultra supercritical boilers. !e ultra supercritical boilers manufactured at the WBC factory have an e%ciency of almost 50%, leading to a considerable reduction in CO2 emissions.

Harbin Boiler CompanyHarbin is the largest power equipment supplier in China with a 30,000MW annual manufacturing capacity. !e boilers and the auxiliary equipment designed and manufactured by Harbin have equipped more than 360 power plants in China and exported to more than 20 countries. Harbin manufactures 350MW supercritical boilers, 670MW tower type lignite supercritical boilers and 600MW and 1000MW ultra supercritical boilers. Harbin previously worked with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on the development of ultra supercritical technology. Harbin ordered four 1000MW ultra supercritical boilers for the Yuhan thermal power generation facility. !e Yuhan plant was the #rst ultra supercritical facility in China, and became operational in 2007. MHI supplied the core components, and Harbin provided the remaining equipment. !e plant cost 9.6 billion yuan, and the units run at 45% e%ciency. !e plant is operated by China Huaneng Group, China’s largest power producer, who claim that Yuhan Units 1 and 2 are the world’s cleanest, most e%cient and most advanced ultra supercritical units. Whilst the #rst three units were supplied by MHI, the fourth was built by MHI and Harbin together. Harbin Boiler Company is a great example of a Chinese company who negotiated equipment transfers with a foreign partner in order to get top quality equipment installed in China, and then went on todevelop the technology themselves.

Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFB)China has signi#cant coal resources, but coal quality is an issue. A large proportion of China’s coal has less than 18% volatile matterand of anthracite coal too.Anthracite coal is di%cult to ignite in a PC boiler, and over 30% of coal reserves are low volatile coal in China. CFB combustion o"ers a way to stop anthracite and low volatile coal going to waste. CFB boilers are able to burn a wide range of fuels, including the anthracite Chinese fare. Low temperatures, staged combustion and minimal emissions make CFB even more attractive. !e fuel $exibility also allows power plants the potential to one day burn exclusively biomass and municipal waste. China has the largest capacity of CFB boilers in the world at 40,000MW. !e #rst project was the 300MW Anthracite CFB Baima Demonstration Project in Sichuan Province.

Foster WheelerFoster Wheeler is globally proli#c in the CFB market. !e company has developed the technology spectacularly over the last decade, with huge successes in scalability. !ey are responsible for the largest CFB power plant in Poland, which utilizes 460MW CFB boilers. Foster Wheeler is also currently developing GW class CFB boilers for the Samcheok project in South Korea. Foster Wheeler have entered into license agreements with a number of Chinese vendors to develop CFB combustion technology in China, and will be working with Dongfang on GW class CFB boilers, the Wuxi Boiler Company on CFB boilers up to 300MW, and Harbin and Shanghai Electric on 300MW boilers.

Carbon Capture and Storage

THE THREE METHODSPost-combustion carbon captureWith post-combustion carbon capture, the CO2 is extracted from the $ue gases. !e biggest advantage of this technology is that it can be retro#tted. A solvent #lter absorbs the CO2 as its travels up a chimney or smokestack.!e post-combustion method can capture up to 90% of a plant’s carbon emissions, but the process requires a lot of energy.

Pre-combustion carbon captureWith pre-combustion carbon capture, CO2 is trapped before the fossil fuel is burned. Fuel is heated in pure oxygen, resulting in a mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. !is mix is treated in a catalytic converter with steam, which produces more hydrogen and CO2. !ese gases are fed into the bottom of a $ask. !e gases in the $ask will naturally begin to rise, so amine is poured on top. !e amine binds with the CO2, falling to the bottom of the $ask. !e hydrogen continues rising, leaving an amine/CO2 mix that is separated by applying heat. !is process is cheaper, but can’t be retro#tted.

Oxy-fuel combustionWith oxy-fuel combustion, the power plant burns fossil fuel in oxygen. !is results in a gas mixture comprising of mostly steam and CO2. !e steam and carbon dioxide are separated by cooling and compressing the gas stream. !e oxygen required for this technique increases costs, but the technique can capture 90% of a plant’s emissions.

“China has the largest capacity of Circulating Fluidized Combustion (CFB) boilers in the world at 40,00 MW”

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Chinese Companies Flying SoloShanghai Electric now o"ers 300MW CFB boilers, and has installed them in the Xiaolongtan, Pingshuo, Mengxi, and Diaobingshan power projects. Harbin have also successfully domestically designed CFB boilers 50MW to 300MW. Dongfang have also been at the forefront of CFB boiler design since the 1970’s, and has developed a series of CFB boiler products successfully exporting them to the likes of Indonesia and Vietnam.A standout project for Dongfang is the 300MW Guangdong Baolihua Power Plant.!e Guangdong Baolihua 135MW unit reached over 300 days continuous operation, and its shutdown time only reached 9 days in 2006. Dongfang possesses a complete CFB boiler series ranging from 135MW to 150MW, which can use fuels such as lignite, bituminous coal, anthracite, gangue, coal peat and paper slurry.

Supercritical CFB!e next generation of both the supercritical and CFB technologies is to combine them, to manufacture e%cient clean coal technology, and scale it up. China has an independent R&D program to help develop a 600MW supercritical CFB boiler. In April this year, Dongfang announced a successful #rst operation of their independently designed

600MW supercritical CFB boiler at the Sichuan Baima demonstration power plant. !e power plant completed a 168-hour operation with full capacity at the facility operated by the Shenhua Guoneng Group. During the trail operation, the fully loaded unit operated with an average loading rate of 100.509%, the protection device input rate of 100% and automatic thermal control input rate of 100%.!eBaima project is the #rst ultra supercritical CFB demonstration project in China and the largest in the world.

Carbon Capture and StorageCarbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology that can capture up to 90% of the CO2 emissions produced from thermal plants.!e CCS chain consists of three parts; capturing the carbon dioxide, transporting the carbon dioxide, and securely storing the carbon dioxide emissions, underground in depleted oil and gas #elds or deep saline aquifer formations. !ere are three methods of capture technology: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture and oxyfuel combustion. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? So why aren’t all power plants #tted with CCS? Largely, it’s because the technology is still in the R&D stage, with many demonstration projects using the technology on gas applications only.

Another drawback is the cost of equipment, maintenance, and safe transportation and storage of the carbon. Despite these concerns, huge sums of money are being invested into CCS research. According to the IEA, in mid 2010, there were 80 large-scale integrated CCS projects, 5 of them operating. China is becoming instrumental in the development of CCS technology, with several demonstration projects utilising foreign partnerships.Many of the new coal #red plants planned for China are designed CCS in mind, as many of them are Integrated Gasi#cation Combined Cycle plants. China is taking a systematic approach to deploy CCS, based on the establishment of a strong R&D base. China has one of the largest numbers of CCS pilot projects in the world, with six large-scale fully integrated projects were in operation.

Alstom and Datang Alstom and Datang formed a long-term strategic partnership to develop CCS demonstration projects in China. Together the companies will develop two demonstration projects, located in China’s two biggest oil#elds:

Daqing and Dongying. Alstom o"ers three technologies for carbon capture: oxy-#ring, chilled ammonia and advanced amines. !e 350MW coal #red power plant at Daqing will be equipped with Alstom’s oxy-#ring technology and the 1000MW Dongying coal-#red power plant will utilise post combustion technology, using chilled ammonia or advanced amines. Both CCS projects are scheduled for operation in 2015. Once completed, the demonstration projects will each be able to capture above 1,000,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Huaneng Group!e Huaneng Group is the most proactive driver of CCS. China’s largest power produceralready has two fully integrated pilot projects in Beijing and Shanghai. Post combustion capture technology was retro#tted onto the 1,320MW coal-#red Shidongkou power station, and the system scrubs roughly 120,000 tonnes of CO2 a year from 3% of the facility’s $ue gases. Similar technology was #tted onto the Gaobeidian power plant in Beijing in 2008. Huaneng claims that these plants boast the cheapest running costs for a CCS facility in the world, quoting a mere US$30–35 per tonne of CO2. !is cost is approximately four to #ve times lower than anywhere else. !is has caught the attention of American #rm Duke Energy Corporation, and the company has signed a research agreement with Huaneng to study its technology. Duke wants to learn how much it would cost to retro#t its largest power plant in Gibson County, Indiana, and how much of Huaneng’s cost savings $ow from its proprietary technology rather than lower labour and capital costs. !e Huaneng Group have also initiated a three phase, $1.5 billion CCS project with UK #rm GreenGen. !e #rst phase is the 250MW oxyfuel IGCC power plant burning hydrogen and carbon monoxide with plans to scale up to a 400MW IGCC-CCS plant by 2016. A second phase involves a pilot plant to produceelectricity from hydrogen, and the third will be a 400 MW commercial plant with CCS. !e

project is part of the Tianjin Lingang Industrial Zone Circular Economy Plan.

Sinopec In 2010, Sinopec commissioned China’s largest coal-#red power plant CCS device at Shengli Power Plant at Sinopec’s Shengli Oil#eld. !e system reduces over 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. !e device can process captured carbon dioxide to a purity level of over 99.5%. Sinopec is also planning to build an advanced facility in Wyoming that will convert coal into gasoline.DKRW Advanced Fuels wholly owned subsidiary, Medicine Bow Fuel & Power has entered into an EPC contract withSinopec Engineering Group. Using bituminous coal from southern Wyoming, the Medicine Bow facility will produce 11,600 barrels per day of low sulfur gasoline using General Electric gasi#cation technology and methanolto gasoline technologies. !e project will capture 92% of the CO2 generated throughout the development process and provide the lique#ed CO2 for use in the enhanced oil recovery market in the Rocky Mountain region.

Clear Goals, Opaque Progress!ere is no doubt that China is adding coal capacity at the rate of knots, and the nation has talked openly and extensively about plans for the future and the technology they intend to use. !ese intentions place China ahead of the pack in terms of clean coal technology. Like China,

many countries in Asia are continuing to add coal capacity despite dwindling resources, and the simple reality is that to electrify populations, coal is a necessary evil. China’s utilisation of FGD, DeNox systems, ultra supercritical boilers, CFB combustion and CCS helps them make the best of a bad job,with commentators in the USA openly admitting that Chinese clean coal technology installation is putting the world’s second largest power producer to shame. However, what is in doubt is the actual success of this program. Whilst vocal about plans, the energy authorities are notoriously obscure about the true extent of China’s carbon emissions, which makes it tricky to assess just how far these measures are mitigating the country’s signi#cant impact on global warming. For government o%cials, the priority for China is still economic growth; and that requires a lot of power. Additionally, the Chinese power industry is at best opaque when viewed from outside the Republic. !e major companies are stingy with details, and it is di%cult to glean project speci#cs, anddespite having to rely on overseas companies for technology transfers, the Chinese power industry remains largely closed o" to foreign companies. All of this makes it di%cult to assess just how many plants are being built, who they’re being built by, and with what success. !e Chinese power industry is truly the embodiment of the mysterious Orient.

“Whilst vocal about plans, the energy authorities are notoriously obscure about the extent of China’s carbon emissions.”

GET INVOLVED IN THE DEBATEIs China being honest about its carbon emissions? Are they’re reduction plans realistic? Is the closed nature of their market limiting potential growth? Join the debate and tell us what you think on Twitter, LinkedIn and on our website: www.pimagazine-asia.com Alternatively, email the editor: [email protected]



Ms. Khoo Su LingTel: +65 6500 6718 Fax: +65 6294 [email protected]

Ms. Jennifer ChiahTel: +65 6500 6738Fax: +65 6296 [email protected]

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Advanced Technology:Tanjung Bin 4

feature

PI Magazine, together with Alstom, brings you an overview of one the most exciting power plants currently being constructed.

nother step forward for clean coal technology has been taken by a consortium led by Alstom with the development of the Tanjung Bin 4 supercritical

power plant now under construction in Malaysia. !e 1000 MW Tanjung Bin 4 power station will be built adjacent to the existing 2,100 MW coal-#red Tanjung Bin Power Station in the southern peninsular state of Johor, ramping the facility’s capacity up to 3,100 MW. !e coal-#red station is being constructed under a turnkey contract. Alstom’s scope

within the consortium is the supply of all key power generation equipment and switchyard as well as overall project management, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning. Other parties to this consortium are Malaysian companies, Mudajaya Corporation Berhad and Shin Eversendai Engineering Sdn Bhd. !e contract was signed in February 2012 for the equivalent of €1 billion with Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer Bhd, which is the wholly owned subsidiary of Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Transpool Sdn Bhd), which in turn is a subsidiary of Malako" Corporation Berhad.

Scheduled to be completed by 1st March 2016, the new project is Alstom’s second supercritical unit in Malaysia. Following the power plant’s completion in 2016, Malako" will be supplying the power to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) under a 25-years power purchase agreement. Alstom’s contract for Tanjung Bin 4, together with the earlier order to build the 1000 MW Manjung 4 power plant in 2011 further strengthens Alstom’s position as the largest original equipment manufacturer in Malaysia, having supplied key equipment for nearly 7.5 GW of the country’s installed power generation capacity.

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ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY: TANJUNG BIN 4

“!e 1000 MW Tanjung Bin 4 power station will be built adjacent to the existing 2,100 MW coal-$red Tanjung Bin Power Station in the southern peninsular state of Johor, ramping the facility’s capacity up to 3,100 MW.”

Local Market OverviewMalaysia’s demand for electricity is accelerating in tandem with its rising GDP. Datuk Seri Peter Chin, the former MalaysianMinister of Energy, Green Technology and Water had stated that: “For the period till 2020, the average projected demand for electricity is expected to grow at approximately 3.1%. Based on this forecast, the country is going to need even more energy as it strives to grow towards a high-income economy. An estimated 10.8 GW of new generation capacity will be needed by 2020 given that 7.7 GW of existing capacity are due for retirement”. !is means that by 2020 the total installed capacity will have increased by 16% over the total installed capacity in 2012. Of this new capacity, the minister believes that gas and coal will continue to feature strongly, with coal most likely to take up a bigger share. !is projected growth in the energy market is also being driven by new energy policies in Malaysia concerning energy pricing and the rationalization and removal of subsi-dies. Whilst subsidies encouraged business growth in past, fuel and energy subsidies cost the Government RM23.5bil in 2009, and continues to be a huge #nancial strain. Energy commodities across the region are taxed and subsidized at various levels, engendering huge market distortion and hindering

harmonization of the energy market. !ese negative impacts have led to a consideration of reform in energy subsidy in the 10th Malaysia Plan 2010 to 2015. New policies emphasize the need for a return to market-based energy pricing, which will create a more stable and competitive market, and an enabling environment for investment in the energy sector. !e Malaysian government hopes that by 2015 energy pricing will be market-based, which will ultimately lead to new players in the supply chain. !is will in turn help to improve Malaysia’s energy security. Energy security will be further improved by strengthening the reserve margin. Although margins in Malaysia appear generous - installed capacity in Peninsular Malaysia in 2011 was 21,817 MW - this depends upon the availability of fuel, as TNB found out early in 2011 when it had to import power from Singapore when gas supplies were restricted. Meanwhile the continuous upward trend in demand, in spite of the global economic recession, means that additional capacity is needed if adequate margins are to be maintained under all circumstances. Malaysia aims to meet that margin by maintaining a 20% reserve margin by the end of 2015.


Malaysia’s Five-Fuel Diversification PolicyAs well as encouraging the market and increasing Malaysia’s reserve margin, it is essential that Malaysia develops and maintains its “Five-Fuel Diversi#cation” policy, put in place to avoid excessive reliance on a single fuel. In spite of this, Malaysia’s generation mix is dominated by fossil fuels with gas taking 45% of the total generation in 2011 and coal 44%. Together with oil and distillates, these accounted for more than 94% of all power generation. Only hydropower, with 5.8% of the total in 2011, provided any alternative. However, 75% of Malaysia’s power demand comes from the Central region, where natural hydro resources are limited. !e contribution from other renewable energy sources, such as solar and biomass was less than 1% in 2011. Despite the dominance of the gas industry in Malaysian energy generation, electricity production using gas experienced a drop of 15.2% between 2010 and 2011 due to tightening supplies, with gas for the power sector being curtailed due to maintenance and upgrading of o"shore facilities of big companies such as Petronas. !is unscheduled reduction in the use of gas in 2011 pre#gures a planned fall in the proportion of power generated from natural gas in the future. By 2020, the gas market share of generation is scheduled to fall to 47.8% and by 2030 to 41%. Meanwhile coal use will rise to over 48% by 2020. Beyond that, nuclear power is also planned to take a share of the mix, with coal’s proportion then falling. !e government is also trying to promote alternative types of renewable generation including solar photovoltaics and biomass, through an FiT system implemented in 2011 that requires utilities to buy renewable energy from power producers at a rate set by the government. However, with the gas curtailment and the long development

time associated with nuclear and renewable energy, the short term alternative to gas remains coal. However, Malaysia is a major importer of coal, with no reserves of its own in the peninsula. According to TNB’s2011 annual report, Malaysia imports 20 million tons of coal every year. !is means that Malaysia is exposed to $uctuating market prices, which proved to be a distinct disadvantage between 2004 and 2011, when the coal price rose from $34/tonne to well above $100/tonne. !is startling situation has been improved, however, with the steady fall in coal price since May 2011. Coal for electricity generation is currently imported from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa. Supply risk is one of the major issues governing coal as any disruption in the supply side could pose major risk in failing to meet the demand. Coal exporting countries could change their policy in the future if they see a need to utilize more for their own local consumption. !ere is also sti" competition from China and India for coal as these countries are undergoing rapid development. Malaysia is also competing with Korea, Japan and Taiwan for coal. !is situation de#nitely exerts tremendous pressure on the price. As Datuk Seri Peter Chin suggested, the Malaysian government are nevertheless focusing on the development of coal-#red power plants. As well as Tanjung Bin 4 and Manjung 4, (2016 and 2015 respectively), another 3,000MW are in the pipeline. !e Energy Commission has requested an open tender for the development of two coal-#red power plants. !e #rst will be a 1,000MW plant on a fast-track basis, with the second a 2,000 MW plant at a new site. !e fast track 1000 MW plant will be in operation by October 2017 and the second power plant, which is to be developed at a Green#eld site, will be commissioned by 2018/19. Issues in supply that threaten energy

security can be circumnavigated, however, by the technology employed at new power plants. !e Tanjung Bin 4 plant will use Alstom’s supercritical technology, and will be able to utilize 100% sub-bituminous coal. Using lower grade, cheaper and more abundantly available coal ensures a lower risk from the erratic coal import market.

Entities InvolvedFor the project, Alstom has formed a consortium with two local, reputable Malaysian companies, both of which Alstom has worked with before on previous projects, and so has fostered excellent local relationships. Alstom plan to replicate the concept of Manjung 4 and will be using a similar project set up and approach. !e operation and maintenance for the new power plant will be provided by Malako" Power Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malako", under a long-term operation and maintenance agreement. Malako" is Malaysia’s largest independent power producer, with a net generating capacity of 5,020MW from its six thermal power plants. Malako" Corporation Berhad, through its subsidiaries, engage in power generation, water desalination, and operation and maintenance services activities in Malaysia and internationally. Shin Eversendai Engineering Sdn. Bhd is providing the mechanical plant erection work and the turbine hall steelwork, and have successfully completed work on a number of large coal #red power plants. Having worked with Alstom on the Manjung Power Plant in Perak for the boiler, mill bay, ESP, FGD, coal and ash handling, Eversendai will complete similar scope for the 1000 MW Tanjung Bin 4 project. Mudajaya Corporation Bhd will provide the complete civil works, including the civil engineering and building construction services. In addition to these local companies, the Coal Handling contract has been awarded as a turnkey supply to !yseen Krupp India. Alstom not only has a excellent reputation of delivering projects in Malaysia, but also has excellent working relationships with Malaysia’s most successful companies. In fact, Alstom’s local expertise is what strengthens their global presence.


www.alstom.com

Make a commitment to the future, with Alstom

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Why Alstom?Saji Raghavan, Alstom Country President Malaysia, said of Tanjung Bin 4 Power Project: “!is project, closely following Manjung power plant order in 2011, is a testimony of our customers’ con#dence in Alstom’s supercritical technology and ability to deliver. Our market-leading solutions pave the way for additional capacity as well as substantially reducing emissions, resulting in delivery of cheaper, cleaner power to Malaysian consumers and industries.” !is in a nutshell is why Alstom have been chosen to build Tanjung Bin 4 Power Plant. Alstom has over 100 years of experience in building steam power plants, proving that Alstom has the expertise, technology and the product portfolio to meet customers’ speci#c requirements. As a result, Alstom is the number one turnkey contractor for thermal power plants worldwide. Alstom’s global network delivers high quality, cost-e"ective equipment and related services to customers around the world. !e company prides themselves on using consistent processes in execution, engineering and manufacturing – delivering the highest level of product excellence in each of our locations. With the support of local service centers in 70 countries, customers are assured that Alstom can deliver e%cient steam power plant solutions and services anytime, anywhere. Alstom apply their Plant IntegratorTM concept for optimized power solutions. As an OEM, EPC and O&M provider, Alstom has a unique perspective that allows for analysis of the whole plant and the full lifecycle as an integrated system. Using proven models and established benchmarks, Alstom demonstrates how speci#c investment costs can be understood in their true context. Customers bene#t from a greater range of options to

determine the solutions that are best suited to their needs. !ese help them achieve their business objectives and consequently better serve their markets. Additionally, Alstom o"er a comprehensive customer experience, right from the design process to the after sales service. Alstom o"ers the broadest product portfolio for all steam applications ranging from 10–1200 MW and are experienced leaders in manufacturing, delivering, installing and servicing boilers, steam turbines and turbogenerators, as well as balance of plant components. Alstom also drives technology improvements to increase e%ciency and reliability while reducing all emissions including NOx, SO2, particulates and greenhouse gases. Alstom’s product portfolio includes suspension-#red boilers for #ring pulverized coal, oil and gas plus $uidized bed boilers for #ring coal, waste coal and biomass. Alstom o"ers world-class project management and EPC capabilities, including power plant concept, design, manufacturing and construction. As a result, Alstom have become the industry benchmark for proven availability, reliability, and overall plant e%ciency. Alstom is also a recognized project manager, able to lead a consortium whether or not they are the main supplier. As an EPC provider, Alstom has installed almost 580 GW in steam turbine generator sets and 835 GW of boilers worldwide.

Tanjung Bin 4: The ComponentsAlstom will engineer, supply, construct and commission the 1000 MW supercritical steam turbine and generator, the supercritical boiler, power plant auxiliaries such as mills and air-preheaters as well as proprietary environmental control systems. !e emissions at the plant will be signi#cantly reduced through the use of low NOx burners, a highly e%cient seawater FGD facility and Fabric Filters to lower nitrous oxide, sulphur oxide and dust emissions.

Additionally, Alstom will also supply and install its latest ALSPA® Series 6 Distributed Control System. !e equipment utilized by Alstom in the Tanjung Bin 4 project is the latest in supercritical pulverized coal technology. Supercritical technology improves the e%ciency of steam technology by advancing the steam conditions in the boiler. By increasing the temperature and pressure at which the steam is produced, supercritical technology can increase the potential e%ciency of the coal to electricity conversion. !e idea of a supercritical plant is to bypass the point at which water boils, by keeping the steam pressure maintained above the critical point of water (221.2 bar, 374°C). In the supercritical boiler, instead of #nding a mix of water and steam as in most conventional boilers, the $uid is in a supercritical state. !e result of this is that the boiler drum is not required in a supercritical plant, because the conversion from water to steam entirely takes place in the evaporator circuits. !e result of this technology, however, is that this increase in temperature and pressure places greater stress on the boiler materials, but this has been resolved with the development of improved materials especially for supercritical plants. !ough boiler performance does depend on a number of factors such as speci#c site conditions, these materials have enabled the most advanced supercritical plants to achieve an e%ciency of between 40% and 45% (HHV basis). Further advantages of supercritical plants is that the technology allows the plant to consume less fuel per kWh, and that corresponds with a decrease in emissions, lowering NOx, sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulates. Additionally, the supercritical unit does not have thick walled steam drums and has quicker start up times. Finally, since a supercritical plant costs only slightly more than a subcritical plant of a similar size, the unit cost is still extremely competitive.

“!is project is a testimony of our customers’ con$dence in Alstom’s supercritical technology and ability to deliver. Our market-leading solutions pave the way for additional capacity as well as substantially reducing emissions, resulting in delivery of cheaper, cleaner power to Malaysian consumers and industries.”



The Boiler!e Tanjung Bin 4 Supercritical power plant will be equipped with a vertical wall, two-#reball, two pass boiler equipped with Alstom’s low-NOx tangential #ring system (LNTFS). !e boiler is able to maintain a main steam $ow of 3226 tons/hour (t/h) at 282 bar and 600°C, making the unit a state of the art supercritical unit. More technical data for the unit is shown in Table 1. !e vertical wall tube design includes two design features which allow sliding pressure operation within the boiler, which in turn allows more $exibility during daily load swings, less maintenance and increased availability. !e #rst of these features is ri$ed tubing, which aids cooling. !e ri$ed tubing spins the water and steam mixture traveling through the tubes, throwing water onto the tube surface. !e second feature of the vertical wall tube design is the use of ori#ces, which help to distribute the $ow of $uid to the furnace wall tubes in proportion to tube heat absorption. Because the tubes at the centre require morecooling, accurate $uid distribution reduces temperature di"erentials, and therefore reduces the stress put upon the furnace wall. Alstom’s LNTFS has a number of advantageous design features. !e #ring system injects fuel and air from wind boxes at an angle into an imaginary circle at the centre of the furnace. !e Tanjung Bin 4 system will optimize two of these imaginary #ring circles, creating two #reballs. In addition, the fuel and air injectors improve e%ciency by tilting in order to control reheat temperatures without using spray de-superheat. !e windbox will consist of seven coal nozzles which in turn contain enhanced ignition coal tips. Concentric #ring system (CFS) air and auxiliary nozzles are placed between the coal nozzles. Equipped with yaw capacity, the nozzles dictate the position of the air on the furnace walls, which in turn controls corrosion and slagging. Of the auxiliary nozzles, four contain No.2 fuel oil burners in order to supply the oil #red warm up capacity. !ey are positioned so that the coal nozzles can be used in any order or combination, alongside high energy arc igniters. Additionally, a separated over-#re air

(SOFA) windbox, each containing six vertically and horizontally adjustable air nozzles, will be placed above the main wind box. !is SOFA windbox will be able to boost air staging whilst reducing NOx emissions. !e advantage of these features is that it produces stable #reballs, which in turn leads to more predictable heat absorption pro#les. !is maximizes combustion e%ciency whilst still keeping NOx emissions low, and allows the combustion system to adjust the fuel and air conditions to suit a multitude of di"erent coal types. !is is an essential design feature, because of the reduced availability and increased price of quality coal. New plants must be capable of utilizing fuel with a low heating, high moisture and high ash contents (see Table 2 for the boiler’s range). !is will allow the operator to purchase coal for the most competitive price. !e Tanjung Bin 4 boiler has been designed to be capable of burning imported coals primarily from Indonesia and Australia, which display these qualities. !e boiler will be manufactured in Alstom’s new Chinese manufacturing facility in the Wuhan East Lake Development Zone. Alstom acquired a 51% stake in the Wuhan Boiler Company in 2007 and constructed a state of the art boiler factory on a new site at the end of 2009.

The Turbine!e Tanjung Bin 4 Supercritical power plant will also utilize Alstom’s 1080 MW STF100 steam turbine unit. !e STF100 is equipped with one high pressure turbine, one intermediate pressure turbine and two double-$ow, low pressure turbines. !e steam turbine unit will receive steam conditions which include a high-pressure steam turbine inlet pressure of 270 bar, steam inlet temperature of 595°C and a steam $ow of 3226 t/h from the boiler. For more technical data such as the reheat steam $ow, see Table 1. !e construction of the STF100 steam turbine unit will also take place in China, just as the boiler. !e unit will be built at the Alstom Beizhong Power (Beijing) Company Limited factory.

The Generator For this plant, Alstom will use their 1080 MW GIGATOP 2-pole generator. !is unit has evolved from a successful design #rst developed in the 1970s. With a water-cooled stator

winding, the GIGATOP 2-pole generator’s stator core and rotor will be hydrogen-cooled. With output ranges of 400 MW to 1,400 MW at 50 Hz and 340 MW to 1,100 MW at 60 Hz, the GIGATOP 2-pole turbo-generator is ready to support the largest steam turbine power plants. !e GIGATOP 2-pole is powerful; and it is also modular and $exible in design. GIGATOP 2-pole has demonstrated extremely high reliability in operation – for example, a unit in the U.S.A. boasted 607 days’ uninterrupted operation before a scheduled shutdown. It is the world’s most powerful turbo- generator running at full speed; it delivers up to 1,400 MW. Its compact design results in a short overall shaft length, occupying less space than conventional design. And the unique design of the GIGATOP 2-pole press plates allows it to deliver high reactive power, which contributes to stabilizing the grid voltage quickly in case of a disturbance on the grid. !e GIGATOP 2-pole’s cooling system enables the unit to operate e%ciently at part and full load. !e water is cooled by passing de-ionized waster through stainless steel tubes, which circumnavigates issues of corrosion. At the same time, hydrogen cooling is carried out by utilizing a triple-circuit hydrogen sealing system. !is system is able to minimize costs which can be translated into operational savings. Adding to these savings, the stator core is maintenance free for the lifetime of the unit. !e water cooling tubes of the stator winding are made of stainless steel instead of copper, so there is no risk of corrosion and clogging from copper oxides. All this adds to the reliability of operation. To ease maintenance, the stator end-winding can be retightened, quickly and simply, during regular maintenance, while man-holes at both ends and in the terminal box make access easy for maintenance personnel. !e unique design of the re-tightenable stator end-winding reduces the maintenance e"ort and increases the GIGATOP 2-pole’s availability. Axially $exible to allow thermal expansion, it is rigid in the radial and tangential directions to withstand high electromagnetic forces. To facilitate maintenance, the end- winding has been designed so that it can be easily re-tightened during regular maintenance, which accelerates maintenance operations. Safety has been given pride of place in the GIGATOP 2-pole, with a triple-circuit hydrogen sealing system instead of a double-circuit system. !e resulting very low hydrogen consumption also helps to reduce operational costs and keeps the hydrogen at very high purity levels. So the GIGATOP 2-pole’s e%ciency is sustained at a high level over the long term.A key GIGATOP 2-pole feature is Alstom’s MICADUR® insulation system, the result of over 50 years of continuous development. MICADUR® consists of a glass-#bre tape incorporating mica $akes. !e taped bars are vacuum- impregnated with a solvent- free

1. Steam Generator’s Technical DataMain Steam Flow 3226 t/hSuperheater outlet pressure 282. barSuperheater outlet steam temperature 600 °C

Feedwater inlet temperature 304 °CReheater steam flow 2687 t/hReheater outlet steam pressure 60.2 barReheater outlet steam temperature 603.5 °C

Reheater inlet temperature 365.4 °CSource: Alstom

2. Boiler Fuel Range

Content Design Target Specifications

Moisture 26% Up to 30%

Ash 1.5% Up to 15%

Sulphur 0.1% Up to 1%Volatile Matter Composition 37.2% 22% and above

Source: Alstom


epoxy resin and thermally cured. Finally, the surface is coated with a corona- protection varnish. MICADUR® meets all the requirements of thermal class F (155°C), while GIGATOP 2-pole operates in thermal class B (130°C); that means it has a built-in safety margin. !anks to the MICADUR® insulation system, the GIGATOP 2-pole o"ers excellent durability and reliability under all operating conditions. !e stator core is designed for zero maintenance. It is held under constant axial pressure by press #ngers, press plates and fully insulated through bolts. As a result, there is no expected loosening of the laminations for the entire life time of the machine. !e stator core is made of low-loss insulated steel sheet. !e patented design of the laminated press-plates leads to low losses, low temperature and better e%ciency, which enables reactive power to be increased and can be used to support grid voltage stability.

Sea Water FGD SystemSeawater FGD uses seawater itself as the absorbent. Seawater is naturally slightly alkaline and will absorb and react with SO2, converting it in the presence of oxygen from the air, into soluble sulphate, which remains dissolved in the seawater. Absorption takes place in a packed-tower counter-$ow absorber into which is fed around 20% of the seawater drawn into the plant from the seawater intake system. !e process is capable of absorbing above 90% of the SO2, depending on input levels. !e seawater is then ejected from the absorber tower and mixed with the cooling water from the condenser at a seawater treatment plant. !e mixture is treated with ambient air to increase the dissolved oxygen level, after which it is released back into the sea. !e returned water will be altered, but not enough to infringe upon the stringent environmental standards, and the process produces no by-products. !e returned water will have an increased sulphate load of approximately 55 mg/l, and the pH of the water will be lowered from approximately 7-8 to 6-7.Alstom’s Seawater FGD system has both low lifetime and maintenance costs. Meanwhile, the $ue gas exiting the FGD plant is reheated in order to rise high into the air and disperse after leaving the stack. !e $ue gas is reheated using the gas-gas heater (GGH), using the heat extracted from the $ue gas before entering the absorber.

ALSPA Series 6 Control System!e ALSPA® Series 6 Control System takes advantage of Alstom’s extensive experience

in power plant control, integrating the latest technologies for the bene#t of the customer. ALSPA® Series 6 encompasses all the operation, management, maintenance, automation and safety functions that a modern power plant needs. Central to Series 6 is ALSPA® CONTROPLANT™, the state-of-the-art plant automation system, based on a $exible, modular and open real-time architecture (based on Ethernet Power Link) and designed in line with the trend toward increasing data centralization. ALSPA CONTROPLANT™ can be used from small systems to large complex systems in power stations or industrial applications to control, optimize and protect all types of power plants and their turbines. ALSPA Series 6 uses the latest Microsoft.net technology for the operator screen of the system (or Human Machine Interface – HMI), producing an ergonomically friendly and easy-to-use system. !e control room can be con#gured according to the di"erent architectures needed for the various processes e.g. hydro, combined cycle or supercritical thermal projects. Control functions, such as the analysis of historical plant operation data, remote maintenance diagnostics and remote power plant supervision can be securely accessed through the internet. Automation cells – machine controllers, distributed controllers and input/output devices – that report information back to the control system are now more powerful, allowing for more complex operations. For example, the main controllers are 300% more powerful than the previous machine controllers.

Expansion of the 500kV SwitchyardAn integral part of the project is the addition of a further two diameters to the existing three diameter 500kV switchyard. !is forms the actual connection of the new Unit to the TNB Grid. !e equipment being provided by Alstom Grid is of the Air Insulated outdoor type. 6 Circuit Breakers, 18 Disconnectors, various measuring and protection equipment plus $exible and #xed connectors are being installed and commissioned on new supporting structures and foundations. !is set of equipment is then connected to the Switchyard control system which is also being expanded to cater for the new Power Plant. Major challenges of this portion of the project include organization of the work in a con#ned area close to a continuously live existing facility, work required at the actual interface point requires meticulous planning and attention to detail with close co-operation with Malako"

and TNB to ensure safety of personnel and equipment, and to ensure the work is carried out to the required quality in the optimum time.

Challenges of the projectAs with many large scale power projects, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome. !e #rst is the time schedule where the power plant must be handed over to meet the dates set in the customers’s PPA and is dependent upon availability of interconnections with the grid and existing coal supply infrastructure. A fully detailed programme is developed with the customer to ensure all Parties are aware of their obligations to meet the COD date. !e second is the power plant’s location. !e Tanjung Bin 4 unit is adjacent to the current three coal #red units and is required to meet DOE regulations for the overall site. !e existing Tanjung Bin plant already produces a certain amount of emissions, and the new 1000 MW extension will add to the total emissions level which is within a con#ned area. !is means that care must be taken in the design to ensure emissions level are kept within the DOE regulations and thus ensure that the plant can be operated.

To ConcludeMalaysia is a country that needs to quickly and e%ciently produce power. Despite the numerous issues surrounding the supply of coal and the adverse environmental impact, the development of coal #red thermal projects is the most pragmatic solution to Malaysia’s power issues. However, neither the government, state owned enterprises or the private companies involved in developing power in Malaysia want to do so irresponsibly, which is why they have chosen Alstom and their Supercritical technology for the coal #red project at Tanjung Bin 4. !e use of Alstom’s boiler, turbine, generator, FGD, fabric #lters and control system technology has a number of advantages. !e equipment is high performance with increased operational $exibility. !e plant will be able to maximize its fuel $exibility, whilst still maintaining low NOx emissions over a wide load range. In short, the new 1000 MW unit at the Tanjung Bin will be able to provide a steady supply of electricity without a negative impact on emissions, whilst still being cost e"ective.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: E. [email protected] www.pimagazine-asia.com


PI

ike many States across the region, !ailand is currently undergoing something of an energy revolution. With growing electricity demand both in its rural communities

and urban megacities, !ailand is looking to its vast hydropower potential to #ll its current and projected energy needs. According to the !ailand 15 year power development plan for 2008 to 20221 (Power Policy Bureau, 2010), the total hydropower potential across !ailand is approximately 328 MW. In addition to this, !ai energy companies are also seeking to develop vast hydroelectric reserves in neighbouring Laos and Myanmar to supplement local energy supply and develop hydroelectric capacity across the region. Construction is underway on the controversial 1,285 MW Xayaburi dam in Laos of which 95 per cent of the energy generated will supplement !ailand’s electricity needs. However, this has already resulted in the displacement of hundreds of local villagers, and environmentalists across the region have warned that due to its size and scope, it may threaten #sh catches and food security for up to 60 million people throughout the Mekong region. Similarly in Myanmar, construction of the 1,200 MW Hat Gyi hydroelectric dam, a joint initiative between China’s Sinohydro Corporation, the Electricity Generating Authority of !ailand and Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power, has long been

opposed by neighbouring villages on both sides of the !ai-Myanmer border, and has even faced violent opposition from members of the Karen National Union. !is is not so dissimilar to current development plans in Sabah and Sarawak. Collectively, these two states represent the most underdeveloped states in Malaysia. While national poverty rates in Malaysia have dropped dramatically since the 1990’s, 23 per cent of households in Sabah are considered poor and 6.5% of Sabah’s households are categorised as ‘hardcore poor’.2 Similarly to !ailand, electricity access has not become a reality for much of Sabah’s rural population, and across the state electricity access is currently at 82.51 per cent, with estimates that rural access to electricity is as low as 67 per cent.3 Also, due to a weak distribution network, the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) for Sabah was 2,540 minutes in 2005, 25 times worse when compared to Peninsula Malaysia’s SAIDI of 101.6 minutes.4 While many rural villages in Sabah do have access to diesel generators, this is highly costly, unreliable and causes signi#cant localised pollution. As a result, Sabah is currently looking for ways to signi#cantly increase its energy generation capacity, reach and strength. According to the Sabah Development Corridor Blueprint (2008-2025), this would require adding 2,700 MW in new capacity across the state and notably increasing access to electricity in rural areas. Sarawak also plans to increase its energy supply, but on a much larger scale. Currently,

Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), the state-owned holding company of Syarikat SESCO Berhad, has targeted a nine-fold increase in energy output between 2010 and 2020. In terms of current versus future capacity, this translates to an expansion from 1,300MW in 2010 to between 7,000MW and 8,500MW in 2020.5 However, these energy expansion plans are aimed primarily at increasing urban industrial energy supply as opposed to supporting rural energy demand across Sarawak’s low density, rural population. Due to their unique topography and annual precipitation rates upwards of 3850mm/y, these two states are highly attractive sites for hydroelectric development. It has been estimated that Sabah has the potential to develop micro-hydro power in


Chris Wright of SEAREPA and Raveen Kulenthran of TONIBUNG tell Power Insider about the work going in Sarawak and Sabah to encourage the installation of micro-hydro electric systems.

L

feature

Thailand’s Micro Hydro Potential: Lessons Learned in Sarawak and Sabah

“the state-owned holding company of Syarikat SESCO Berhad, has targeted a nine-fold increase in energy output between 2010 and 2020.”


68 sites with a collective energy potential of 1,900 MW5. However, this study only considered areas with more than 40 meters head for micro-hydro deployment. Considering that newer turbines now enable micro-hydro systems to operate at considerably lower head levels, this number may underestimate Sabah’s micro-hydro potential. Sarawak has much greater potential, with a projected capacity of 20,000 MW, and a total energy output of 87,000 kWh per year.7 Over the next ten years, both of these states plan to rapidly increase their current hydro power capacity. In Sabah, plans for several large hydroelectric plants are under development. !is includes the 150 MW Upper Padas dam planned for 2014, and the 150 MW Liwagu project. If development of these plants is successfully implemented, they will contribute towards making hydro the second largest electricity resource in Sabah by 2020.8 However, due to the proportion of Sabah’s population that remain o"-the-grid, it arguable as to whether these large systems will increase access to electricity in rural, poverty stricken areas. A majority of these o"-grid communities are gatherers and farmers who, although poor, have developed complex resource management systems that ensure their food security through sustaining and conserving local ecosystems. As such, there is an ever-pressing need for development initiatives that do not negatively impact the local ecosystem, while embracing the traditional values of local people. In Sarawak, current hydroelectricity plans include a series of up to 50 hydroelectric dams, including 12 mega-hydro projects to be constructed before 2030.9 Sarawak currently has over 1300 MW of installed capacity through Batang Ai Hydroelectric (100 MW) and the added capacity of the 2400 MW Bakun Dam, completed in 2011, and the 944 MW Murum dam which is scheduled to be completed this year. Leading up to 2020, SEB plans to develop at least 5 new mega-hydro proects, including the proposed 1,200 MW Baram Dam. According to SAVE Rivers, a grassroots network of indigenous communities and civil society organizations in Sarawak, the existing Sarawak dams have already displaced over 12,000 people. In the resettlement villages for the Bakun and Batang Ai dams, many of the indigenous people live in poverty with high unemployment, insu%cient land to grow crops, and poor access to schooling and healthcare. Furthermore, they report that more

than 20 villages including upwards of 20,000 more Indigenous people will be displaced if the Baram Dam is built.10 However, as unrest continues to grow across Sarawak in response to these large-scale development projects, more and more people are starting to realise the potential of small-scale, micro-hydro. Micro-hydro projects tap into the natural kinetic energy of $owing rivers, producing between 1-100 kW without the need for a dam and large-scale $ooding. While not being able to add signi#cant amounts to state-wide or national energy supply, their small size can play a signi#cant role in expanding energy access in rural areas, and are often used to electrify rural villages or provide power to remote, o"-grid facilities. !is is particularly true in remote and hilly areas where the extension of the grid system is comparatively uneconomical.11 In regions such as Sabah, Sarawak and !ailand, with signi#cant and consistent annual rainfall, small-scale run-of-the-river systems are able to generate energy throughout the year

in non-drought years. As a result, micro-hydro projects have proven to be a highly practical, low-cost and low impact options for electricity generation in remote areas across Southeast Asia.12 Due to their ability to be used as a direct mechanical drive or electricity generation scheme, they can have signi#cant direct socio-economic bene#ts to remote villages that may have relied on diesel generators, or not previously had access to electricity at all. In Sabah and Sarawak, rural electri#cation is particularly di%cult and the development of decentralised energy has not been e"ectively prioritised. However, local civil society organisations have taken the lead. Since 2001, Sabah-based ‘Friends of Village Development’ or Tobpinai Ningkokoton Kobuburuon Kampung13 (TONIBUNG) has focused on expanding micro-hydroelectric systems through the implementation of 15 micro-hydro projects across Sabah and Sarawak, as well as 6 others in partnership with private companies. In each of its 15 projects, TONIBUNG has focussed on building a sense of community ownership in order to ensure the long term success of their micro-hydro installations.

!is begins with a signi#cant allocation of time and resources to pre-project research of village customs, the establishment of communal funds, democratically elected committees, and the practice of shared labour in the planning, implementation and maintenance of each project. TONIBUNG also works with community farmers and craftsmen to assess needs in developing productive uses for the renewable energy produced. It also develops watershed management plans with community partners in order to ensure that their work has no negative impacts on the local environment. As such, the organisation prides itself in the development of what it calls ‘appropriate’ renewable energy. Furthermore, it openly promotes the idea that the vast majority of its work occurs before and after the micro-hydro turbine is installed, in order to provide a truly sustainable source of energy for each community it works in. TONIBUNG is also currently seeking to build their capacity and multiply their impact through a skills development scheme which works to enable rural indigenous technicians to design and implement renewable resource management schemes of their own. TONIBUNG’s micro-hydro projects also highlight that even small-scale systems can be relatively cost-competitive. As shown in #gure 1, TONIBUNG’s small-scale systems average just over 7 kW in capacity at a total cost of approximately $46,000 USD each. !is equates to a levelized cost of approximately $0.17 per kWh over 20 years.14 In 2010, researchers from the University of Berkely’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory conducted a systematic cost-assessment of Sabah’s energy options.15 Currently Sabah is dramatically subsidising the price of energy produced from natural gas and diesel. If it were to eliminate these subsidies, these micro-hydro projects would in fact be cheaper than diesel and on par with natural gas in Sabah. Malaysia currently imposes considerable import duties on parts required for micro-hydro development. Reeling back these duties would again decrease their costs and make micro-hydro even more competitive. !e social and environmental impacts of these schemes are also important to consider. While all of TONIBUNG’s micro-hydro schemes occur in areas without previous access

THAILAND’S MICRO-HYDRO POTENTIAL

“!ere is a pressing need for development initiatives that doesn’t negatively impact the local eco-system, and embraces the traditional values of local people.”


to reliable electricity, more than 70 per cent of TONIBUNG’s micro-hydro schemes in Sabah have been implemented in areas where absolute poverty is o%cially assessed as a"ecting more than 30 per cent of the population. Often these communities cook their food on #re stoves or resort to diesel generators, both of which are signi#cant contributors to localised pollution levels. As such, these schemes provide sustainable alleviations to rural poverty, dramatically increase access to opportunities for the villagers, and contribute to localised environmental conservation. As Adrian Lasimbang, Executive Director of TONIBUNG noted: “!e bigger picture is that they will now take care of the forest that gives them not only food but also energy. What they do at the community level contributes to addressing climate change issues.”16 !e majority of these micro-hydro projects

have also occurred in extremely remote areas, often without adequate road access. After installing a 10kW system in Kg. Buayan, the village chief John Sabating commented that:“!e system also means there is no longer a need to carry fuel from Donggongon town, which required a three-hour walk and a hour’s ride on a four wheel drive”.17 !eir most recent project in Long Lamai, Sarawak is only accessible via boat. As such, while the micro-scale of these schemes results in increased operational and maintenance costs over time relative to larger-scale technologies, it is their very nature which proves their potential as “appropriate” solutions to expanding rural electricity access. !is sense of long-term ownership also opens up the opportunities for capacity development, community-based implementation and maintenance assistance, and community-based

(Fig. 2 showing the levelised costs per MW and kW, capacity factor, discount rate, operational and maintenance costs)19

no Project Name Location Capacity (kw) Turbine Type Supplier Year

Commissioned Budget (RM)

1 MHP Long Lawen Long Lawen, Belaga, Sarawak 10 Crossflow Heksa Hydro 2001 230,000.00

2 MHP Terian Kg. Terian, Penampang, Sabah 5 Pelton Heksa Hydro 2005 130,000.00

3 MHP Bantul Kg. Bantul, Pensiangan, Sabah 5 Pelton Heksa Hydro 2006 150,000.00

4 MHP Bario Bario Asal, Bario Sarawak 40 Crossflow Heksa Hydro 2009 500,000.00

5 MHP Buayan Kg Buayan, Penampang, Sabah 10 Crossflow Heksa Hydro 2009 250,000.00

6 MHP Masakob Masakob R&R, Rafflesia Forest Reserve, Tambunan, Sabah 3 turgo EXMORK 2009 60,000.00

7 MHP Mudung Abun Kg. Mudung Abun, Belaga, Sarawak 25 pelton Heksa Hydro 2010 380,000.00

8 MHP Lumpagas kg Lumpagas, Pensiangan, Sabah 2 turgo EXMORK 2010 80,000.00 9 Pak Dawat/Edwin Punang Kelalan, Ba'kelalan, Sarawak 1.5 turgo EXMORK 2010 5,000.00

10 MHP Tg Rambai Kg Orang Asli Tg Rambai, Hulu Selangor, Selangor 5

Kassim dual axis turbine (prototype)

One Hydro Sdn Bhd 2011 230,000.00

11 MHP Saliman Kg. Saliman, Pensiangan Sabah 3 Turgo EXMORK 2011 98,000.00 12 MHP Poring Kg Poring, Ranau 3 propeller EXMORK 2011 50,000.00 13 MHP Maang Maang Wellness & Spa Resort 3 Turgo EXMORK 2011 50,000.00 14 MHP Trus Madi Trusmadi Forest reserve, Tambunan Sabah 2 turgo EXMORK 2011 40,000.00 15 MHP Inakaak Kg Inakaak, Pensiangan, Sabah 3 turgo EXMORK 2012 80,000.00

16 MHP Sg Rellang Kg Orang Asli Sg Rellang, Gombak, Selangor 1.5 turgo-solar hybrid EXMORK 2012 25,000.00

17 MHP Babalitan Kg Babalitan, Pensiangan, Sabah 5 Pelton Heksa Hydro 2012 150,000.00

18 Labanrata RES Pendant Hut, Labanrata, Mt Kinabalu 1.5 turgo-solar hybrid EXMORK 2012 30,000.00

19 MHP Marudu AFC nursery, Kota Marudu, Sabah 5 Pelton Heksa Hydro 2013 150,000.00

20 MHP Sg Rellang Kg Orang Asli Sg Rellang, Gombak, Selangor 2 Pelton Heksa Hydro TBC 2013 30,000.00

21 MHP Long Lamai Long Lamai, Baram, Sarawak 15 Crossflow Heksa Hydro TBC 2013 350,000.00

Total (kW) 160.5 Total (RM) 3,218,000.00

Average (kW) 7.30 Average (RM/kW) 20,049.84

TONIBUNG Micro Hydro projects (fig.1)

Data Centre DataExchange Rate (RM to $) 0.32

Average Cost ($) 46,807Average Installed Capacity (MW) 0.0073

Average Cost ($/MW) 6,415,950O&M Cost ($/Yr) 3,36018 Capacity Factor 0.73Discount Rate 8%LCOE ($/MWh) 174LCOE ($/kWh) 0.17

Figures


task falls, ultimately, on local governments. It has been proven that integrated electri#cation schemes that prioritize community ownership tend to be both more resilient and cost-e"ective than o"-grid systems that are owned and managed by government institutions. If Southeast Asian governments were to implement some of the strategies employed by these small organizations, it could help these countries meet both development targets and climate change mitigation commitments. !ailand is also looking to rapidly develop its mini and micro-hydro potential as a means of supporting decentralised energy supply to a number of its rural communities. As of 2012, !ailand has a total of 101.75MW installed capacity for mini and micro hydro power. In accordance with ambitious plans to ensure that 25% of total energy consumption in !ailand would derive from “alternative energy sources” by 2021 (Alternative Energy Development Plan 2012-2021), the !ai government has planned to increase its supply of mini and micro-hydro electricity 10 fold, with a projected 1,608 MW of mini and micro-hydro power planned by 2021. !is will have a particular impact in Northern !ailand, which has a very high potential for small hydropower development due to its steep slope topography and local energy needs. According to the World Renewable Energy Congress, who have conducted a study in Northern !ailand on the potential for small and mini/micro hydro projects, there are 64 potential projects in the Ping River Basin with an overall electricity potential of approximately 211 MW. Additionally, there are 19 potential projects in the Wang River Basin with a total energy capacity of approximately 6 MW. Many of these projects aim to create the multi-dimensional impact that is evident in TONIBUNG’s schemes. !rough their implementation, !ailand may indeed make considerable strides towards poverty alleviation, environmental conservation and socio-economic development across the a"ected areas. However, as !ailand develops its micro-hydro potential over the next 10 years, it will need to invest considerable attention to the ‘appropriateness’ of their hydroelectric development. Like in Sabah, many indigenous communities across !ailand have developed intimate agricultural and spiritual links with their land, resources and river systems. It is these links that must not only be understood, but critically engaged

with in order to ensure the social and #nancial sustainability of any community-based micro-hydro scheme. However, similar to Sabah, this level of engagement is already occurring in many of !ailand’s river basins. In the Ping River Basin for example, Indigenous farmers, local residents and civil society actors representing the Ping River Basin Committee have developed mutually agreed upon, ecologically sustainable and equitable systems of water allocation. In this case, it is therefore critical that the !ai government actively engage with these stakeholders and build upon this participatory process in the development of their potential micro-hydro projects. Rather than seeking to implement these schemes in the traditionally top-down image of government-led development, it would in fact be more e%cient and sustainable to adopt a community-based methodology focuses on developing long-term community ownership of each micro-hydro project. !is will have a signi#cant cost impact in the long term as community members may become stewards rather than simply bene#ciaries of micro-hydro electricity. In order to achieve these long term bene#ts, those implementing the projects will have to signi#cantly invest both time and social resources towards #rst developing culturally appropriate strategies to foster that sense of community engagement, ownership, and multi-dimensional community development.


crowd funding initiatives. !ese feedback into the project and may decrease the economic cost for the implementing agency as well as assisting the long-term social sustainability of the project. Initiatives such as these were highlighted in December, 2012 at the Southeast Asia Renewable Energy People’s Assembly. !is was the #rst regional gathering of community-based renewable energy developers to share their knowledge and experience of developing micro-renewable schemes across the region. What became evident at the gathering, is that if done in accordance with the localised socio-cultural, economic and environmental needs of the communities a"ected by these schemes, hydroelectricity as well as a number of other community based renewable energy sources could signi#cantly contribute to community empowerment.

During this initial gathering in Sabah last year, micro-hydro implementers from across Southeast Asia formed a regional micro-hydro network to continue to exchange their knowledge share their experiences, and expand the impact of their ongoing community-based, micro-hydro projects. Similar networks were also formed across a range of other community based technologies, research groupings, policy initiatives and advocacy platforms. It is also hoped that through the creation of these network, they may be able to more e"ectively highlight the potential of community-based renewable energy development across the region, particularly to those governments seeking to dramatically expand their energy capacity. In spite of the ability of organizations like TONIBUNG to mobilize international support and corporate donations towards rural electri#cation, the responsibility of the

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Chris Wright is part of the original Southeast Asia Renewable Energy People’s Assembly, and is now working to develop their regional capacity and communications network. Raveen Kulenthran currently works with TONIBUNG on a community-based micro-hydro mudule and regional level renewable energy analysis tools for community- based renewable energy implementers.


1 Power Policy Bureau, 2010. 2 Sabah Development Corridor Blueprint (SDC) 2008-2012. 3 This is taken from the SDC 2008-2012. Recent analysis of electricity access across the state places the number as high as 82.51 per cent but fails to differentiate for rural versus urban areas (H. Borhanazad et al. Renewable Energy, Volume 59, November 2013, Pages 210-219).4 SDC 2008-2012. 5 SEB Annual Report 2010.6 Tenaga Ewbank Perunding Sdn Bhd, Sabah Power Development Master Plan Study, Volume One, p. 3-7. 7 www.recoda.com.my/invest-in-score/what-is-score.8 McNish et al, 2010, Clean Energy Options for Sabah.9 The Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA) is the agency tasked with overseeing and managing SCORE.10 SAVE Rivers 11 Raman, N. et al, Proceedings of ICEE 2009 3rd International Conference on Energy and Environment, 7-8 December 2009, Malaysia12 N.C. Domingo et al, ‘Overview of Mini and Small Hydropower in Southeast Asia’, GRIPP Knowledge Center,

ECASEAN Green Independent Power Producer Network; M.R. Noumi et al, Journal on Energy Policy, Elsevier, Volume 34, Issue 10, July 2006; R. Muhida et al, Journal of Solar Energy materials and Solar Cells, Volume 67, Issues 1-4, March 2001.13 Kampung is the Malay word for Village and may also be written as kg. 14 With an estimated discount rate of 8%.15 McNish et al, 2010, Clean Energy Options for Sabah16 www.theborneopost.com (formally note 17, etc)17 www.thestar.com.my18 Based on assumptions made in McNish et al, 2010. 19 After assessing the Micro-hyro scheme’s over a 20 year period, we have assumed that all capital expenditure occurs in the first year, and we have estimated the operating expenditure for the next 20 years to be $3360 per year (based on McNish et al 2010). To calculate the levelized cost of electricity, we have assumed a discount rate of 8%. Then by applying the discount rate, the electricity generated and the operated expenditure was discounted. The electricity is calculated by assuming the average 7kw plant operates 24h/ day, 365 days/year while accounting for a capacity factor of 0.73 (also in accordance with McNish et al 2010).

“Micro-hydro implementers from across Southeast Asia formed a regional network to exchange knowledge and experiences, and expand the impact of their projects.” PI

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Ruprecht, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Since the takeover of MWM by Caterpillar in October 2011, has the strategy or operation of MWM Asia Pacific changed?

In the near-term, the strategy, by and large remains unchanged. Caterpillar has embarked on a dual-brand strategy; as well as the traditional Caterpillar distribution organization selling CAT-branded products, the traditional MWM distribution organization continues to sell MWM-branded products under the umbrella of our parent company. On the MWM side, we continue the implementation of our action plans developed for each country, with the objective of growing the MWM business in collaboration with our distribution partners. !e dealers for the respective brands continue to compete and complement each other with the di"erently branded products with the respective product advantages for the individual requirement and their respective strengths in the market, to the bene#t of the parent company.

How is MWM represented in the Malaysian market?

MWM is represented in the Malaysian market by our authorized dealer, SP Energy Sdn Bhd. Led by Mr. Kebir and Mr. Zihanz and with coverage across East and West Malaysia, they have established MWM as the leading brand for cogeneration natural-gas power plants in our performance category. From MWM Asia Paci#c Pte. Ltd., the Asia Paci#c regional headquarters of MWM GmbH, we actively support our local dealer in Malaysia with marketing, sales and after-sales support.

How do you cover both the West-Malaysian and East-Malaysian part of the country?

SP Energy Sdn Bhd has representatives focused on handling enquiries across East and West Malaysia. Most of our customers in East Malaysia either have their headquarters in the capital city Kuala Lumpur or have at least an o%ce there. !is being the case, with our dealer SP Energy Sdn Bhd also headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, communication and project handling for projects in the Eastern part of the country is quite easy.

In 2010, MWM delivered 15 units of TCG 2032 V16 type within three months for a 60 MW project in Bangladesh.

Pioneering Gas Technology in MalaysiaMalaysia has a huge amount of potential for power generation when it comes the gas industry. Imbued with a wealth of natural gas that can be exported and utilized in domestic power plants, Malaysia also has a "ourishing palm oil industry which allows the potential for co-generation, biogas and bio-fuel applications. To learn a little more about these industries, and about what can be achieved in Malaysia, we spoke to the President and CEO of MWM Asia Paci$c Pte Ltd, Ruprecht Lattermann. Recently taken over by Caterpillar, MWM is entrenched in the Malaysian gas-$red power generation industry.

INTERVIEW WITH: RUPRECHT LATTERMANN, MWM


INTERVIEW

from the oil-milling process, excess power can be generated that could be sold to the national grid. However, with the national grid either not being available, or potential consumers for the excess power so far away from the production, transportation losses do not allow this to be a viable additional advantage.

Do you regard palm oil as a threat to MWM’s gas-genset business? Is MWM working on engine developments to burn palm oil?

Yes, we are aware that palm oil can be directly used to operate diesel engines. Some industrial engine manufacturers have initiated engine development to burn 100% palm oil. Furthermore, in the automotive sector, all modern automotive diesel engines are designed to burn diesel fuel mixed with a certain percentage of palm oil. So palm oil is regarded more a replacement or complement to fossil diesel fuel rather than a replacement for gaseous fuels. Engine developments directly burning palm oil are not regarded a threat to the gas-genset business of MWM.

All stages of the projects are handled from enquiry stage to commissioning are directly undertaken by SP Energy Sdn Bhd. Dedicated project managers are assigned to sites to oversee installation and commissioning, and application engineers work in tandem with MWM counterparts.

Which is MWM’s main focus in the Malaysian market? Is there a medium to long-term direction?

!ere are two main thrusts in the strategy for MWM’s business in Malaysia. Our near to medium-term focus is the growth of biogas power plants, which are strongly supported by government initiatives such as the preferential feed-in tari". MWM has products perfectly suited for these market segments. MWM’s medium to long-term focus is on the increased acceptance and viability of distributed cogeneration power plants fueled by natural gas.

How has MWM benefitted from Malaysian National Grid feed-in tariffs as a manufacturer of distributed power systems?

!e feed-in policies for renewable energies have in recent times, been adjusted in favour for the implementation of distributed power systems that employ renewable energies. !e highest feed-in tari"s are for small hydro and solar photovoltaic, followed by biomass (inclusive of municipal solid waste) and biogas (inclusive of land#ll/sewage) sources. !e increase of installations of MWM powered biogas power plants is a direct result of these feed-in policies.

Can you give us a few examples of MWM’s success in Malaysia?

Our market success in Malaysia is founded on the excellent, the well-recognized technical expertise of our local dealer SP Energy Sdn Bhd, and the relentless marketing e"orts of the key members of our dealership. In the biogas segment, a very well-recognized customer is Bukit Tagar Land#ll, where there

are multiple units of MWM TCG 2020 range gensets installed. Besides waste management and land#ll application, MWM also has a foothold in the palm oil industry of East and West Malaysia. From the distributed cogeneration power plants segment, based on natural gas as the fuel, MWM has secured the lion’s share of glove manufacturers, including Top Glove and WRP as its customers.

Malaysia is one of the biggest palm oil producing countries of the world, an industry closely associated with biogas production. What are the key drivers for an enhanced utilization of the waste waters from palm oil production for electricity generation and co-generation?

Palm oil mills require electric power and heat for their processes. !e location of palm oil mills are often remote, and in the center of huge plantations where electric power from the national grid may not be readily available. In this case, decentralized power generation utilizing waste heat is key. Furthermore, the huge amount of waste water with substantial organic content provides the foundation for decentralized fuel production for a captive power plant. Anaerobe digestion turns the waste water into biogas fuel that can run a plant. Prior to combustion in the gas gensets, it is critical to have a gas-puri#cation system in place to meet the gas purity criteria imposed by the power plant components, in order to ensure longevity and optimized e%ciency/reliability of the complete system. So, a key driver is the seamless integration of the waste water processing system and the power plant system, whilst at the same time ensuring that methane generated during the decomposition process of the waste water does not enter the atmosphere. Whilst being a key driver, the remoteness of the palm oil mills can be a disincentive. Because of the amount of organic waste water available

“Our near to medium-term focus is the growth of biogas power plants, which are strongly supported by government initiatives such as the preferential feed-in tari#. ”

The Mannheim training centre students learn theoretical knowledge and practical use of gas engines

The Melbourne Water Corporation operate 7 MWM gas gensets (TBG 620 V16 K) to ensure the reliable

sanitation and water treatment.


Malaysia is also a significant natural rubber producer. Does MWM participate in this market? Does it have a similar potential for biogas production like the palm oil industry?

You are right, Malaysia is one of the biggest natural rubber producing countries, and during the rubber manufacturing process, organic waste water is being produced. However, compared to the amount of organic waste water produced in the palm oil milling process, the usable amount is very small, so we do not regard the rubber industry a core target market for our biogas generator sets. However, I have mentioned earlier that MWM is the market leader in the Malaysian glove industry. Glove production is part of the rubber industry, and has natural gas applications, so the natural rubber industry in Malaysia is very much in our focus at MWM.

Malaysia is a large natural gas producing and exporting country. Compared to the huge natural gas production, we have observed few natural gas fired decentralized energy systems in Malaysia. What is the reason behind this?

Your observation is correct. We see two main reasons for the relatively low penetration of Malaysia with natural gas #red decentralized power systems. Firstly, the export of natural gas enjoys priority in Malaysia. Quotas are de#ned for domestic consumption and for export. !e quota allocated for domestic consumption is almost entirely absorbed by the large, gas-#red power plants forming the national grid, so there is little gas available for decentralized power generation with natural gas. !e second reason for this is that the pricing of natural gas remains a major factor in driving #nancial viability of the installation and the

pipeline distribution network for the natural gas. With the current gas pricing in Malaysia, natural gas #red, decentralized energy systems are only #nancially viable if a high degree of waste heat utilization can be achieved.

Are the off-shore gas fields and the onshore gas processing plants a market for MWM gas-gensets?

MWM products can be engineered to burn many types of gas, including $are gas from the o"-shore industry. !e o"-shore gas #elds and the onshore gas processing plants present an opportunity for MWM. We had some successes with our gas-gensets in the market of o"-shore platforms and $oating storage & processing vessels that we continually look to develop further.

Are there any other specific industries MWM is targeting in Malaysia?

Synthetic gas applications require class-leading technology gas engines that MWM has available and in Malaysia, we have started to receive enquiries from industries with proposals to install synthetic-gas power plants for own-consumption and/or electricity sales to the power grid.

Since the takeover by Caterpillar, which new products has MWM launched that benefit coverage of the Malaysian market?

During the last two years MWM has launched products with increased electrical e%ciencies. Furthermore, we have hardened all our generator sets against adverse e"ects from the grid for mains-parallel operation. !ese new developments help us to keep MWM in the fore front worldwide. !ey also help us in the

Malaysian market, especially in mains-parallel operation, where the grid stability in terms of voltage stability and power factor stability cannot be taken for granted.

What are the typical unit sizes of gas gensets used in Malaysia? Did MWM observe any trend towards larger or smaller unit sizes?

For biogas power plants, the typical installed capacity ranges from 400kW to 3MW and for natural gas power plants the typical installed capacity ranges from 1MW to 10MW. Given an increased availability of natural gas for domestic consumption and thanks to the relentless e"orts of our local dealer SP Energy Sdn Bhd, and an increasing awareness in the industry of the advantages of biogas fuelled co-generation and tri-generation systems, the trend for both biogas power plants and natural gas power plants is towards larger installed capacities, employing larger per-unit capacity MWM gas gensets.

Which direction do you expect the Malaysian market to take and is it well aligned to MWM’s strategy?

Normally, as the manufacturer of gas generator sets we do not primarily de#ne which direction the market in Malaysia takes. But from our perspective, which ever direction the market takes, we will carefully observe and analyze market trends and we will immediately adapt our market strategy to the changing market requirements. MWM has done this successfully in the past and will be able to sin$uence and follow the market trends as it may be required.

Which other market does MWM focus on in South-East Asia?

Later in 2013, the #rst LNG terminal will go operational in Singapore. With LNG becoming available in Singapore at an unprecedented level, the opportunities for MWM will increase greatly. You can be sure, MWM will not miss these opportunities. With Singapore also being a role model for the entire South-East Asian region, successful MWM case studies from Singapore will also help us grow our market opportunities in the entire region. May be not yet for the next issue of the PI Magazine, but for an issue later next year, we might be able to proudly report a signi#cantly increased number of success stories of MWM from the Singapore market, compared to what we would be able to present today.

The 30-acre landfill in Ämmässuo (Finland) uses landfill gas from anaerobic digestion to power four TCG 2032 V16 engines.

INTERVIEW

FOR MORE INFORMATION: T. +65 6268 5311 E. [email protected] www.mwm.net

Tomorrow’s energy today – with effi ciencies of over 90 %.MWM gas engines can be integrated into your existing equipment fl exibly to ensure a reliable supply of energy and high effi ciency. An investment that pays off quickly.

Switch over to energy effi ciency.With MWM gas engines.

www.mwm.net

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PI

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!e Chinese solar industry has experienced a uniquely turbulent growth since its inception, and following exponential global dominance has reached a crucial period, as the vibrant solar export market has been hit with a series of strategic levelling tactics from governments throughout Europe and the United States. !ese ‘anti-dumping’ measures are going to hit some household names over the next year in a devastating manner with some feeling the pinch more others. !e world’s biggest panel manufacturer, Suntech Holdings, has been one of the #rst victims to spectacularly collapse, just a year on from reaching the production podium. In these challenging times, contingency and consolidation is vital. Recognizing these needs, one Chinese manufacturer is adapting in admirable fashion, restructuring according to global economic pressure, diversifying regional sales focus and optimizing its business model. !at company is Trina Solar. Trina Solar were incorporated in 1997 and have since grown to become a major international force, presently o"ering annual ingot and wafer production capacities of 1,200 MW and white cell and module capacity of 2,400 MW. Despite the countervailing duty tari"s, they remain committed to serving customers in Europe, but are seeing strong sequential shipment growth in Japan and India, two of the most important emerging markets for the PV industry.

Manufacturing Trina Solar’s manufacturing facility site is located in Changzhou, China. Careful research, development and manufacturing of ingots, wafers, cells and modules is conducted at these facilities in the same compound, where the main campus site area occupies approximately 545k square meters. !is integrated manufacturing model has enabled Trina to better control cost, quality, yield, product development and cycle time, which all contributed to creating world-class quality modules and success on the global stage. !e high e%ciency ‘Honey’ Product Lines and State Key laboratory are located in the North East and South East campus areas. Extending beyond the in-house vertically integrated business model, Trina Solar took an important step with regards to supply chain management through the establishment of the Trina PV Park in 2008. !e park covers approximately 5.12 square kilometers. Drawn by the strong growth and the sustainable value of Trina Solar, some of Trina’s key strategic suppliers and business partners have co-located their manufacturing facilities in the park, which enhance the bene#ts of the cluster e"ect along the value chain. Formula for successTrina Solar have seen considerable success in the residential, commercial and utility markets with tailored products for each application.

!e company has been a pioneer for a range of high-e%ciency monocrystalline and multicrystalline modules, coloured modules for architectural applications and larger sized modules for on grid utility scale systems. !e cutting-edge Honey Cell Processing was recently introduced to o"er advanced cell texturing, metallization, and optical materials. !e advanced cell texturing techniques have enabled Honey products to set a world output record of 284.7Wp output for a 60-cell module, making the technology a perfect partner for rooftops and other space governed installations. In 2011 Trina Solar also released the new ‘Comax’ cell-powered modules. ‘Comax ‘cells have 4.2% more surface area to capture more sunlight, and a signi#cantly higher number of embedded gridlines to enable better electron $ow. ‘Comax’ modules can achieve e%ciencies of up to 15.2% and outputs of up to 195kW yield. !ese advances are some of the benchmarks reached by Trina products from a performance perspective, rati#ed by certi#cation from the likes of TÜV Rheinland, UL and CGC. !is global competence really signals the true quality that these Chinese products can o"er despite the negative perception o"ered by certain industry quarters.A new frame design across the full range of 72-cell monocrystalline and 60-cell polycrystalline

Power Insider Asia caught up with Trina Solar to $nd out about their outlook and strategy following the damning ‘anti dumping’ measures brought into play by the EU last month. !e measures are forcing many executives from Chinese companies to rethink business models, and we wanted to $nd out how much of an impact these enforcements are going to have on one of China’s $nest.

feature

Survival of the fittest


modules was recently announced bringing a new edge to installation. !e frame thickness has been reduced from 40mm to 35mm. !e thinner frame pro#le delivers a 5% reduction in weight, making modules substantially easier to handle and reducing the time needed to complete projects. Trina Solar’s 72-cell monocrystalline modules now weigh only 14.9 Kg, down from 15.6 Kg, and 60-cell polycrystalline modules now weigh 18.6 Kg, down from 19.5 Kg. Furthermore, this slimmer pro#le enables an 18% improvement in shipping container e%ciencies, with associated reductions in the carbon footprint and transport costs. Modules with the new thinner frames feature enhanced rigidity and torsional strength. By optimizing the heat treatment process and the aluminium alloy, and introducing an automated corner-key production process, Trina Solar is able to deliver a thinner frame without compromising the mounting $exibility or overall strength of the system.

Evolving with competence!e solar business is facing unprecedented challenges globally, placed in a precarious position relative to the $uctuating price of oil and plagued by an oversupply of products through in$ux in manufacturing. Both of these factors are intensi#ed with political and economic uncertainty following retraction and revision on feed-in-tari"s. To sum up such a bleak outlook, it begs the question; how can these relatively young Chinese companies stay a$oat with such heavy bank debts, overheads and uncertainty in demand? Trina have adopted a pragmatic approach, completing several restructuring and streamlining initiatives in the second half of 2012 that saw sustained improvements in the general and administrative expenses in the #rst quarter of 2013. Solar module shipments were approximately 393 MW during the #rst quarter of this year, representing a sequential decrease of 5.3% from the fourth quarter of last year, but this is a pattern consistent with the global trend and order book of all panel manufacturers.

What does make for interesting reading is that the Trina Solar operating loss was an impressive $30.3 million less than the last quarter of 2012, owing to impressive reductions in non-silicon costs that outweighed the fall in average selling price of modules. !e company also collected a signi#cant portion of overdue accounts receivable at an important stage. In recognition of the challenges that lie ahead, the company will continue to strictly control operating costs while maintaining industry leading product quality and service capabilities. Balancing those quality control characteristics with operational cost is ultimately, the major factor in the photovoltaic industries race for survival of the #ttest.

Key Components !e Trina Solar quality control method was set up according to the quality system requirements of ISO 9001:2000. !is process consists of three components: incoming inspections through which the quality is ensured of the raw materials sourced from third parties, in-process quality control of manufacturing processes, and outgoing quality control of #nished products through inspection and by conducting reliability and other tests. After the cells themselves, there are number of vital aspects essential for the functionality and protection of the solar module, ranging from cabling and connectors through to cover glass. One area in particular revolves around the backsheet. !is versatile laminate has an imperative role to provide long-term protection to the solar module. System failures related to backsheets include degradation of packaging materials, adhesion loss, degradation

of interconnects, degradation due to moisture intrusion, and semiconductor device degradation. Anyone of these unfavourable instances can have a devastating e"ect on the performance and longevity of the module, echoing the need to incorporate higher grade backsheet laminates, but also research innovative techniques to overcome issues with multi layered laminate failure, not just focussing on increasing the thickness to improve weatherability.

So what lies ahead in the future?Regardless of the testing global climate for the solar business, the outlook remains positive for Trina Solar in 2013. !e company expects to maintain its guidance of 2.0 – 2.1 GW for total PV module shipments and in the second quarter alone, they are con#dent of delivering 500 – 530 MW. !ere was o%cial approval obtained from the Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission to develop a 50 MW grid-connected solar power plant in Wuwei, Gansu Province. !e project is part of a plan to stimulate the economy in a region challenged by semi-desert conditions. !e Wuwei municipality is well-suited for solar energy production due to favourable irradiance and the ability to sell and transmit electricity to other regions, in addition to supplying local needs. !e Australian market continues to be strong, as Trina Solar were the named the most popular solar panel brand during 2012 with installations totalling 100MW. South Africa is also an emerging destination with a 30MW order to one of the world’s leading developers, Gestamp Solar. !ese expanded deliveries for end-market installation in the likes of Australia and Africa, along with the Middle East, Japan and India is bolstered with advanced products such as the new line of dual rated frameless modules. !is regional diversi#cation and willingness to push the boundaries in product development demonstrates the competence of Trina Solar, echoing the fact that their fascinating growth story is not quite ready for the #nal chapter, anytime soon.

FEATURE: TRINA SOLAR

“How can young Chinese companies stay a"oat with such debt, overheads, and market uncertainty?”

PI


BackgroundA solar module, typically made from polycrystalline silicon cells, converts a portion of light energy impinging on its surface to electrical energy. !is converted portion of energy is expressed as the module power output. Once in the #eld, however, the initial power output of the module begins to decay slowly over time. When the actual power output drops to 80% of the initial power output, the module is said to have reached the limit of its useful life. World renowned institutes have studied the decay phenomena over real-time. !ey have concluded that degradation directly correlates to several factors, amongst them Encapsulant Failure (light-induced degradation), and Backsheet Failure (weather-induced degradation). Speci#c to backsheet design, the studies have led and continue to lead to advancements of raw materials used in backsheet construction. !is cascades to the steady improvement of the module’s long term reliability, as evidenced by module manufacturers o"ering performance warranties exceeding 25 years of useful life. !is in turn leads to additional long term value for the consumer and a key means of competitive di"erentiation for the module manufacturer. In recent years, however, a new trend in backsheet design has emerged. Backsheet manufacturers have begun to focus their e"orts on other ways to increase the initial power output of the module and sustain a higher level of power performance throughout the module’s anticipated life. Leading Backsheet designers believe the answer for improved module power generation will come as a result of direct manipulation of the light PATH itself inside the module construct.

Article!e photovoltaic module is a multilayer construction represented by the following diagram. !e backsheet is also a multilayer construction and creates design opportunities at

each key material interface. !e interior interface between the backsheet and the encapsulant is highlighted to indicate its importance in design. When sunlight encounters a smooth, opaque surface, the light travels back through the medium from which it came. In simplest form, the behavior of light at the boundary can be described by the angles made with respect to the normal line, a line perpendicular to the surface of re$ection. In a perfect world, this re$ected light can be captured by the cell and increase the initial power output of the module. However, a backsheet is neither smooth nor perfectly opaque. As a result, di"use re$ection and surface absorption of light occurs. Re$ected photons leaving the surface at di"erent angles are scattered, and for all intents and purposed to the module purpose, lost. Similarly, absorbed photons are not available to the module purpose and are also lost. Backsheet design can be manipulated to capture this value for the module manufacturer and the consumer. A backsheet designed with a higher % of Initial Re$ectance will have a greater initial positive impact on module energy output than a backsheet with a lower % Initial Re$ectance. However, as we are concerned with power generation over time, the critical-to-performance variable is not Initial Re$ectance, but Re$ectance-over-Time. Similarly, manipulation of a transparent backsheet’s material interfaces can improve the power output of a bifacial module design. When sunlight encounters a boundary between two transparent materials, some portion of light is re$ected and some portion transmitted across the interface. !e proportion of energy transmitted across the interface is described by the Fresnel Equation and directly in$uenced by the relative Refractive Indices (RI) and the angle of impingement relative to the surface topography. Further, the fraction of energy transmitted is then subject to both light scattering and absorbance. !ese phenomena are commonly and collectively

represented by critical-to-performance variable called Visible Light Transmittance. Transparent backsheets, for use in bifacial cells, designed with a higher % VLT will have a greater positive impact on module power output than a backsheet with a lower % VLT. Such an impact can be competitively di"erentiating for the backsheet manufacturer and the module manufacturer.

ConclusionBacksheets are traditionally designed to protect the internal components of the module over time from the negative e"ects of UV radiation, moisture egress, insulation, and other related weather issues. !ese attributes establish traditional backsheet values. In recent years, technically leading backsheet manufacturers have demonstrated the ability to add additional value by increasing initial and long term power output of the module itself by manipulating the light path entering the module. As backsheet designers move to commercialization of this new generation of materials, they are challenged in three speci#c regards: 1) Demonstrating the new ability (increased power-over time) without compromising the traditional role, 2) Expressing the new variable (power-over-time) as a key performance attribute, and, perhaps most importantly, 3) Capturing a return for the research investment in a market where cost reduction has become the primary relationship focus between supplier and manufacturer.

Manipulating Backsheet DesignHow backsheet design can enable improvement in the long term power output of solar modules

CASESTUDY

PI

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China on Trial:

Solar Dumping40 POWER INSIDER MAY / JUN 2013

In the last year, the solar industry has been abuzz with news of the EU Investigation into solar equipment dumping. Rachael Gardner-Stephens examines the evidence against China

feature

THE CHARGE

China and Europe are on the brink of a trade war. The cause is an investigation into a practice known as dumping.

China has been accused of selling domestically manufactured solar products at 88% below the average market

value in Europe, flooding the market with cheap products and pricing a high volume of competitors out of the

market altogether. A group called EU Pro Sun leveled the complaint against a year ago, claiming that unfair subsidies and cheap

state loans have allowed Chinese vendors to ‘dump’ their merchandise, cornering 80% of the European solar market.

Additionally, the Chinese have been accused of manufacturing 1.5 times more than the global demand for solar panel

equipment. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that Chinese dumping “has the potential to destroy an

important industry” with more than 25,000 European jobs are at stake. EU Pro Sun have called for measures to ‘level

the playing field’ in the form of an import tax.

COURT OF POWER INSIDER

DEFENDANT:

PLAINTIFF:

ChinaEurope


olar manufacturing companies in the EU have not held back in their damning indictment against Chinese business strategy in the solar photovoltaic market. !ey claim that the e"ect of

solar equipment dumping on the EU market is already catastrophic, and should they be allowed to continue, the result would be cataclysmic. !ey have accused Chinese companies of breaking WTO trade rules, ruthlessly pricing competitors out of the market and of using the might of their wealthy government to fund them; hardly the behavior of a nation committed to free and fair trade. Selling products for up to 88% less than what they would be sold for domestically, China produces more than double of what the EU demands in solar panels, in a market worth €27 billion. An organization of European solar companies, EU Pro Sun, formed in order to combat this startling dominance. Led by German company Pro Sun, the organization #led an o%cial complaint with the European Union Commission in 2012. !is led to an extensive investigation that began in September, and in which the EU Commission found substantial evidence that

“dumped Chinese exports exerted undue price pressure on the EU market, which had a signi#cant negative e"ect on the #nancial and operational performance of European producers”. !e Commission believes that if allowed to continue, local producers will be driven out of business and would discourage EU producers from developing cutting-edge technologies in the renewable energy sector. After a nine month investigation, the EU Commission announced in May that Chinese solar panel equipment would be subject to an anti-dumping tax of up to 47%. !e tax will cover solar panels, cells and wafers, and will vary depending on the company. !is announcement understandably caused a furor in the Chinese market, with even some European companies considering the tax far too high. !ere is a precedent set, however, as China have form when it comes to anti-dumping measures. Last year, the USA held their own investigation into Chinese dumping practices in the solar sector, and found them to be similarly guilty of dominating the market and damaging local producers. In October, an anti-dumping duty of between 18 and 249% was imposed on imports of solar panels and cells, a whopping sum which cause considerable damage to companies such as Suntech, who

S“After a nine month investigation, the EU Commission announced in May that Chinese solar panel equipment would be subject to an anti-dumping tax of up to 47%.”

ARGUMENT FROM: THE PROSECUTION

FEATURE: SOLAR DUMPING

ARGUMENT FROM: THE DEFENCE


declared bankruptcy in early 2013. !e EU Commission claims that the destruction of Chinese solar giants is not the intended result of these harsh measures. After being accused of protectionism, the Commission was compelled to justify why imposing anti-dumping duties is the right sentence for Chinese manufacturers’ crimes. Karel De Gucht called the description of anti-dumping measures as protectionist as “simply wrong and misleading”, highlighting the willingness of the EU to negotiate with China to reach an amicable compromise before the duties are imposed in August. She asserts that these measures are not punitive; China is not being put on the naughty step. Instead, the tax is a tool to make the market competitive and fair again. !e duties are far lower than the 88% rate at which the panels are being dumped because the EU applies the so-called ‘lesser duty rule’, imposing only enough needed to restore a level playing #eld. Gordon Brisner, president of SolarWorld Industries America, and a key player in the US move against Chinese dumping, sums up the importance of this level playing #eld by stating that “only fair competition can provide sustainable gains in technological e%ciency, cost reduction and end-user pricing.” De Gucht also claims that these measures will stimulate job growth in the EU market eventually, even if end users initially experience a raise in costs. But De Gucht argues that as the situation of EU producers improves and imports from other countries increase, these jobs could be recreated. Additionally, any job losses would be substantially less than the 25,000 jobs that are likely to be lost if these measures are not imposed.

nsurprisingly, China does not share this point of view, and are resolutely opposed to the measures. Chinese trader leaders see the tax as purely punitive, and have been ominous in their hints about retaliation.

!e Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, has claimed that anti-dumping measures will ‘damage both sides’, and the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s o%cial newspaper, published an article in early June that spoke aggressively of the cards hidden up China’s sleeve. !e article was published under the pen name ‘Zhong Sheng’, meaning ‘Voice of China’, and warned Europe that their ‘high and mighty attitude’ does not re$ect their waning economic in$uence. !is has sparked fears of an all-out trade war between these two economic giants. Fueling these concerns is the announcement that China will be investigating Europe’s wine market for evidence of dumping. !e Chinese are accusing Europe of $ooding the Chinese wine market in exactly the same fashion as the Chinese are doing with solar panels: by producing more than the demand and utilizing government subsidies. Chinese imports of European wine rose by 60% a year between 2009 and 2012, and China imported 25.7 million liters of wine in 2012. Despite the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, denying suggestions that the investigation was a retaliation, any commercial impact of the import taxes would fall on France, Spain and Italy; countries whose governments supported the anti-dumping tari"s. !e European nations in question have strenuously denied any wrongdoing, with Louis Fabrice Latour, president of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters of France expressing his disdain at the use of the

wine industry as leverage in an utterly unrelated trade dispute. !e ministry said it would conduct an anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigation of European wine but gave no details of how Beijing believed exports were being subsidized. Another threat issued by Chinese companies was pretty straightforward: if you implement these measures, we will move our manufacturing bases out of China to Taiwan, Malaysia and Korea, rendering the tax null and void. Solar panel producer CSun already began relocating their facilities after the USA implemented their duties. But this action, like tit-for-tat trade duties, will damage both the Chinese and European economy, resulting in job losses and market slowdown. !is is the Chinese o%cial’s main argument against the EU Commission’s action; anti-dumping measures don’t bene#t anybody. Li Kegiang stated that the decision “will not only harm jobs in China as well as development in the a"ected industries, but it will also a"ect development and endanger industry in Europe”. What Li Kegiang didn’t make clear was whether this danger comes from the real e"ects of applying anti-dumping measures or from China’s counter strikes.

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China is undeniably guilty of trading unfairly in the solar market. !e nation’s subsequent threats to other industries that will most likely start a trade war show how aggressive they are when it comes to foreign economic policy. In order to keep the European solar market a$oat, these measures do need to be executed, but with extreme caution.

!e EU Commission certainly has caution in mind, and have stated repeatedly that they would in#nitely prefer to reach a compromise with Chinese economic ministers instead of applying anti-dumping duties. !is is re$ected in the way in which the EU Commission has constructed the implementation of the tari"s. Instead of applying the 47% straight away, Chinese vendors have a grace period until 6th August with only an 11.8% tari". If the EU and China are unable to reach the desirable compromise by then, the Commission will have to enforce the 47% duty for #ve years from December 2013. Applicable from 5th June, this provisional duty will a"ect the import of solar panels, cells and wafers from China. De Gucht told a news conference that this phased approach was

a “one-time o"er” to China, and expressed her willingness to continue to negotiate with the Chinese exporters. A Chinese statement expressed equal optimism, claiming that the EU has shown ‘sincerity and $exibility’. !e compromise that the EU Commission would ideally like to reach is something in line with Article 8 of the Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation, which would allow them to suspend the provisional duties if Chinese vendors agree to sell products above an agreed price. So far, negotiations between the EU Commission and Chinese delegates have repeatedly broken down, so it is apparent that this solution is not ideal in the eyes of the Chinese. However, their choice is simple: abide by the rules or face enormous #nancial restrictions. China has until August, and the clock is ticking…

“!e Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, has claimed that anti-dumping measures will ‘damage both sides’”

VERDICT SENTENCE

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According to market leaders in the USA, Europe and Asia, China has come to dominate the power equipment market in a very damaging way. Corporations in China have "ooded the market with cheap and readily available products, with monopolies in the thermal power sectors. !e Chinese Government have been accused of violating international trade laws and destroying jobs by facilitating this dominance with subsidies, land grants and zero duty taxes. Additionally, customers and competitors have slandered the quality of Chinese equipment, calling it poorly made using, sub-par materials.

But is this a fair representation of the manufacturing market? PI Magazine Asia has asked the experts, and has put together a panel of market leaders to discuss China’s position in the power equipment market. Taking part inis Yuxi Zhang, Project Manager of Development Division at Harbin Turbine Co. (YZ), Lingsong Tsai, the Overseas Project Manager and Chief of Global Business Development at Jiangsu Electric Power Design Institute (LT), and Antony Qinghua Zhang, Commercial Manager of the EPC Division at Shanghai Electric (AQ).

Shanghai Electric, Harbin and Jiangsu give their opinions on China’s manufacturing dominance in the power equipment market.

OUR EXPERT PANEL

The Dominance of Chinese Manufacturers

ROUNDTABLE Shanghai Electric’s 1000 MW Class Ultra Supercritical Power Plant


Is Chinese dominance in the power equipment market damaging?China’s rise to the top of the manufacturing food chain has been stratospheric, having added about 600,000 MW of power generation capacity in the last 10 years. Chinese manufacturers are gaining the monopoly in India, a country that is attempting to bolster its domestic manufacturing base, with a 35% share of the thermal equipment market alongside private players. But how did China achieve this rapid climb?

What are the reasons for China’s stranglehold on the power equipment market?

High quality and inexpensive, and what is more, Chinese manufacturers have a strong production capacity.

Due to cheap Chinese labor costs, as well as rapid development in industrial manufacturing technology and electric power construction markets in the past thirty years, power equipment in China has great advantages in the market. At the same time Chinese labor is comparatively high in e%ciency and quantity, so the product delivery time is very short. China began to build a large number of 1000MW scale of Ultra-supercritical power plant and 1000kV class UHV power transmission & transformation projects in recent years, which also promoted the technology level of Chinese power equipment.

Fast delivery, cost e"ective and world class equipments with state-of-the-art technology. Standing from developers’ position, setting up a power plant within shortest period of time, with reasonable costs and excellent quality means they can maximize returns on their investment. It will make more sense if we extend the same logic to a developing country, who normally has limited capital available for funding the development of their power generation sector, but is hungry for power and energy to fuel the development of their economy.

Is the Chinese dominance in the power equipment market positive because it provides competitiveness?

Chinese manufacturers just try their best to provide competitive equipments.

China can provide a lot of electrical equipment of the same technical standard, hence reducing signi#cantly the price on the market, which can also be realized on the EPC market. At the same time, the #erce market competition has promoted the development of technology, which has brought a positive signi#cance to the market in my opinion.

!e Chinese power equipment suppliers now provide more options for power developers when they come to choose their vendors or subcontractors. !is certainly provides competitiveness to the market in terms of o"ering more choices, more values, and better services to the developers. !e participation of Chinese equipment suppliers does improve the health of the system by reducing overall cost and adding e%ciency of the system.

Why has this dominance caused such a backlash?

I did not feel obvious backlash, but in my opinion all countries hope their domestic manufacturing industry vigorously develops, so there will be some form of resistance to foreign manufacturers.

!e most obvious example is that because of the advantage of Chinese electrical equipment, Chinese companies begin to get more and more share on the market compared to Japanese and South Korean companies in the EPC market, which is almost the same story with Japanese and South Korean companies’ triumphing over European and American companies in earlier years.

In general, the so called “backlash” is actually the reaction of intensi#ed competition in the market, especially with the background of post global #nancial crisis after 2008, when the global economy comes to the down cycle and results in fewer power projects available in the market.

Is Chinese power equipment poor quality?As our contributors have argued, one reason for Chinese manufacturer’s dominance is their ability to turn projects around very quickly and at reduced costs. But do these advantages come with a cost? Chinese power equipment has had mixed reviews, with companies like India’s Reliance Power still investing millions and megawatts into China’s supercritical technology, whilst companies like BHEL consider the equipment inferior. !e international market is not convinced that Chinese vendors meet the stringent technical assurances from third party certi#cation bodies to bring the equipment in line with global standards. !at means that Chinese vendors are allegedly bringing equipment on to the market doesn’t deliver exceptional safety standards, quality components or performance over the lifecycle of the plant. !e equipment apparently emits more pollution, isn’t fuel e%cient and allows less $exibility in fuel choice. Additionally, Chinese equipment in general tends to need more maintenance at earlier dates and has been known to completely fail. A notorious example of this

is at the Sagardighi thermal power station in India, when the turbine blades supplied by Dongfang collapsed within weeks of the station commencing commercial generation. But is Chinese equipment that bad?

Why do so many other vendors claim Chinese power equipment to be inferior? What qualities do Chinese vendors have?

All vendors have their own advantages, and if a vendor’s equipment is inferior it will be sifted out. So in the international markets, we can not claim any vendor’s equipment is inferior.

Firstly, it is because China has developed very fast, but most people from other countries still regard China as undeveloped. Secondly, due to China’s active domestic market, most of the best companies are busy undertaking orders domestically, so the #rst companies going to overseas market are comparatively small scale and second-rate. For the reasons above, some failures occurred and owners began to form an impression that Chinese suppliers are poor in quality. In fact, leading power equipment manufacturers in China are superior to their European and American counterparts whether on technology research, product manufacturing, or quality control, which is the reason why most European and American power equipment suppliers have their large-scale R&D centers and OEM works in China.

Chinese power equipment suppliers emerged as new players in international market in the beginning of the 21st century, and faced the same criticism as the Japanese in the 1960’s and the Koreans in the 1980’s. Chinese players shall invest more to improving communication skills and advertising. For example, we have units operating in various countries with fabulous performance parameters that few people know about. However, we’re focusing on the comments from our end users rather than other vendors, since it is eventually the clients using our equipments who understand the real story. Regarding the quality of Chinese equipments, there’re below facts to be known:

core equipments such as boiler, turbine, and generators, are high end & technologically intensi#ed products which are designed and manufactured to operate under extremely bad working conditions. !ere are strict international standards for those special utility equipments to be followed, which means Chinese power equipment suppliers are following the same international standards as their international peers do.

generation capacity in the world with its total volume of 1140 GW, in which nearly 70% is thermal power. All power

ROUNDTABLE: CHINESE MANUFACTURERS


equipments and technologies supplied by Chinese players have been well operated and proved in the domestic market before entering the international. !e only di"erence that might exist is erection quality, which needs to be taken care of properly both by the local erection team and supervisors.

generation equipments has became completely integrated and internationalized, it has been found that nearly all international peers are actually using similar sub-vendor or sub-supply system as we are, they have actually set up their sourcing centers in China purchasing critical components and materials for bene#ts of cost e"ective and fast delivery. !is phenomenon on the other hand has re$ected that the Chinese power generation equipments supply chain have been able to meet most strict quality plans required internationally.

Based on above elaborated, we do believe that Chinese power generation equipments are in line with the world class quality and we’re con#dent that time will tell the truth.

What needs to be done to show that Chinese equipment can compete for reasons other than price?

!e production facilities are international advanced, and HTC has complete product design systems and experimental veri#cation capacities. HTC has achieved a lot in the thermal power steam turbine and combine cycle turbine international market, and in the domestic nuclear steam turbine market. Additionally, HTC has competitively performed in the new energy #eld.

Firstly, Chinese products and enterprises lack e"ective publicity and advertising. Secondly, the service concept in China companies has to be improved, and cannot yet perfectly meet the requirements of overseas markets in product design and on-site services. Finally, as more Chinese #rst-class equipment manufacturing companies and EPC’s have begun to get involved in overseas market, it will be become a reality that Chinese companies can supply excellent power equipment and carry out EPC projects around the world.

Fast delivery and commitment to delivery, and continuously improving technology. Due to large scales of manufacturing, Chinese power generation equipment suppliers such as Shanghai Electric can deliver equipments comparatively fast. Shanghai Electric is investing heavily in R&D, with massive experience accumulated from delivering the largest number of thermal power units in the world (more than 300GW in total). Shanghai Electric will deliver more new technology along with our equipment to our

clients. In the domestic market we’re developing double reheating technology for ultra supercritical units with single capacity of 1260 MW, and in India we have modi#ed our boiler design to accommodate the high ash content Indian coal. Also, the learning curve of Shanghai Electric in overseas market in last decade has enabled it to improve its project management skill under international environments, which will eventually help us deliver better service to the clients.

What are the major project achievements that you reached with your equipment in China and other markets in Asia that demonstrate positive attributes for your technology?

!ere are so many achievements in China and international markets it is hard to choose our most signi#cant.

In the recent #ve years, our company has #nished six 1000 MW coal-#red power generating units, and nearly 600 km of 1000kV grade UHV transmission lines as well as other large projects. !ese projects are of high design and environmental standards, and the energy consumption index has reached the world level. As you may know, the world’s best coal consumption standards in a coal-#red unit are also in Shanghai, China.

In China, from 1950s Shanghai Electric has delivered more than 300 GW power generation equipments to the country and is the single largest contributor to the thermal power generation capacity of the country. In India, Shanghai Electric has delivered power equipment to developers for projects including the Reliance Sasan 6x660MW project, the Adani Tiroda 5x660MW project, the HPGCL Hisar 2x600MW project, the Reliance Buttibori 2x300MW project, the JSW Ratnagiri 4x300MW project, and the CESC Hadia 2x300MW project, amongst many others.

Is imposing sanctions to control China’s dominance the right thing to do?Chinese manufacturers have been accused of dumping power equipment in foreign markets, allowing them to sell products cheaper than their market value, and India has imposed sanctions in the thermal power equipment market. In order to reduce the sheer volume of Chinese products being imported, the government last year announced a 21% import duty on all imported power equipment. Broken down, this duty includes a 5% basic customs duty, 12% counter-veiling duty and 4% special additional duty on import of power equipment. !e tax will only a"ect projects approved after September 2012,

but is this kind of action the most positive step to take?

Do you think imposing sanctions from countries like India, to control China’s dominance by implementing import duty, after pressure from the likes of BHEL is unfair?

Yes. Chinese equipment’s price advantage will be weakened because of the import duty, but we can not control it. All we can do is to provide high quality products and excellent after-sale service; I think that is the key.

Sanctions will not solve the problem; on the contrary, it can only lead to trade wars. As far as I know, Chinese power equipment manufacturers and power EPC companies do not get any special subsidies from the Chinese government, their prices re$ect the actual cost which is needed to complete the work in China, so the sanctions are not fair.

What are the potential consequences for the imposition of the import duty in India?

It will just prevent foreign manufactures from entering the Indian market. And because of the lack of competition, India domestic vendors will experience slow development, even the economy.

In the past few years India has imported large amounts of coal-#red power generating units from China, and the Chinese EPC’s won a lot of contracts. However, this trend has fallen in recent years. Why are Chinese products are so welcomed in India? !ere are two reasons, the large demand in the Indian power market, and people’s preference to low-price products. If India is to levy high tari"s on Chinese products, the only result is that there will be harm to the power development of India, leaving the people of India with insu%cient and unstable power supply.

!e increased duty will eventually be transferred to power developers, causing increased initial investment cost. Accordingly, higher tari"s will be charged so as to recover the increased cost.

ROUNDTABLE: CHINESE MANUFACTURERS

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The interview panel make some interesting, and controversial points. What do you think? Do you agree or diagree? Send us a tweet, using the hastag #chinesemanufacturers

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In it, we looked at the importance of optimising the uptime and e%ciency of this kind of equipment, whether it is for generating power for industrial requirements or a national electricity provider. We reviewed the risks of wear, degradation, reduced e%ciency and in the worst case, failure, and the obvious bene#ts of preventive maintenance. We pro#led a

leading South-East Asian vendor of preventive maintenance and repair services, Maser Quartzelec SDN BHD, which operates across the region from its base in Kuala Lumpur. Amongst the company’s extensive portfolio of engineering, repair, maintenance and support services, we highlighted a new and innovative o"er in the market: condition monitoring.

In this article, a sequel to last year’s piece, we will look at how the company’s rotating machine condition monitoring solution has advanced substantially in the ensuing period – both in terms of technology and installed base – and how it is already playing an important role for the company’s customers in the Asean region and worldwide.


Condition Monitoring Systems: Reducing Risk, Increasing ReliabilityRegular readers of PI Magazine Asia may recall from last year’s July/August issue an article entitled Mission: Critical, which examined the importance of having in place a structured maintenance regime for high voltage rotating machines.


Prevention versus Cure: No ContestAccording to Maser Quartzelec, condition monitoring works on the premise that early-stage intervention is preferable to pure periodic inspection and maintenance. Parent company Quartzelec’s LifeView® system monitors various condition parameters – such as thermal, mechanical, ambient and electrical stresses – via a series of sensors installed on the generator’s key components. Telemetrically collecting and then analysing the ensuring data, the system detects changes from baseline settings and interprets indicators of developing wear and potential failure. Importantly, the generator is monitored during the actual load situation rather than using load simulation or modelling techniques, so total accuracy and integrity are assured. Sensors can be installed on new machinery, during repair/refurbishment or routine maintenance shutdowns. LifeView® is a truly online monitoring system, meaning that both the customer and Maser Quartzelec can dynamically view status from any connected desktop, anywhere and at any time. !is capability was showcased at PowerGen Asia in Bangkok in October 2012, when visitors could view live internal condition monitoring of EON’s 161MVA, 15,000V, T240-370 Generator at its Burghausen plant in Germany. It was set up to monitor partial discharge on the high voltage side of the stator. Customers also bene#t from Quartzelec’s specialist engineers always being on hand to interpret the data and provide informed recommendations. !e technical and economic bene#ts are clear. Scheduled repair and reconditioning of worn components is less costly and onerous than undertaking a major, premature equipment overhaul or the replacement of components for which there is no hope of reclamation. It also enables planned downtime and contingency, rather than lost production, revenue and reputation. Importantly, LifeView® also enables Quartzelec to con#dently provide its customers with guarantees on repair and maintenance work, as the unit will be continuously and proactively monitored on an ongoing basis.

And the customers themselves are assured peace of mind that everything is in good working order, and that they will receive timely prior noti#cation if things are beginning to go wrong.

Early SuccessesEight months and an impressive development programme later, LifeView® is now successfully installed at a number of customer sites, including the previously-mentioned German chemical works. Perhaps of more interest to PI Magazine Asia readers are the more local installations of LifeView®, including those on six generators in Sri Lanka, with a further three systems due to be installed, in-situ in August 2013. At the time of writing, Quartzelec has recently installed partial discharge and rotor shaft monitoring on a generator at a geothermal power plant in the Philippines, helping justify an extended warranty on recent refurbishment work to the 37.5MVA, 13.8kV, 2-pole generator, which had recently been carried out. A number of Lifeview® modules have also been ordered and are due to be installed in China shortly.

Rotor and Bearing ConditionIn developing the LifeVew® solution, Quartzelec has integrated monitoring all of the major parameters that could in$uence premature failure: partial discharge, magnetic #eld and sharp voltage monitoring. !e system’s rotor monitoring module can protect from upcoming faults by measuring temperature increases in the rotor and issuing a warning when the temperature pro#le di"ers from a pre-set ‘norm’. Bearings are looked after by the Shaft Voltage Module, which monitors bearing stress and warns when thresholds are exceeded, which could otherwise result in irreparable bearing and hence shaft damage. Bearings are also protected by the Connection Module, which incorporates transient voltage splash suppression to detect voltage developing on the non-drive end, causing electrical breakdown and arcing and in turn, damage to bearing surfaces. Potential faults in rotor windings are detected by signal FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) frequency analysis.

Winding Condition!e reliability of rotor windings is more di%cult to determine than in stator windings. Defective stator windings are revealed by partial discharge, presenting the opportunity to plan resolution. Rotor windings, however, have a di"erent insulation system that makes it challenging to detect faults. To overcome this problem, Quartzelec has incorporated another new module in LifeView®. Flux Probe cleverly measures the magnetic #eld of the turning rotor by inducing voltage in the probe to determine the presence of winding damage.

Making Condition Monitoring ‘The Norm’According to Maser Quartzelec’s Managing Director Dr Bernhard Fruth, all major repair work should be underpinned with condition monitoring systems. “It reduces downtime and cost for the customer and of course reduces the warranty risk on our side. We want to minimise the damage when something goes wrong, and in knowing that the customer has peace of mind too. Instead of being frightened, he gets data!” Fruth adds: “We’re constantly looking for new types of sensing to provide a more holistic monitoring solution, and that development includes joint projects with customers.”

Robots!e holistic, preventive monitoring solution also encompasses other areas currently under development by the company. Fruth revealed the forthcoming launch of an ultra-compact inspection robot that can provide closer and more granular detail of the internal condition than many existing methods, including the use of borescopes. Fully equipped with multiple video cameras for omnidirectional inspection, magnetic core imperfection detector and wedge tiredness analysis system, the robot attaches vertically to the core, propelled by supermagnet-equipped tracks that enable travel in any direction and over most obstacles. Remarkably, this capability is contained in a package not much larger than an iPhone. LifeView® condition monitoring and the new development in robotics are just two examples that con#rm Quartzelec’s leadership in high voltage rotating machine maintenance, ably complementing the company’s traditional expertise in major overhauls, reverse engineering, consolidation, cryogenic decontamination, stator rewinds, re-cores and upgrades and life extension programmes, all of which can be carried out anywhere in the world. !ey serve to demonstrate not only technical expertise but a proven capability to think and consult strategically on behalf of its customers.

CASE STUDY: QUARTZELEC

Splayed coils arced to retaining ring, a type of failure that could be avoided

RIV inspections offer rotating electrical machines a cost effective and modern alternative to traditional inspections methods

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Steady and Organic: KEPCO’s Growth in the Philippines Power Market

KEPCO Philippines’ CEO MR. KYU-BYENG HWANG speaks to Sam !omas to discuss the Korean conglomerate’s expansion into overseas markets.

EPCO has a clear goal in mind after experiencing countless changes and innovations on their journey as a utility conglomerate.

!e company is now expanding its scope beyond Korea’s borders, and is committed to nurturing overseas power projects and green growth, aiming to emerge as a global energy company. !e Philippine market in particular has seen KEPCO $ourish and become a vital part of the power capacity. We caught up with KEPCO’s Chief Executive O%cer, Mr. Kyu-Byeng Hwang to understand how the company become one of the major IPPs in the Philippines, looking at their foundation and growth. KEPCO has a clear strategy for the global market, and they are currently implementing 99 overseas projects in a wide range of areas, including nuclear power, hydro and thermoelectric power, transmission and distribution, renewable energy, and resource development. Mr. Kyu-Byeng Hwang explained that: “Due to the success of our projects in South Korea, one of KEPCO’s key objectives has been to strengthen its overseas business. Our goal is for the technologies and methods that we have successfully utilized locally to be applied internationally, particularly to countries that are still in the process of developing and stabilizing their own power supply.”

With these goals in mind, it was clear to see why the Philippines was identi#ed as suitable for the expansion path of this diversi#ed utility major. Mr. Kyu-Byeng Hwang revealed that the successful growth of KEPCO Philippines has been attributed to the adherence of the company’s core values of integrity, growth, innovation, and excellence, mentioning that these have been KEPCO’s “guiding principles for each and every project that we have undertaken in the Philippines”. !e executive also highlighted the strong support that KEPCO Head O%ce had provided, which has been instrumental in this exciting voyage. Cautious Steps and Organic Growth!e #rst steps into the Philippines for KEPCO were in 1995, in response to the Philippine Government’s calls to develop and utilize the country indigenous resources and augment its power supply. At that time, the Philippines was experiencing nationwide brownouts due to a high power demand and lack of power supply. !ere were also some security concerns because of several coup attempts. !e tender for the rehabilitation, operation, maintenance and management of the 650 MW Malaya thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal was opened up to the international market and subsequently won by KEPCO. Mr. Hwang explained that “it was an opportune time for us since we were looking for an entry project in the Philippines and we saw how a stable power supply was badly

needed here. Since this was a ROMM project, the state in which we found the Malaya !ermal Power Plant posed some challenges at #rst but we were able to #nd some great engineering solutions for these problems.” KEPCO Philippines went on to operate the Malaya plant successfully for over 15 years, and when KEPCO were awarded the ROMM contract in 1995, the Malaya !ermal Power Plant was operating at around 430 MW. Mr. Hwang was modest about their achievements, telling us how “after the rehabilitation, the plant’s original rated generation capacity of 650 MW was recovered, a feat equivalent to that of building another 220 MW power plant but at less cost.” An impressive e"ort to say the least, and Mr. Hwang also touched on the delivery:“!e plant’s thermal e%ciency was improved by an average of 4.5%. KEPCO was also able to complete the rehabilitation 10 months ahead of schedule.”

Impact and Contribution to the Philippines GridSince its entry into the market, KEPCO Philippines now provides approximately 12% of the total installed generation in the country. !e Ilijan combined cycle is one of their most impressive performers, which was won on a build-own-operate (BOT) basis after competing with 7 other international IPPS in the bidding. !e Ilijan Power Plant is a 1,200 MW combined-cycle, dual-fuel electricity

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generation facility with a design life of 25 years. Mr. Hwang highlighted some of the accomplishments: “We succeeded in raising capital of approximately US$543 Million through project #nancing, earning raves from international #nancial institutions for its pro#tability.” !e Ilijan Power Plant is one of Luzon’s base-load units and contributes to the Philippines’ natural gas consumption by utilizing gas from the Malampaya gas #elds in Palawa. Mr. Hwang proudly revealed that: “With its construction, the Ilijan Power Plant marks several milestones in the Philippine power industry – the construction of the highest voltage (500kV) switchyard system and the biggest capacity of reverse osmosis in the Philippines. Another notable feature of the plant is the #rst successful commercial operation for the state-of-the-art Mitsubishi 501G gas turbines, holder of one of the highest e%ciency ratings among industrial gas turbines in the world.” A groundbreaking feat indeed, when you consider how many plants this gas turbine is now operating in across the globe.!e performance of the plant has been impressive, and KEPCO is committed to regular maintenance duties. We asked Mr. Hwang about the importance of real time condition assessment for pre-emptive maintenance across critical components such as generators and gas turbines:

“Based on our experience in developing di"erent power plants, we always focus and conduct extensive preventive maintenance on the critical and weak points of major equipment.” He went on to reveal that “for new equipment, we thoroughly study the technical bulletins and recommendations released by the manufacturer and adopt these, especially for items a"ecting the reliability of the units.” When there is such strain on a grid like the Philippines it is vital to study the behaviour of power equipment to avoid unplanned outage. Mr. Hwang also promoted the important role of sta" members at plant level, asserting that “our Operations and Maintenance personnel perform daily plant trouble analysis to develop solutions to problems that may arise, it is critical to be focussed in this area.”

The Naga Complex!e Naga Complex is an important contributor to the Visayas grid. Avoiding the expenses concerned with FGD and SCR is a signi#cant CAPEX and OPEX saving, and KEPCO took a bold decision to utilize clean CFB technology for the #rst time in the Philippines on the Cebu thermal plants. Mr. Hwang discussed some of the logic behind this calculated risk: “It was KEPCO’s decision to utilize CFBC technology for the Cebu thermal power plants. We felt that CFBC is a proven technology worldwide and given that KEPCO has previous experience in the successful construction and operation of CFBC power plants in Korea and other countries, it made a lot of sense. It was a conscious choice for us to choose CFBC because it is more environmentally friendly compared to other coal-based power generation technologies, due to the signi#cant reduction of NOx and SOX levels and because of the lower generation cost.”

The New 200 MW Hanjin ProjectLike many other Asian nations, the Philippines has a distinct reliance on coal which is forcing investment into clean technologies, but KEPCO feel quite strongly that LNG will play a signi#cant future role in the energy mix. !e ambitious IPP is also working hard to establish a 200 MW coal plant to support the Hanjin shipyard in the Philippines. Mr. Hwang opened up regarding the state of play on what promises to be an exciting initiative: “We are currently searching for possible sites, preferably near Hanjin’s shipyard if possible, wherein we can establish the project. Our goal is to start the feasibility study within the year.” Luzon and Visayas are still facing major electricity shortages. !e question remains will KEPCO Philippines continue to grow capacity and #rmly establish a position as the

leading IPP in the near future? Mr. Hwang was con#dent and unassuming, stating that “KEPCO Philippines’ vision, since its establishment in 1995, is to be the leading energy company in the Philippines and that vision has not changed. We hope to continue developing power projects here and contribute to stabilizing the country’s power supply.” He also excitingly divulged that aside from the proposed project with Hanjin in Luzon, the company would be ‘looking to establish one or two more power plants across the nation within the next three years.’ !e growth of KEPCO in the Philippines has been admirable and organic, starting with rehabilitation and operation, and building up to new construction. !ey have certainly learnt to walk before they run, and with an impressive pipeline of new projects and an attentive maintenance approach to their existing facilities, they o"er a lot of potential for this market in the near future.

“Since its entry into the market, KEPCO Philippines now provides approximately 12% of the total installed generation in the country.”

PI

FEATURE: KEPCO’S GROWTH

Keeping the world leading performance of its membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), Yangtze advances its technologies to reduce the platinum catalyst loading down to 0.4mg/cm2 (ĂŶŽĚĞ�ĂŶĚ�ĐĂƚŚŽĚĞ�ƐŝĚĞƐ�ƚŽŐĞƚŚĞƌ). MEAs are available in 3-layer, 5-layer, and 7-layer formats, and active area up to 280mm*450mm.

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AFFORDABLE FUEL CELLS THANKS TO REDUCED PLATINUM USAGE

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Power Insider Asia Magazine looks at some signi$cant breakthroughs in the hydrogen fuel cell industry in this issue’s Technology Focus

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS:


REGULARS© 2013 Intelligent Energy


Potential; that is a key word for describing the current status of hydrogen fuel cells. E%cient, silent, and with almost zero emissions, the technology was #rst conceived in 1801. Since then, despite having 200 years of research behind it, the large scale commercial viability of the product has only recently become a reality. Even still, there are a number of obstacles that are limiting the development of this exceptionally promising technology. !e development of fuel cells is an enormous challenge, one which the scienti#c community is rising to with great enthusiasm. !is is why PI Magazine Asia has decided to take a look at the fuel cell market in this issue’s ‘Technology Focus’. It will examine the bene#ts of hydrogen fuel cells, the key obstacles preventing full commercialisation, and then at some recent key breakthroughs.

Fuel Cell TechnologySimply put, a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device that converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, heat, and water.

!ere are many types of fuel cells that operate in di"erent ways with di"erent components, but the general process is quite consistent. !e fuel cell has two electrodes, a positive anode and a negative cathode. !e hydrogen enters through the anode, where a catalyst breaks the element into protons and electrons. !e electrons are sent around an external circuit as electricity, re-entering the cell at the cathode. !e protons are carried to the cathode via an electrolyte, where it meets the electrons and oxygen in another catalyst, where waste water is produced. !is process happens quickly, e%ciently, quietly and with no green house gases. !e technology has a number of applications, from power packs for frontline soldiers, multi-megawatt power plants and back up generators, to decentralized power for rural areas and the hydrogen car. Di"erent fuel cells cater for these applications, but the two main types currently utilized are Polymer Exchange Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and Solid Oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

form of a thin, permeable sheet. PEMFC use platinum based catalysts, with a 40-50% e%ciency and an operating temperature of about 80°C. Cell outputs generally range from 50 to 250 kW. Due to the low temperatures and the use of platinum electrodes, these cells must operate on pure hydrogen. PEMFC’s are scalable and modular, and are currently the leading technology for vehicles. !e low operating temperature allows a quick start, making them ideal for cars.

usually between 700 and 1,000°C, with an output of up to 100kW. SOFCs use a solid ceramic electrolyte instead of a liquid or membrane. !eir high operating temperature means that fuels can be reformed within the fuel cell itself, eliminating reformers and allowing great fuel $exibility. Easily scalable, these fuel cells are most suited to stationary power generators, and are very stable during continuous use. Waste heat from the SOFC can be utilized for cogeneration, taking the overall e%ciency of the system to over 80%.

Commercialisation!e fuel cell market has experienced some success on a small scale. Fuel cells have proved useful as back up generators and transport batteries, as well as being used in a number of residential demonstration projects. Big brand names like Apple, Google, Walmart and Coca-Cola have put their faith in fuel cell technology, and manufacturers like Panasonic, Toshiba, and Fuji Electric are spending big to develop them. !e larger markets for such applications are in the USA, Japan, Germany, Indonesia and South Korea, where more than 120 MW from one company alone have been installed. Despite this, the bene#ts of fuel cells are not yet fully exploitable on a large scale because of a number of key obstacles blocking the technology’s scalability and commercial viability.

Capturing, Storing, & Transporting HydrogenDespite being one of the world’s most abundant materials, pure hydrogen has to be extracted, usually from fossil fuels and gases. !is process has several methodologies, from steam reforming methane gas, to electrolysis, to the gasi#cation of biomass or coal. Most methods are energy intensive, expensive and require cheap power from fossil fuels to keep costs down. Once the hydrogen has been captured, it is di%cult to store and transport safely and e%ciently. Hydrogen is highly combustible and burns with an almost invisible $ame, and must be stored at extremely low temperatures or high pressures. Containers capable of withstanding these speci#cations are much larger than a standard gas tank. Hydrogen can be transported by pipeline or by road via cylinders, tube trailers, and

FAST FACTS:

The Benefits of Hydrogen Fuel Cells More efficient than diesel and gas engines Extremely quiet operation The only by-products of fuel cell operation are heat and water Stationary applications that do use thermal fuels as feedstock produce 1 ounce of pollution per 1,000 kWh, whilst thermal plants produce 25 pounds

Fuel cells aren’t grid dependent Fuel cells can be utilized for different applications, like heating or vehicles Though they use a chemical reaction like batteries, they don’t have a ‘life’ As there are few moving parts, maintenance is straightforward and minimal Waste heat can be captured for cogeneration Most fuel cell systems include a reformer which allows greater fuel flexibility

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cryogenic tankers. For long distances, hydrogen is usually transported as a liquid in super-insulated, cryogenic vehicles and then vaporized for use at the customer site, which an energy intensive and costly process. !e hydrogen distribution infrastructure is also underdeveloped. !is is a problem not only for the consumers who need fuel for their existing fuel cell installations, but it also presents an obstacle to the development of hydrogen cars; there’s no hydrogen refuelling station in every town!

Power DensityWhilst hydrogen contains three times more energy per weight than fossil fuels, hydrogen gas contains only a third of the energy per volume that fossil fuels do, meaning that the size and weight of hydrogen storage solutions are greatly increased. Additionally, each fuel cell only produces a few kW of electricity, and have to be put in stacks to produce more. !is means they can get fairly sizable. With large, weighty storage solutions and fuel cell stacks comes added expense and reduced viability.

Fuel Cell Components Similarly, fuel cell components are currently extremely expensive. !e catalysts and electrolytes are often made of costly metals, and many fuel cell designs require pure hydrogen. !ose that don’t require reformers, which adds to the size, weight and expense of the fuel cell. Additionally, the precious metals used, like platinum, can be easily deactivated in the presence of even low levels of carbon monoxide, rendering the fuel cell inoperable.

Research and DevelopmentIt is an enormous mountain to climb. In order to make them commercially viable, breakthroughs are required in almost every aspect of the fuel cell power generation process to cut the cost of this comparatively expensive technology. !ere has been some success using

gas, waste gas and solid waste as alternatives to pure hydrogen feed stocks, especially using SOFC (see our SOFC Overview later in the issue for more!). Nevertheless researchers and private companies need to #nd more ways to cheaply capture hydrogen, safely and compactly store and transport it, and develop an infrastructure to support it. Research is required to improve the energy density of the fuel and cell, and to #nd new ways to reduce the costs of the fuel cell components. With so much work to be done, it is a testament to the potential of this fuel source that governments, universities and private conglomerates are investing terri#c sums of money into researching solutions.

Innovative Hydrogen CaptureA research team at Virginia Tech has recently unveiled a process that captures hydrogen safely and e%ciently from a green source. Instead of extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels, the team led by associate professor Y.H. Percival Zhang have found a way to extract hydrogen from plants using enzymes. Described as a game-changer, this new method of producing hydrogen utilizes renewable natural resources, releases almost no greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals. To liberate the hydrogen, the team took xylose, an abundant simple sugar that makes up 30% of the cell walls of plants, and subjected it to a polyphosphate and a customized enzyme cocktail that does not occur in nature. !is releases an unprecedentedly high volume of hydrogen, resulting in the production of about three times as much hydrogen as other hydrogen producing microorganisms. In fact, this process generates hydrogen energy that is greater than the chemical energy stored in xylose and the polyphosphate. !is results in an energy e%ciency of more than 100% - a net energy gain. Even more appealing, this reaction occurs at low temperatures, with reaction conditions only reaching 1220°C

under normal atmospheric pressures. !at means that low temperature waste heat can be used to produce high quality chemical energy hydrogen for the #rst time. Zhang hopes that the process will become commercially available within the next three years, claiming that the technology has the potential to make an enormous impact, with a market capacity of at least $1 trillion in the United States alone.

Affordable ElectrolyzersCanadian researchers at the University of Calgary have developed a cost e"ective electrolyzer, the piece of equipment used to break up water into oxygen and hydrogen. Electrolysis is a preferable mode of hydrogen production to thermoforming, because fossil fuels are not required for the process. However, it requires a lot of electricity, and they are expensive to build. !is means that fossil fuels are often used to provide cheap electricity, which increases the method’s carbon footprint. Current electrolyzer designs depend on expensive rare earth metals in precise crystalline arrangements to catalyze the reaction. However, the catalyzers built by Chris Berlinguette and Simon Trudel at Calgary uses metals as common as rust, and don’t require a crystal structure. It delivers results comparable to current techniques but costs about 1,000 times less.!ese new electrolyzers are between 70 and 90% e%cient at isolating hydrogen and oxygen. Berlinguette and Trudel have already formed a company called FireWater Fuel Corp. to market their work and expect to have a commercially available electrolyzer by next year.

India Tackles InfrastructureIn 2012, the Indian government announced a plan to bring more than 1 million hydrogen-powered vehicles to the country by 2020. To do this, the country will have to embolden its infrastructure and develop more e%cient storage technologies. Researchers at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) have announced the development of a new technique that could solve some of the storage problems associated with hydrogen fuel. !e safe storage and transportation of this fuel is considered a serious issue in India, where car accidents are somewhat common. !e technology developed by NEERI will be used for India’s

“Canadian researchers at the University of Calgary have developed a cost e#ective electrolyzer, the piece of equipment used to break up water into oxygen and hydrogen.”

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: FUEL CELLS

Stack production at the Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering


supply chain of hydrogen fuel and for hydrogen-powered vehicles, and researchers believe that the breakthrough will make hydrogen storage safer and more e%cient. NEERI combined hydrogen gas with cycloalkane hydrocarbons to reduce its reactive capacity and make transportation less hazardous. !e combination is liquid at ambient temperature and pressure and therefore can be easily transported using trucks, and has a relatively high hydrogen storage capacity. For the delivery of the fuel at a station, dehydrogenation is performed in a reactor. !e liquid hydrocarbon is sprayed over a catalyst resulting in formation of vapor hydrogen and vapor toluene. !e toluene is condensed and recycled again to combine with aromatics. Researchers at NEERI boast that this process has a conversion capacity of 98% per unit of catalyst used, one of the highest in the world. Having made this breakthrough in 2012, the next phase of the project will be to scale up the lab-based technique for real use in collaboration with the Technology Incubation Centre of IIM-Ahmedabad, who have contributed Rs 6 crore for the project.

UK Consortium Delivers Efficient Fuel Cell DesignA research project involving several of the UK’s leading technology companies has delivered a major breakthrough in fuel cell power density for vehicle applications. !e Enhanced Fuel Cell Systems project, led by Intelligent Energy, has successfully demonstrated a new fuel cell design that delivers an improvement of more than 30% on the power density of previous systems. Moreover, the system achieved reliable cold-start performance in temperatures as low as -200°C, overcoming a technical hurdle commonly faced by fuel cell systems. Intelligent Energy said the £2.8m, three year project had resulted in a new 40kW test cell that boasted the same system size and mass as previous 30kW systems. !e breakthrough promises to further cement Intelligent Energy’s position as one of the world’s leading fuel cell developers. In recent years, the Loughborough based company has secured millions of pounds in funding, established itself as a provider of vehicular and stationary fuel cell systems, and inked a number of partnerships with high pro#le #rms such as Suzuki. Suzuki and Intelligence Energy formed the JV SMILE FC in 2012 to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems for vehicles, and it has started production. !e small-scale production facility will manufacture air-cooled fuel cell systems. Next to come is a larger-scale production line to further commercialization of the product.

Cutting the Cost of CatalystsA research team at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis have developed a catalyst that is 1,000 times cheaper than current ones utilizing platinum. Research leader R. Morris Bullock claims that his team have been able to develop a catalyst that converts hydrogen to electricity using iron instead of the precious metal. One of the properties the catalyst needed to have,

like platinum, was the ability to split hydrogen atoms into all of their parts by moving both the protons and electrons around in a controlled series of steps, sending the protons in one direction and the electrons to an electrode. To do this, they need to split hydrogen molecules unevenly in an early step of the process. One hydrogen molecule is made up of two protons and two electrons, but the team needed the catalyst to tug away one proton #rst and send it away, where it is caught by a molecule called a proton acceptor. In a real fuel cell, the acceptor would be oxygen. Once the #rst proton with its electron attracting force is gone, the electrode easily plucks o" the #rst electron before another proton and electron are similarly removed, with both of the electrons being shuttled o" to the electrode. !e speed of the team’s new catalyst peaked at about two molecules per second, thousands of times faster than the closest, non-electricity making iron-based competitor. In addition, the catalyst revealed itself to be similar in e%ciency to most commercially available catalysts. Now the team is #guring out the slow steps so they can make them faster, as well as determining the best conditions under which this catalyst performs.

Cornell UniversityResearchers at the Cornell University Energy Materials Center have also made a breakthrough catalyst. Instead of trying to replace platinum, the research team have developed a way to utilize the precious metal in a more economic way. !e researchers at Cornell have developed platinum nanoparticles that are 2,000 times more resistant to carbon monoxide, and reduces the cost of fuel cell systems considerably. Platinum nanoparticles are deposited onto a support material of titanium oxide, where tungsten is added to increase the electrical conductivity of the catalyst. !e resulting carbon monoxide resistance means that the fuel cell can burn hydrogen with as much as 2% carbon monoxide in it. A catalyst able to withstand more carbon monoxide eliminates the need to clean the hydrogen as much, thereby reducing the cost.

NanotechnologyUsing nanotechnology for fuel cells has a number of other advantages. !e nanoscale of the particles creates a larger surface area which makes them more reactive, and are ideal for use as a catalyst. By using platinum nanoparticles, less of the precious metal is required.

Additionally, by using nanopores in membranes you can better control the reaction in the fuel cell. !is is because fuel cells require the movement of ions through membranes, and nanopores limit that movement. To do this, researchers have capped the ends of the nanopores to trap the acidic solution inside the membrane, thus improving the transport of hydrogen ions in low humidity. !is capability opens up the possibility of making fuel cells that operate in a wide range of humidity conditions.

Wonder Material for Fuel CellsIf you are a regular reader of PI Magazine Asia, you may remember graphene popping up in last issue’s Technology Focus, and it will most likely pop up again in the next issue’s Technology Focus on solar power generation. So what’s so great about graphene? Graphene is a carbon allotrope discovered by researchers at Manchester University in 2004. Previously thought to be theoretically impossible, the material is the basic building block of all graphitic materials like carbon nanotube and graphite. Described as a ‘wonder material’, the exceptionally thin graphene could have a number of potential applications as a fuel cell component. Because graphene is only one atom thick, it has the highest surface area exposure of carbon per weight of any material, and it extremely cheap to produce. Additionally, high hydrogen-to-carbon bonding energy and carbon’s high surface area exposure make graphene a good candidate for storing hydrogen. Researchers at Brown University have utilized graphene with cobalt and cobalt-oxide to make a catalyst. Cobalt is an abundant metal, readily available at a fraction of what platinum costs. Tests led by chemist Shouheng Sun show that the graphene sheet covered by cobalt and cobalt-oxide nanoparticles can catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction nearly as well as platinum does, and is substantially more durable. Sun admits that the new graphene-cobalt material was slower than platinum in getting the oxygen reduction reaction started, but once the reaction was going, the new material actually reduced oxygen at a faster pace than platinum. !e new catalyst also proved to be more stable, degrading much more slowly than platinum over time.

In Summary…Hydrogen fuel cells have come a long way in the last decade. Using of techniques, developers have been able to start extracting hydrogen’s full potential as a fuel source. With over 700 installations in Indonesia alone, small scale applications have been very successful across Asia. Work is still required, however, as a truly e%cient and green way of extracting hydrogen is still elusive. Even the reformers pro#led later in our Fuel Cell Roundtable have a huge disadvantage; the fossil fuels they use are infrequently renewable. !e work described above is enabling manufacturers to continue to develop fuel cell technology, and the promise of industrial scale power generation from fuel cells looks likely to one day be ful#lled.

“!e researchers at Cornell have developed platinum nanoparticles that are 2,000 times more resistant to carbon monoxide, and reduces the cost of fuel cell systems considerably.”

PI

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: FUEL CELLS

www.plansee.com

Powder metallurgically producedstack components for

SOFC made by PLANSEE

As a leading supplier of powder metallurgical high performance materials, we develop and manufacture customized, coated ready-to-stack metallic SOFC components.

Net shape interconnects for stationary applications- Superior thermal conductivity- Coeffi cient of thermal expansion to high performance electrolyte- Excellent corrosion resistance


!ere is always a demand for our products when materials have to withstand high stress levels. In the case of solid oxide fuel cells, this is the stack – also called the heart of the fuel cell, where electrochemical reactions take place at a temperature of typically more than 800°C. To develop the necessary high-performance metallic stack components (interconnects), we had to extend our expertise in the #elds of alloys, coating and powder metallurgical production technologies. Today, we are able to produce consistently high-quality interconnects, cost-e"ectively and in large quantities.

Can you tell us about Plansee’s current experiences with the SOFC business, both in Asia and globally?

Essentially, our product – the interconnect – is always based on the same technology principle, called net shape process. On the other hand, our customers worldwide, including those in Asia, use these interconnects with custom made designs for a broad spectrum of systems and applications, ranging from decentralized power generation systems with hundreds of kilowatts, through to micro-combined heat and power devices (CHP) with up to #ve kilowatts and portable solutions with 500 watts.

Dr. Venskutonis, thanks for taking the time to speak with Power Insider Asia today. When did the fuel cell business become a focus for you?

In retrospect, our fuel cell activities can be divided into three phases. Twenty years ago we began our materials research, looking closely at whether it would be possible to use powder metallurgy processes and alloys to produce interconnects for fuel cells. Ten years ago, our customers built their #rst prototype systems and we installed a pilot production line. !en #ve years ago, we had our #rst breakthrough when our customers’ #rst systems were launched on the market. !is was the trigger for the Plansee Group to put into operation a #rst automated production line for interconnects at the GTP division in Towanda (US). !e second of these production lines will be coming on stream shortly.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are undergoing rapid development and are increasingly being employed in a number of different applications; can you explain how the Plansee products fit in with this intricate technology?

ABOUT THE PLANSEE GROUPThe Plansee Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of the high-technology materials molybdenum and tungsten – from powder production and powder-metallurgical processes, through to customer-specific processing and recycling of these materials. The materials are used by customers in advanced industries, and are essential for the high-tech products of both today and tomorrow.

Plansee and the Future of Fuel Cells: SOFCPI Magazine Asia is increasingly focusing on the potential of fuel cell technology, and on the breakthroughs that are making the future of large scale commercial fuel cell power generation ever more viable. Whilst there are many di#erent types of fuel cell, the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology has seen rapid development in recent years. One company responsible for these successes in SOFC production is the Plansee Group. We’ve asked Dr. Andreas Venskutonis, Manager of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells at Plansee SE, to tell us more about interconnects and their impressive o#ering for this fast growing sector.

INTERVIEW WITH: DR. ANDREAS VENSKUTONIS, PLANSEE SE

Which SOFC applications do you envisage experiencing biggest most growth in Asia?

In both China and India, air pollution is staggeringly high. !e reasons for this are the rapid increase in private transport, particularly in the megacities, and the massive thirst for energy, which is mainly being met by coal-#red and nuclear power plants. However, a rethink is underway, with intensive research into environmentally friendly electrical fuel cell cars and into decentralized energy generation systems that are connected via smart networks taking place. Both of these applications are perfectly suited to mobile and stationary solid oxide fuel cells.

The lifecycle of interconnects has been a frustrating obstacle to longevity in stack performance. We understand that you have made some significant progress towards solving this problem with your chromium based products – can you explain?

!e lifecycle of interconnects was a vital factor in making the solid oxide fuel cell marketable. !ere were a number of key milestones here, the #rst of which was the development of advanced ceramic barrier coatings to protect the electrochemical cell from corrosion. !en the thermo-physical properties of the ceramic cell and the metallic interconnect had to be harmonized using a special chromium alloy, to prevent damage of the ceramic SOFC during the countless hot/cold temperature cycles. We also had to re#ne our net shape high-precision powder metallurgical production method in order to ensure that the interconnects were all structurally identical. !is production route ensures that there are no variations from part to part and from lot to lot, which is essentialfor the performance of a SOFC stack that is electrically connected in series. Lastly, using new glass seals helped us to achieve considerable advances in sealing technology.

Many stack manufacturers are looking for tailored interconnects to optimize their own performance. How does powder metallurgy meet these demanding design requirements?

!anks to the developments already mentioned, and our net shape high-precision technology, we are now in a position to o"er extreme $exibility when it comes to interconnect design. In my view, we are now

capable of supplying any design and meeting any customer requirement.

Where can SOFC stack developers go to assess the performance of your interconnects in the field, under different operating conditions?

Parallel to our activities on SOFC stack components, we are in cooperation already for more than ten years with the Fraunhofer Institute IKTS in Germany. Together we have developed an ESC-type stack which is available now for stack testing and benchmarking.

What challenges still remain for full commercial SOFC roll out?

!e stack exists – now the entire supplier industry needs to evolve, and unit costs for large orders need to be optimized. One of our customers is currently working extensively on decentralized power generation systems with hundreds of kilowatts which show’s that the industry has a future in large scale applications.


For more information on SOFC interconnects, please contact the Plansee sales team in Asia:

Plansee ChinaLinda Zhong, Tel. +86 [email protected]

Plansee JapanTakatsugu Akedo, Tel. +81 6 [email protected]

Koji Kurita, Tel. +81 3 3568 [email protected]

Plansee KoreaChris Lee, Tel. +82 2 451 [email protected]

Plansee TaiwanBruce Tseng, Tel. +886 [email protected]

ESC-type 1 kW stack, Fraunhofer Institute IKTS Dresden

“Thanks to the developments already mentioned, and our net shape high-precision technology, we are now in a position to o#er extreme "exibility when it comes to interconnect design. In my view, we are now capable of supplying any design and meeting any customer requirement.”

The net shape high-precision powder metallurgical production method ensures that the interconnects are all structurally identical.

INTERVIEW

PI


Robin Samuels examines the exciting new developments in SOFC technology, with some expert insight from some of the market leaders nearing commercialization.

!is issue of Power Insider Asia is undertaking an exciting focus on the growth of the fuel cell business in Asia. We have seen a number of di"erent system types in the Technology Focus varying in application, size, operating range and price. Given some of the challenges associated with the cost of platinum and development of pure hydrogen infrastructure, one system above all others is sending a wave of excitement throughout the industry. Compatible with hydrocarbons and perfect for combined heat and power applications, this technology has potential to change the way that we generate power forever, as a number of renowned players are reaching commercialization on a global scale. We caught up with the activities of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, JX Nippon Oil and Energy, Osaka Gas and the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering to look at the activities of these pioneers.

feature

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells:


A Journey to Tomorrow !e concept of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells was conceived in 1937 when Swiss scientist Emil Baur and his colleague H. Peris experimented with hydrocarbon fuel and solid oxide electrolytes, made from exotic materials including zirconium, yttrium, cerium, lanthanum, and tungsten. !eir designs were not as electrically conductive as expected and they reportedly experienced unwanted chemical reactions between the electrolytes and various gases, including carbon monoxide. By the late 1950’s, research into solid oxide technology was being conducted at several destinations around the world including the Central Technical Institute in !e Hague, Netherlands, Consolidation Coal Company in Pennsylvania, and General Electric in Schenectady, New York. Despite di"erent attempts with a variety of electrolyte materials, development on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell seemed to be drawing to a close in 1959 a#er insurmountable technical di$culties, such as high internal electrical resistance, melting, and short-circuiting caused by semi conductivity. Representing a challenge to the world, all hope was not lost and the lure of providing new and clean energy for military, space and transport applications drove research programs to experiment with materials throughout the 1960’s, before an intense period during the mid-1980’s delivered exciting progress in the SOFC race. !e likes of Siemens Westinghouse, Sulzer, Fuji and Tokyo Electric Power Company were pushing the boundaries, raiding the periodic table, thrusting the SOFC market into a hive of activity along the supply chain, and bringing us to the modern day: within touching distance to large scale commercialization in many of the diverse applications proposed.

So, What is So Special About SOFC? One of the outstanding bene%ts of Solid Oxide Fuel cells is that they can generate power from existing hydrocarbon fuels, opening up a wealth of potential in current energy infrastructure, and overcoming some of the major obstacles related to clean hydrogen availability. !e likes of diesel, gasoline, and natural gas/methane fuels are all candidate hydrocarbons for use in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, demonstrating clear advantages in fuel &exibility.

“The outstanding benefit of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells is the ability to generate power from existing hydrocarbon fuels”

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells also operate at an extremely high temperature, which has of course been a challenging factor in respect of stack lifecycle, but the heat released from the cell o"ers fantastic possibilities with recovery of high quality exhaust

heat leading to potential for the greatest e$ciencies that fossil fuelled power generation has ever seen. Tolerance to fuel impurities and these high operating temperatures means that the heat released from the cell can be e$ciently transferred and utilised for coal gasi%cation or hydrocarbon reforming. When integrated into coal gasi%cation plants, the technology has the potential to signi%cantly increase overall e$ciency, and dramatically reduce the cost of sequestering CO2 emissions. SOFC’s make CO2 sequestration economically viable, reducing the impact on electricity prices by 50% to 80% compared to other technologies. !is high operating temperature can also provide high quality waste heat suitable for use in cogeneration or bottoming cycle. Combined Heat and Power Systems, operating at or near the source of demand, can provide both highly e$cient electricity and high-grade heat for heating and cooling to the surrounding facilities. We take a look at the large scale Fuel Cell Combined Cycle possibilities from MHI later in the article. Solid Oxide fuel cells o"er a two phase, gas-solid system which overcomes many of the problems associated with liquid electrolytes such as corrosion, electrolyte distribution, &ooding and the maintenance of stable triple phase boundary (tpb) electrode-electrolyte regions. Moreover, because of their mainly ceramic structures, SOFC’s can be con%gured into lightweight and compact structures unachievable using a liquid electrolyte.

Japan: Leading by Example Japan has undoubtedly been one of the pioneers for fuel cell development. !rough their government supported ENE-FARM program, they boast arguably the most successful residential micro-CHP fuel cell capacity in the world. !e ENE-FARM scheme has been a combined e"ort with leading Japanese equipment manufacturers such as Toshiba, Panasonic and JX Nippon Oil and Energy (under the Eneos Celltech brand name) working with prominent oil and gas majors such as Osaka Gas and Tokyo Gas. Development began in the 1990’s a#er a particularly fast progression with domestic PEFC systems, and it was not long before a large demonstration programme, subsidized by the government, was built between 2005 and 2008 at ‘Fukuoka Hydrogen Town’. !ere was a phenomenal 3,307 units installed during that period demonstrating the competence of the technology from the companies above. Since then Tokyo Gas alone have sold more than 20,000 units. !e most recent PEFC generation from Panasonic was released in April 2013. It has an impressive total rated e$ciency of 95.0% (lower heating value), a notable 5% higher than the 2011 model. !e durability of the 2013 model in terms of operating life is 60,000 hours, up from 50,000 hours, and most importantly the price has come down by a staggering $7,700, making the technology considerably more a"ordable. !is has largely been down to the optimization

“At Tokyo Gas we offer the ENE-FARM PEFC type. Our latest system consists of 3 parts; fuel cell unit, hot water storage unit and back-up boiler, installed outside of the house. The price of the system is currently around $20,000. ENE-FARM has seen great success, but for widespread deployment the price must be reduced. We have a scope realising that achieving a unit cost of less than $10,000, will increase use drastically. Further improvement of the main parts, the stack and fuel processor, is also necessary to reduce the price. The size of ENE-FARM is another challenge: a downsize would vastly improve the ease of installation and suitability for more property types. In Japan, 100 hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles are planned for construction by 2015. Tokyo Gas is playing a big role in this, as we expect the expansion of fuel cell vehicles to be a significant factor for the price down of ENE-FARM. The development of a value chain for the product, for example, educating shops dealing gas appliance on ENE-FARM about installation for existing houses, promoting ENE-FARM to new house builder and preparation of a maintenance scheme, has been hard work and it is still ongoing as we plan to see 300,000 systems in the Tokyo metropolitan area by the end of fiscal year 2020. In the long term we hope it will be the dominant energy source hugely contributing to reduction of CO2 emission.”

Comment:

FEATURE: FUEL CELLS


of the core device materials with a 50% platinum reduction in the catalyst from the previous model. !ere was also an MEA cost reduction by developing base material-less GDL, achieving the balance between the strength and conductivity by optimizing the compounding ratios of carbon %bre and PTFE. !is model has also interestingly increased the number of applicable gas types, with an improved tolerance to gases containing nitrogen. !e Panasonic ENE-FARM is being adopted by most of the major regional gas companies in Japan, including Hokkaido Gas, Tokyo Gas, Hiroshima Gas, Saibu Gas, Toho Gas and Shizuoka Gas. It is clear that this PEFC model is leading the market at present, with a major advantage being its suitability for the heavy start/stop cycling required in a domestic set-up.

“The Panasonic ENE-FARM model is being adopted by most of the major regional gas companies in Japan”

!e SOFC still poses challenges for the domestic market with slow start-up operation because of the ceramic cells’ weakness to rapid temperature change, but it’s &exibility on input fuel and subsequent ability to be connected directly to natural gas networks makes it an irresistible choice, not forgetting that it o"ers the highest electrical e$ciency of all fuel cell products, and distinct space saving features through a smaller water storage tank requirement. !e di"ering characteristics of these ‘competing technologies’ is driving end-user purchase decisions to be motivated by desire for enhanced operational e$ciency or extended cycling duties. It is certainly not an easy decision in the modern climate.

So When Did SOFC Figure in ENE-FARM?A#er an astonishing amount of research, development and persistence, an SOFC model was %nally added to the ENE-FARM scheme in 2011, under the ENEOS brand through Japan’s largest oil re%ner, JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corporation. !e product is currently available for $31,000 USD and comes with a ten year warranty, which may seem expensive in comparison to PEFC, but JX forecast bringing the unit cost crashing down to a %gure close to $5,000 USD by 2015. !e major future di"erence in price to the PEFC version is primarily down to the absence of precious metals like platinum, but also the component and raw materials price shi#s when large scale commercialization is underway. If the ENEOS SOFC range does come down in cost by the sums anticipated, it will put an entirely new spin on the aforementioned argument. Taking advantage of the accumulated technologies and know-how of petroleum re%ning, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation were always going to o"er a very unique insight into the use of petroleum-based fuels such as LPG, naphtha and kerosene in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. !at expertise has clearly paid o" through their head start on introducing the SOFC into the ENE-FARM programme.

The Osaka Gas AllianceOsaka Gas and Kyocera launched a joint program to develop a cell stack in 2004 which was later joined by Toyota and Aisin in 2009. During this period, Osaka Gas and Chofu also started R&D work on a waste heat recovery/utilization unit for water heating, with a clear expectation of fast adoption for the promising domestic market in Japan. !e end result was the ENE FARM Type ‘S’ solid oxide fuel cell, which is currently available for $28,000 USD. !e research and development phase has been a long process for Osaka Gas, so when the product o$cially became commercial on April 27th 2012, it was a great milestone for all of the di"erent components concerned. !e road to retail has led

Osaka Gas to be heavily involved in the evaluation of environmental acceptance, reliability and durability of SOFC, through the testing of 121 units during the “Demonstrative Research on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell” project undertaken by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the New Energy Foundation. !is veri%cation initiative was combined with the evaluation and study on the long-term durability of coating materials on power collecting metals for connecting cells. !e SOFC system has been developed based upon the companies’ competence in areas such as the design, installation and maintenance from Osaka Gas for co-generation systems; the design and production technology of Kyocera for cell stacks; the design and production technology of Aisin/Toyota for generation units; and Chofu’s design and production technology of hot-water supply and heating units using exhausted heat. !e system is environmentally and economically enhanced, eliminating annual CO2 emissions by about 1.9 tons, while also reducing annual energy costs by over 30% in comparison to ordinary gas-powered hot water supply and heating units. !e back-up boiler ensures that there is an uninterrupted hot water supply, whilst the e$cient power conversion o"ers continuous electricity supply for 80% of household power needs. Moreover, due to the low number of parts and small quantity of exhaust energy, a compact design was made possible for both the power generation

“Osaka Gas, with our experience of marketing the largest number of home-use cogeneration systems in the world, has been engaged in designing and evaluating SOFC from the standpoint of CHP utilization. We currently offer SOFC on natural gas but may introduce units for use on LPG. Once further cost reduction and higher efficiency is achieved, broadening the scope of market introduction of SOFC through commercial and industrial uses may also be examined. We have made some great achievements with SOFC relating to the world’s highest power conversion ratio at 46.5%, but of course there have been challenges

on the way. Prior to commercialization, we conducted tests and analysis of cell deterioration mechanisms and worked on identifying those elements in order to evaluate their performance in a ten-year operating period. We are continuing the work on acceleration tests for each deterioration element to ensure long-term durability of cell stacks. We are of the view that SOFC in particular, has the potential to become a major energy supply system for households, because of the high energy efficiency features of power generation & heat utilization. It is on this basis that further cost reduction will undoubtedly be achieved.”

Comment:


unit and the hot-water supply and heating unit - water storage tank is just 90 litres - thus allowing it to be installed in homes with limited installation space. In the future, the companies also plan to expand use of the system to apartment buildings.

Scaling UpAlthough the high temperatures of SOFC eliminate the need for a reformer, this heat also leads to thermal shock, and the main wear and tear from such extreme heat occurs when the fuel cells are turned on and o". !us, the SOFC is particularly well suited for continuous operating duties in distributed power applications for the commercial applications and upwards. We have seen the excitement that SOFC is bringing to the domestic market in Japan, but the micro systems are not the only applications that are making noise. Some very capable players in Japan are working hard on scaling the technology up. Miura Kogoyo and Sumitomo Precision Products are two of these companies that have formed an alliance. Miura Kogoyo is a major Japanese boiler manufacturer and Sumitomo o"er extensive experience from the aerospace, heat exchanger and semiconductor industries. Predicting commercialisation from 2015 and aimed at the small commercial sector, the compact nature of their 4.2kW SOFC system and the ambitious price and e$ciency targets means it could be an exciting new product on the market. !e generation module, the core component, is provided from Sumitomo Precision Products, and Miura designed the system to heat water from collected heat. !e product is undergoing a demonstration test with Tokyo Gas and Osaka Gas for two years, and Miura plan to sell it to restaurants and care facilities for under $41,000 USD from 2015. So, we have established that the commercial and industrial sectors o"er the most logical growth given the current state of play for SOFC, but Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is one company that is not content with small commercial applications. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are very busy developing a large scale fuel cell combined cycle industrial power plant, under its ‘Solidia’ brand. ‘Solidia’ is an innovative Solid Oxide Fuel Cell adapted to a Fuel Cell Combined Cycle system, which incorporates a power generation system with a fuel cell, existing gas turbine and a steam turbine. Integrating this approach with the latest in GTCC can help to push electrical e$ciencies beyond 70%. Using its proprietary integrated co-sintering technology, MHI has developed mass-producible, multi-functional, high performance fuel cells. Low cost features have been achieved by adopting stacking and modular manufacturing methods for phased modularization. MHI believe that replacing all gas power plants in Japan with FCCC would reduce natural gas consumption by approximately 23 million metric tons per year, and o"er a phenomenal 29% reduction in Japan’s CO2 emission.

!e company has three di"erent plant sizes in the pipeline. !e smallest being a 0.25-1.35 MW hybrid cogeneration system integrated with a micro gas turbine, targeted at distributed power generation facilities and the industrial sector. !e middle range is a 40 MW up-scaled version of the micro turbine, based on the Mitsubishi MF111 gas turbine, and is widely expected to play an important role for the industrial and small utility sectors in Japan. !e biggest and most ambitious vision of MHI has the potential to be a real game changer for the way large utilities generate power. !e technology makes it possible to create a 1000MW class fuel cell combined cycle power plant, o"ering e$ciency exceeding 70%. !ese systems will be developed and commercialised from smallest to largest and fed with city gas and LNG. MHI plans to manufacture the entire product at some stage, but initially it will buy in SOFC stacks o"ering great opportunity for a blossoming market.

A New Age for South KoreaJapan is not the only market aggressively pushing fuel cells. Regular readers of Power Insider Asia may recall the November/December focus of 2012, showcasing another Asian tiger nation’s commendable e"ort, following some fantastic support mechanisms from the government to push fuel cell technology. !e large fuel cell stationary power deployments being installed in South Korea are expected to signi%cantly boost the annual megawatt %gure for the fuel cell industry globally. Last year represented an important milestone for the SOFC market in South Korea, with the country’s foremost industrial conglomerates embarking on some noteworthy joint ventures with prominent western players. LG announced in June that they had purchased a 51% stake in Rolls Royce subsidiary, Fuel Cell Systems, which is based in North Canton, Ohio. !e business has now been renamed LG Fuel Cell

Systems and will focus extensively on research, development, testing and commercialisation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology. Diversi%ed major SK Holding signed a memorandum of understanding with Denmark’s Topsoe Fuel Cell with the aim to commercialize the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology (SOFC) right through to 2020. One agreement concerns micro-CHP systems for residential applications and the second agreement is made for the development and commercialization of large Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. Topsoe Fuel cell will be providing the fuel cell stacks, while SK Holdings will be developing, manufacturing and deploying the SOFC power systems. Both companies will be cooperating in the technical development. Samsung SDI are also a prominent SOFC developer in South Korea, with a 100kW tubular system close to realization. !e race to commercialization is heating up remarkably in South Korea, but one company is standing just slightly above the rest; POSCO Energy. !ey have been developing solid oxide fuel cells since 2007 and are looking at commercializing a 10kW SOFC system used for buildings by 2014. !e company is well on course to meet these targets, at a time when South Korea is desperate for clean energy options in light of nuclear plant retirements and an unfavourable reliance on the global resources market for energy. As part of SOFC development project, POSCO Energy concluded an agreement in June 2012 with Jinsol Turbo Machinery, Jipilos and Inno-N in the Daegyung Regional Economic Zone, for developing core components of the SOFC’s balance of plant (BOP). !ey also intend to expand the fuel cell market for the industrial sector by commercializing competitive 50kW SOFC products. At present POSCO are leading the South Korean fuel cell industry in developing fuel cells for various purposes across buildings, ships, emergency

FEATURE: SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS


and prime power applications, but clean energy markets come hand in hand with %erce competition and SOFC in South Korea is no exception. What remains clear is that South Korea is hot on Japan’s heels with world class research institutes for the testing of western cells and new systems concepts, unbelievable expertise in manufacturing and early markets for domestic adoption & large export opportunity.

Challenges!ere are three di"erent system geometries of SOFC: planar, coplanar and micro-tubular. In the planar design, components are assembled in &at stacks where the air and hydrogen traditionally &ow though the unit via channels built in to the anode and cathode. In the tubular design, air is supplied to the inside of an extended solid oxide tube (which is sealed at one end) while fuel &ows round the outside of the tube. !e tube itself forms the cathode and the cell components are constructed in layers around the tube. !e planar design has many advantages, such as low cost of the cell production, high volumetric power density, easy integration of the stack bundle and simple management of heat, but it also has an inherent problem with sealing and needs to improve on its ability to cope with thermal shock. For small CHP and some niche applications, the tubular design has advantages and o"ers ease in sealing when compared to the planar design. However due to the issue of the thermal management of the system, the tubular design is widely thought to be unsuitable for the larger system applications and also presents a slightly lower current density. Although SOFC is seeing promising uptake as a cogeneration system in the residential market, the continual development of systems that can balance a high degree of reliability and durability with low cost are vital to its long term success. !ere have been certain breakthroughs, one of which recently saw a team from the University of Maryland, headed

up by Dr Eric Waschman, prove that a low heat Solid Oxide Fuel Cell is possible by achieving an extraordinary operating temperature of 350°C . As the price is driven down through increased competition and product re%ning, there is no denying that Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are going to change the way that we use energy forever. !e impact that they potentially have to make on stationary power generation, in particular for the industrial and distributed energy business, is causing a stir that government, property developers, investors and power producers are taking seriously. Whilst the Japanese are %rmly sitting in the driving seat today, South Korea, China and Taiwan are racing up behind. !eir e"orts can only be positive as the industry edges closer to commercialization across all capacities, fuel types, applications and regions. So as the world waits for the SOFC complete arrival, I think it is safe to say that this time, there will be no cancellations.

“Fuel cells are seeing huge growth in China due to the dense population and fast urbanization we are experiencing. We expect the Chinese fuel cell market to be the biggest in the world within 10 years. Stack life is still of course a major problem in SOFC technology, but we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, as the degradation rate is continually being reduced to an acceptable value. One of the main advantages of SOFC technology is the absence of a precise metal as a catalyst. At Ningbo Institute, we have sold 5kw systems for testing and demonstration and currently we are running two projects to develop 100 kW systems. We expect our 5kw micro-CHP systems to be commercially available next year and the 100 kW systems to be deployed in 2015. We strongly feel that SOFC, as a technology for power generation, will enjoy a dramatic increase in interest from society during the next 5 years. It is going to grow from a business generating multi-millions to multi-billions, with adoption in distributed energy systems to central power generation and eventfully to every household, it will revolutionize the energy industry.”

Comment:

What is your opinion of this exciting technology?

The potential it offers is clear for residential, commercial and utility applications but we would like to hear what you are doing in the industry. Tell us your opinion on Twitter, Linkedin or contact the PI team direct www.pimagazine-asia.com/contact-us

FEATURE: SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS

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CHRIS HEFFERAN investigates the rise of espionage in cyber warfare, China’s role as a key perpetrator, and how the energy sector may be targeted.

feature


As technological developments surge forward at an unrelenting pace, control over the cyber domain has fallen behind. Society is exploiting the bene%ts that technology has to o"er without a comprehensive understanding of the potential threats. Mass data storage, instant international marketing and streamlined operations are just some of these bene%ts, but the world has largely forgotten about the drawbacks. Cyberspace is an uncontrollable playing %eld, and to a large extent ungovernable. !ere are no borders in cyberspace, just a few passwords and security so#ware in a vast, interconnected network. With states and private companies alike exploiting the slow acknowledgement of the cyber threat, international diplomacy is facing its next signi%cant challenge. !e security of any society is dependant on its critical infrastructures. What constitutes a critical infrastructure is strongly contested, but the United States were the %rst to de%ne them as services “so vital that their incapacity or destruction would have a debilitating impact on defence or economic security”. Although this is an extremely government-centric description, it does place the energy sector at the heart of a fully functioning society. Almost every critical infrastructure, such as telecommunications and transport, depend on the energy sector. !e energy sector’s defence should therefore be a nations highest priority. Computer networks have become extremely dominant in the energy sector, with private companies and governments increasingly relying on and planning smart grids that utilise a huge amount of cyber technology, leaving the energy sector increasingly vulnerable. !ere is not a sector of society that does not use the cyber domain in some way, and the energy sector is no less immune to its faults.

China & Diplomatic TensionsChina is probably closer than anyone else to fully understanding the cyber realm. !e global economic powerhouse has begun to not only protect itself, but use its understanding of cyberspace to exploit the failings of other states and their corporations. State sponsored hackers have engaged in industrial espionage using interconnected networks on the cyber platform since the Internet’s conception. Over the last couple of decades, China has been robbing the US cyber domain and their e"orts have yielded extensive levels of con%dential information without consequence. !e US has been far too slow in recognising this threat. Earlier this year, Verizon Enterprise

Solutions published their 2013 Data Breach Investigation Report (DBIR). It provides evidence that China is all too active on the cyber domain. !e report, focusing on attacks on American computer networks, states that 92% of cyber attacks are now perpetrated by external actors. 30% of these attacks come from China, which was the highest of any external source. What is more, an overwhelming proportion of these attacks fall under the category of espionage. !is industrial espionage is used by state-sponsored hackers to compromise data %les of international businesses in order to manipulate markets for the economic bene%t of Chinese companies. Up to this point, there has been a common consensus that governments do not spy for private sector gains. China, however, has challenged this notion extensively in recent months, engaging in not-so-covert cyber attacks in order to gain intelligence from foreign based companies.

Causing Significant Strain!e increasingly blatant hacking of US networks by state-a$liated hackers is causing signi%cant strains upon international relationships. For example, earlier this year the US Department of Defence found that the manufacturing details of military technologies had been compromised, along with detailed &oor plans of their new domestic intelligence agency. !e list of stolen intelligence was staggering, and included the PAC-3 (advanced Patriot missile systems), the Navy’s Aegis missile defence system, Black Hawk helicopters and even the most expensive weapons system ever built; the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In their Annual Report to Congress, the department attached blame for these cyber attacks on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). !e US government claims that “the PLA continues to conduct frequent military exercises demonstrating advances in information technology and information integration of its military forces”. In a report which supports these accusations, US cyber security %rm Mandiant exposed a Shanghai based hacking agency APT1 as PLA sponsored hackers. !ese are bold claims, and will be impossible to avoid discussing when Barack Obama and Xi Jingping meet to conduct a series of diplomatic meetings in July this year. Billed as a ‘get to know each other’ event, it is likely that Obama will address an issue that he has labelled as one of the key threats to US homeland security. However, when he meets with Xi Jingping he cannot expect resolution. !e cyber espionage threat is a complex, game-changing topic which will only continue to increase tensions between China and the US in the coming months.

US Cyber Crime!e United States aren’t innocent of cyber wrong-doing themselves, and China will be quick to highlight America’s involvement in the Stuxnet attack. It is a popular topic for Chinese commentators, as an example of how the US has engaged in similar levels of contentious cyber warfare. !e incident saw US and Israeli hackers

“Cyberspace is an uncontrollable playing $eld, and to a large extent ungovernable.”

“Over the last couple of decades, China has been robbing the US cyber domain and their e#orts have yielded extensive levels of con$dential information without consequence.”

FEATURE: CYBER SECURITY

attack the Iranian Nuclear Facility at Bushehr, and is possibly the most overt use of cyber technologies to commit an attack so far. !is is largely down to the objectives and methods; its was committed in a physical manner and, in part, with a physical objective. !e worm was injected into the system with a USB stick, rather than using the interconnected networks which are the playing %eld of more recent cyber attacks. !e resulting disruption of the nuclear centrifuges reportedly delayed Iranian nuclear development signi%cantly. Despite the sophisticated nature of the virus itself, the attack utilised conventional technology, and the US was unable to control it. Stuxnet was leaked onto the web and infected a number of other networks not originally targeted, showing just how unreliable using cyber weapons can be.

Reclaiming Security!e cyber debate may have a signi%cantly state-centric feel to it, but it will not be long until the energy sector is riddled with industrial espionage over computing networks. !is could have a range of consequences for the energy market. For example, the nuclear industry in China is having to rely extensively on foreign partnerships to develop domestic nuclear technology. !is has enabled a number of pro%table joint ventures and market stimulation, as well as competition between international companies seeking to secure lucrative Chinese contracts. But what would happen if China were to cross the line in industrial espionage, and hack their way to the latest technology? It would enable them to develop the technology independently using stolen data, which would have grave consequences for the wider market. Up to date security programs and hardware, recognising the objectives of the threat and internal security measures are just some of the ways in which security can be improved in the cyber war. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to this very complex threat, yet the threat can be managed into an acceptable risk. !e Verizon DBIR report is introduced with the following solemn advice: “If your organisation is indeed a target of choice, understand as much as you can

about what your opponent is likely to do and how far they are willing to go.” !is raises the most stringent point to be made; understanding the threat itself is key. !e report found over 47,000 reported incidents using cyber technologies having taken place during 2012, with 619 of those con%rmed data hacks. !is has resulted in 44 million records being compromised. Furthermore, added to the %ndings of previous DBIRs, this means that in the last nine years over one billion records have been compromised.

Up to Date SoftwareUp to date hardware and so#ware are vital in the battle for a secure network. According to Moore’s Law, technology is in a state of revolution. !e processing power of computing technologies theoretically doubles in sophistication every two years, meaning that we are developing technologies faster than we can control. !is is the crux of the cyber security dilemma; new technologies are sprouting before we’ve worked out how to secure the last one. !ere is race between those aiming to secure their networks and those who will bene%t from any insecurities or weaknesses. Rapidly developing new systems can be an aid to cyber security, however, as it takes the hackers time to control a new system. !erefore, the longer any so#ware or programme has been around, the more back doors and insecurities will be discovered. Windows XP, for example, is about to be removed from service, a#er 10 years of being poked and prodded by hackers. !is means that there will be no more security updates for the so#ware a#er the 8th April next year, leaving anyone still using the system increasingly vulnerable to attack. It is vital to keep up to date in terms of hardware as well as security so#ware.

Cyber ObjectivesIt is also important to acknowledge that there are many di"erent ways in which a cyber attack can occur, with many di"erent objectives. Recent months have seen a strong increase in compound attacks, where an hacker attacks a key or password holder rather than the system itself. Although it is assumed that hackers always look for a back door into a system, a compound attack allows for them to walk straight in through the front entrance. Insider attacks are another forgotten human element in cyber security, and more common than expected. Imagine that you are working in an IT department; a#er years without the promotion you deserve, the company decides to reduce its IT department’s running costs. You’ve been %red. As you’re packing your desk into a box, you see your USB stick still plugged into the computer. Why not place ‘secure’ company data onto that memory drive and take it with you? You’re out of a job, with a %nancially uncertain future, and the data would be very valuable. !is is a realistic, albeit hypothetical, scenario which could be disastrous for a company. As

with other cyber threats, there are safeguards, with the key precaution being the limitation of information that any one person has access to. Nonetheless, it is vital to consider the more simple threats when discussing the cyber issue, as it is easy to get distracted by complex hacking techniques and challenges. With some reports claiming that a third of all cyber attacks come from the inside, a coalition of metaphysical borders and internal surveillance is key. Just as a building should have guards on the door and security cameras inside, cyber networks must create a similar harmony. Passwords may guard the door, but without consistent surveillance within the network, hackers who have gained access to a system can freely gain full access to either the information he came for, or potentially take down an entire network.

How Prepared are You?Overt, physical war is too harmful for international respect and domestic public opinion to be a reliable option in modern international relations, and traditional spying and data the# are too clumsy in modern business relations. However, metaphysical war and espionage on the cyber stage is sneaky. Its subtle, its quiet, and its o#en unseen. Recent developments have seen China take centre stage, with the US, their main target, just beginning to take the issue seriously. !e Defence Science Board have even gone so far as to claim that “the cyber threat is serious, with potential consequences similar in some ways to the nuclear threat of the Cold War.” With such an issue already at an international level, it wont be long before cyber warfare starts to a"ect the energy sector and infrastructure. !e time has come for utilities, power producers, state corporations and manufacturers to start asking themselves: Are we prepared?


“If your organisation is indeed a target of choice, understand as much as you can about what your opponent is likely to do and how far they are willing to go.”

“the cyber threat is serious, with potential consequences similar in some ways to the nuclear threat of the Cold War.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chris Hefferan is an expert contributor on the subject of International Politics. An MA graduate from Aberystwyth University,

Chris specializes in the relationships between technology and international politics.

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Welcome, Mr. Kumnoonsate, to the latest edition of Power Insider Asia. With the Thai government policy targeting a 25% increase toward the share of renewable energy and alternative energy within the next 10 years, can you explain to our readers what impact this is having, specifically toward your Hydropower Developments? !e !ai government have introduced policies focussing on renewable energy and alternative energy, not only to heavily reduce imported oil and gas but also help to diversify the supply of fuel in electricity production. !e Alternative Energy Development Plan 2012-2021 (AEDP) was established and has been applied for all energy sectors in !ailand. !is policy has obviously impacted EGAT’s Hydropower Development, as it is an imperative source of renewable

energy for EGAT. In the AEDP, the EGAT target for additional hydropower capacity is approximately 1,608 MW, consisting of 324 MW of small hydro developments and 1,284 MW of pump storage. At present, in cooperation with the Royal Irrigation Department, EGAT has six ongoing projects with a total installed capacity of 78.7 MW, three of which are currently under construction and three of which are under tendering process. Besides that, another twenty plants totalling 100 MW are planned for the near future. EGAT also have two pumped storage hydropower plants with a capacity of 1,284 MW, which comprises of the 500 MW Lam Ta Khong Jolapawattana Project phase 2 and the 784 MW Chulabhorn project. EGAT also plan to construct about 500 MW of pump storage, now in the feasibility study phase.

EGAT’s Power Plant Developments

AN INTERVIEW WITH: MR. SOONCHAI KUMNOONSATE, EGAT

With Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s subsidiary EGAT International (EGATi) recently confirming their involvement in the Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Project in Laos, can you give us an insight into how this and other similar International ventures are helping toward Thailand’s energy security? Currently, !ailand’s power system depends very much on natural gas, which contributed around 70% of total electricity generation in 2012. In order to avoid the risk of fuel shortage, fuel type diversi#cation and fuel source diversi#cation are proposed in !ailand’s energy policies to have more energy security for the country. !erefore, one alternative for !ailand is power purchase from neighboring countries. An additional challenge is that the new power generation projects in !ailand are limited and presented

PI Magazine always enjoys working with the Electricity Generating Authority of !ailand (EGAT) and hearing about their continual energy developments. We caught up with Mr. Soonchai Kumnoonsate, the Deputy Governor of EGAT, to hear about their latest plans, including the development of !ailand’s abundant hydropower potential, the $rst pumped storage hydro plant, and the replacement programs for retiring thermal plants.

INTERVIEW

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looking to develop other power plants in Myanmar and Laos to supplement demand?

Krabi Project is a very challenging project for EGAT. It will not, however, produce enough power to completely serve demand in the southern region of !ailand, which should have more power supply sources. Solutions to meet the increased power demand of southern region may be from the new 500 kV transmission lines to connect central region and southern region, as well as power imports from Malaysia. Power import from Laos is quite far from !ai’s southern power demand, but Laos’s power may come in to play in serving the north eastern region of !ailand. Mae Moh has a number of units due for retirement, we understand there are plans to replace units 4-7 with a new 600 MW plant. When is this expected to come online and will lignite be used as fuel again?

For the Mae Moh Power Plant Units 4-7 Replacement Project, now we are working on the EHIA approval process. If all goes to plan, the power plant could operate in January 2018. !e power plant will use lignite from existing Mae Moh Mine, and will be designed using new technology which has higher e%ciency, consume less fuel and reduce emissions, especially CO2.

What is EGAT’s forecasted energy mix for 2030?

At present the Power Development Plan (PDP) is under revision and we expect a new version to be issued around August 2013. !e new PDP will consider adjusting the energy mix using more renewable energy, less natural gas and increased purchase of electricity from neighbouring countries. !e new version will comply to the energy e%ciency plan that has been approved by the cabinet.

power system. As explained previously this is done by using the power left in the system during the o" peak period to pump the water stored in the upper reservoir, subsequently generating electricity in peak period. !is system has a great ability to quickly strengthen capacity in the power system during peak period. !e proportion of renewable energy has increased signi#cantly in !ailand, but supply can be uncertain with the $uctuating nature of wind and solar. If the renewable power plant can not generate energy, Lam Ta Khong can help the system immediately. !is plant is remarkable in terms of being the biggest and the #rst underground hydropower plant of !ailand.

Thailand is seeing huge growth in demand with EPPO’s PDP 2010 – 2030, aiming to add a phenomenal 55,130 MW during that period. What role does gas have to play for EGAT and what are the standout combined cycle projects in that period?

As you will see in the PDP 2010 Revision3, combined cycle power plants remain the major source of electricity. !ey will supply 44% of total installed capacity at the end of 2030. !e outstanding power plants in this period consist of Chana Combined Cycle Project Block 2 and Wang Noi Combined Cycle Project Block 4 due for completion in 2014, and also the North Bangkok Combined Cycle Block 2 which is due for completion in 2015. During the period 2020-2030, EGAT plans to replace a huge amount of retiring power plants. !ose plants include Bang Pakong Combined Cycle Replacement Project Block 1-6, South Bangkok Combined Cycle Replacement Project Block 1-4 and Wang Noi Combined Cycle Replacement Project Block 1-3.

When Chana Block 2 comes online in 2014, it will be a much needed boost to power output in Southern Thailand, but environmental opposition is a big challenge for proposed plants like Krabi. Are EGAT

DID YOU KNOW? Currently, Thailand’s power system depends heavily on natural gas, which contributed around 70% of total electricity generation in 2012.


with many obstacles in development, coal #red power plants in particular. We have to balance our power demand and supply by power purchasing from neighboring countries. Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Project is one of many projects in Laos that can help assist to ful#ll and strengthen !ailand’s energy security. On February 26, 2013, EGAT International has signed contract as a joint venture with a 30% shareholding with Kansai company (Japan), in a 45% shareholding and LHSE (Laos), 25% shareholding to develop Nam Ngiep 1 Hydropower Project in Laos. !is project will be completed in 2019. Power output will be 289 MW, of which 269 MW will be transmitted to !ailand and the remaining 20 MW will be used in Laos.

Can you tell us about the developments of Lam Ta Khong, Thailand’s first pumped storage hydro project?

!e Lam Ta Khong Jolapawattana Project has 2 phases, of which the #rst phase (units 1&2: 2 x 250 MW), was successfully completed in June 2004. !is hydropower plant contains reversible machines which, during o" peak periods, would utilize excess generating capacity in the system to pump about 3-3.5 MCM per day of water from the lower reservoir (Lam Ta Khong reservoir) to the upper reservoir. During peak periods, the operation would be reversed and the stored water would be run down for power generation. Phase 2 (units 3&4: 2 x 250 MW) was o%cially approved by the government on the 27th February 2013, and will hopefully be completed in 2017. !e schedule is consistent with the policy on the promotion of energy generation from renewable systems.

Can you explain some of the outstanding benefits of the Lam Ta Khong project?

!e main bene#ts of this project entail an obvious increase to the e%ciency of the country’s

INTERVIEW

PI


Early Stage: Finding the Right ProjectsA Power Project requires large investments at an early stage, with sensitive uncertainties on the CAPEX and #nal revenues. !is is particularly acute for hydropower projects with extensive investigations prior to construction and for which hydrology estimates are the keystone to assess the project attractiveness. Identifying the right projects is therefore critical to avoid wasting time and money. External expenses at an early stage tend to be avoided and internal assessment is often conducted. Di%culties then arise when the main focal was solely on the #nancial parameters. Hydropower projects are highly site speci#c and context should be carefully taken into account from the beginning of the selection process, not only by assuming a fair amount of contingencies (generally underestimated) but also by addressing the inherent development risks (technical, contractual, socio-environmental), thus involving broad international and local knowledge and expertise. In its assignment the Consultant should be able to fully understand the Client’s objectives and concerns in terms of strategy, the legal and #nancial aspects, as well as corporate policy and external communications. Close collaboration and exchanges between both parties is thus required. Having specialists, providing assistance to screening, projects review and service speci#cations, seconded and integrated into the investors Business Development Team can also be envisaged, thus drastically reducing the risk of unforeseen technical problems at an early stage, allowing a fruitful transfer of knowledge.

Mitigating the Risks in the Development Phase !e development phase shall not only aim at (1) optimizing the Project Layout to meet the sponsors objectives and constraints but also (2) carefully assessing the best alternatives to develop the projects in order to properly mitigate the identi#ed risks and minimize the consequences of unforeseen problems. !e Concession agreement, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and the Construction contract are the key elements that shall re$ect the adopted philosophy for the Conceding Authority, the O"-taker and the Sponsors respectively. !e hydropower sector can be considered a mature technology, but the way projects are implemented have sensitively evolved during the last 15 years, following energy sector deregulation and the increased involvement of private companies. From a Conceding Authority perspective, the private sector involvement in a project should be obviously minimized for critical projects with large uncertainties on the cost

and revenues, because such projects are unable to provide guarantees on the level of return. In other cases, the PPP scheme shall be carefully addressed based not only on government objectives and private sector maturity but also on speci#c technical issues, as the same standard BOT scheme for every single project may not be adapted. For example, in the case of Inga 3 HPP project in Democratic Republic of the Congo, a consortium of Consultants was involved from the early stage of the project to assist the government of Congo to de#ne the right development scheme (Equity Financing, BOOT conditions, developers selection process, etc.) until the Concession award. !e government of Ethiopia has also recently shown that the traditional way of developing hydro power projects, requiring generally at least 5-10 years of preparation, could be questioned. By selecting a strategic partner involved in the early stage of the project and starting the project implementation before #nancial closure, the government of Ethiopia has proven that strong dedication and willingness could lead to drastic time reduction in the implementation; less than one year was required to start Gilgel Gibe II, Beles, Gibe III and the Grand Renaissance mega projects (9,000 MW in total). !e Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is also part of the documents de#ning the project risks allocation, therefore the project development philosophy. !e di"erent O"-takers worldwide have adopted a wide range of approaches to manage construction costs and hydrology uncertainties: from capacity payment (India), shared risks mechanism (Brazil) to full developer responsibility (!ailand). !ose mechanisms (quality of energy, capacity vs. energy, penalties, deference, and sovereign guarantee) will be well understood by the Sponsors and therefore the Consultant to develop the Project to its optimum con#guration. !e question of the construction contract type (BoQ, EPC, EPCM, Design & Build, FIDIC silver/yellow) has also entailed extensive and recurrent discussions. Evolving from full turnkey contract with all risks born by the EPC contractor, recent developments have shown that, even for relatively modest projects, geological risks shall be, for example, as much as possible addressed by de#ning (1) normal variations and exceptional events, (2) risks allocation (Owner or Contractor) and (3) potential cost and duration variation consequences. !e integration of a Geological Base Report in the Contract, such as the one used in the 1,000 MW Tehri Pump Storage Plant (India) contract, has become a standard good practice.

Implementation: What Makes a Success?!e reason for the failure of a project is usually rooted in the planning. !e success of a Project is to be seen as the success of all stakeholders and not of one against the others. During the construction, this ‘same boat’ concept shall favor a ‘solution #nding’ attitude using Value Engineering and an open mind approach under the contract provisions. Too often, time and e"orts is spent to #nding the responsibility instead of solving the relevant issues to the interests of all parties: stay lucid when serious di%culties arise and evaluate them with fairness. !e role of the respective parties Engineering Consultant (OE, lenders, EPC) is generally instrumental in those discussions. With the increase in project size, the large worldwide demand and o"ers from relatively new comers in the market (India, China, Argentina), the question of the supplier control has also raised increased concerns. Traditional regular ‘Shop Inspections’, generally performed monthly or bi-monthly, have revealed to be largely insu%cient for the owner when supplier track records do not provide enough guarantees. In such case, a fully dedicated QA/QC team shall be envisaged. A sound approach is the one adopted for the Jirau Project (3750 MW, Brazil) with a full dedicated team of specialists located directly in the supplier factory in China.

Operation & Maintenance: Not to be Neglected!During the design stage, O&M aspects are unfortunately often neglected. One of the primary reasons is the separation between the team involved in the Development, the Construction and the Operation (di"erent department for the investors, end of the Owner’s Engineering assignment). Taking careful considerations of the O&M aspects is therefore a serious concern during design stage. As the design relies on the Engineer, it should have the experience and knowledge of sound operation and maintenance aspects.

Choose Experts find PartnersA ‘Partner’ Engineer Consultant may be a key asset for the successful Development of an Hydropower Project. To play such role, the Consultant should demonstrate: A solid track record in providing services throughout the

entire life cycle of a project (from initial projects screening to operation and rehabilitation) and with the different parties generally involved in project implementation (Authorities, Contractors, Lenders and Investors). Experience as advisor to project development; Ability to blend with ‘Client’s’ vision and team; The capability to respond quickly to Client’s needs (local presence) The capability to help clients meet their operation and

business objectives in terms of sustainability, profitability, reliability and safety.

CASE STUDY: THE ENGINEERING CONSULTANT

QA/QC - Bulb Turbines - Factory (China) Jirau HPP Project (Brazil)

Construction Ceremony - Gibe III (Ethiopia)

Theun Hinboun Expansion Project (Laos)

PI

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Pub 06 13 pour Thailand b:Mise en page 1 10/06/13 9:44 Page 1


Detect Non-Revenue WaterOne of the most frustrating issues for water utilities are insidious distribution system leaks. While many leaks eventually become visible and can be addressed as they are discovered, a large percentage remain underground and can continue to literally bleed money into the ground over many years. In Asia, this non-revenue water (NRW) typically runs from 5% - 65%, while the global average is 34%. !at is a lot of revenue that is quite literally going down the drain, and is lost to the utility even after they have expended resources to treat, transport, and deliver it. One approach to solving this problem using data already available within the utility is District Metering Analysis (DMA). Using granular hourly, time-synchronized data provided by the utility’s chosen data source, new analytic software packages can compare the total amount of water pumped-in to a pressure zone or district (through a ‘master meter’) to the simultaneous total aggregated amount of water metered out of the pressure zone or district (through the aggregated “district”). See Figure 1 below.

In theory, water pumped-in to the district should be exactly equal to water metered-out. Any di"erence between the two as detected by the Water Data Analytics package is NRW. !e analysis can be conducted by comparing these two measurements in an analytic tool to visualize the di"erence. In Figure 2 below, the red line is indicative of water metered-in to a speci#c zone, and the yellow line is indicative of the aggregated water metered-out in the same time frame in the same zone. !e blue line is the di"erence, and is an indication of total NRW in this zone. By conducting this analysis across many zones in the distribution network, a water utility not only gains awareness of how bad the problem is across their entire distribution network, but can also prioritize the worst areas to address #rst with a leak detection strategy.

Forecast and Meet Increasing DemandAs populations expand, urban areas grow, and demand for clean fresh water continues to increase, enormous strain is placed upon the existing water distribution infrastructure, and capital investment must be made to keep up with demand. But where to invest? One way is to use capital planning tools such as software, but these can be expensive and complex. A simpler analysis using available data obtained through various data systems is a straight-forward linear regression using a data analytic tool or even an ordinary spreadsheet on a zone-by-zone basis using the same zones from DMA above. As data is accumulated over time, it can be compiled and visualized in a data analysis tool (see Figure 3 below). Once a su%cient sample set of data is compiled for a speci#c zone, it can be visualized and used to forecast future demand based on past growth trends using linear regression analysis.

Once the analysis is conducted for each zone, a clear picture emerges where growth is happening, (and where it is not), what shifts in population may be occurring, and ultimately yields an overall demographic image of where capital could best be invested using quite simple data visualization techniques.

Customer Satisfaction & Revenue ProtectionIt’s a fact: happy customers pay their bills, and unhappy ones do not. Building trust and credibility with customers is crucial to a steady and reliable revenue stream. And it is this revenue stream which is paramount to satisfying the issues identi#ed above. Many of today’s Customer Information Systems (CIS’s) generate bills from data collected by AMR/AMI systems, but o"er little additional insight when customers call in to complain about what they perceive as a high bill. Customer Service Representatives (CSR’s) have precious few tools in the bag to respond with meaningful information when these inquiries come in. For this reason, many utilities are turning to a data analytics package that gives CSR’s access to better, more detailed information about the customer’s consumption patterns over the period of time in question (see Figure 4.)

Now, using these tools, the CSR not only has access to the most current register reads available in the system, but a wealth of other relevant information including daily and even hourly consumption, minimum, maximum, and average usage over the billing period, environmental data such as temperature and average rainfall, as well as geographic mapping data that o"ers context about the particular customer including whether they are in an urban or rural setting, have a large or small lawn, or own a swimming pool.

Make Data Work For YouWater utilities across Asia face sizeable hurdles including signi$cant non-revenue water, an ever-expanding demand for fresh water, and continuing challenges in timely revenue collection. Many utilities are turning to Water Data Analytics (WDA) to get out in front of these issues by transforming data into actionable knowledge to solve these problems. By leveraging raw data delivered by a variety of databases already installed at the utility, innovative solutions can be developed to pinpoint the problems and quickly resolve the issues.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

CASESTUDY

TEXT BRIAN FLUT


Can you provide us with a brief outline of your operations in the smart water metering business throughout Asia? Itron is a global technology company that builds solutions to help utilities measure, manage and analyze energy and water. We provide end-to-end metering solutions and our smart water metering business has a strong presence across Asia including China, India, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, !ailand, Singapore and Vietnam. We have three main manufacturing locations in India, Indonesia and China.

What are the most successful projects you have been involved in recently? We have had signi#cant success in Asia. In partnership with Itron, Water Corporation in Australia started to deploy Itron’s Fixed Wireless Network Collection system as part of the Kalgoorlie Smart Metering Trial in Western Australia. At the end of the two-year trial, which concluded recently, water supply to the region decreased by 10%. We also recently deployed a combination of 25,000 smart water, heat, and gas meters and communication modules as well as its #xed network for Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City in Tianjin, China. !e comprehensive solution measures, collects and analyzes data from water, heat and gas meters. In India, we were recently awarded an automated meter reading (AMR) solution project by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to reduce losses of treated water and ensure continuity of service.

!is is DJB’s #rst domestic AMR project in New Delhi and, when completed, will be one of Asia’s largest mobile AMR deployments. What are the key elements of a successful smart water metering project?

Smart metering is an enabler for the utility to achieve their objectives, and change is necessary to achieve these objectives. First of all, the water utility has to commit to integrate smart water metering and its data with their systems and processes. Good planning has to be implemented. !is creates natural drive, accountability and urgency to implement and maintain a smart water metering system. Before implementation, the utility should also gain buy-in from all internal users (not just the project team and management) of the system and involve them in the planning phase. Good project planning, management

and an implementation team with clear objectives, roles and responsibilities is essential. Both the utility and their service providers need to be actively involved. !e utility should also ensure that tools and systems are in place to take advantage of smart metering data and that the utility is actively using them. Lastly, utilities should select smart metering technology vendors that can demonstrate the robustness, predictable life-time, data availability and quality of their solutions.

Figure 5.

All of this additional information gives the CSR the information they need to quickly spot the high-consumption period(s) in question, and share this information with the customer. Indeed, many systems today o"er the ability for the CSR to take a snapshot of what they are seeing and email it directly to the customer, as well as a Customer Web Portal which allows utility customers to log-on directly to the system and observe their own consumption patterns for themselves (see Figure 5).

Not only do these web portals allow customers to answer their own questions about their consumption patterns, but many of them also allow customers to set consumption goals for themselves, and be noti#ed as these goals are approached or exceeded. Another trend in web portals is the use of games which allows community groups to compete against each other to reach speci#c consumption or conservation goals. Use of a customer web portal is central to this approach.

Summary!ere is no doubt water utilities are facing challenging issues that include non-revenue water, increasing demand, and timely revenue collection. !e good news is there are new and a"ordable Water Data Analytics tools that have emerged in the market place that transition data into actionable knowledge to allow water utilities the ability to quickly and accurately address these issues in an ongoing and sustainable fashion.

About the author: Brian Fiut is a senior product manager with Itron Inc. and is responsible for the ChoiceConnect™ 100 Fixed Network solution. He has over 25 years experience working in the communications and utility industries.

INTERVIEW WITH: DOMINIQUE LEROUGE, VICE-PRESIDENT, WATER & HEAT, ASIA PACIFIC, ITRON

GET INVOLVED Do you use Water Data Analytics? What are your thoughts? tweet us @pimagazineasia

CASE STUDY: MAKE DATA WORK FOR YOU

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Only Itron.Water is precious. At Itron it’s our mission to give you thecustomized tools, expertise, and actionable data to prevent lossesand increase operational effi ciency–creating satisfi ed consumersand facilitating greater access to clean water around the world.

Only Itron has the complete breadth of talent and technology thatcan help you manage and protect our most valuable resource,now and well into the future.

Find solutions as unique as you are. itron.com

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: ITRON METERING SYSTEMS SINGAPORE PTE LTD

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PHONE: +65 6736 7060 WWW.ITRON.COM

PI


Mr. Chong Hou Chun, thank you for speaking with us today. Can you tell us about the water supply system in Singapore, and the role technology plays in managing it? How well has this worked for Singapore so far? PUB relies on a gravity-driven system to generate the necessary pressure to deliver water to consumers. In this system, PUB employs a system of Service Reservoirs (SRs), which stores treated water from the waterworks atop natural high terrain such as hill tops, or in elevated tanks. !e SRs are sized to ensure a bu"er supply stock, in case of any supply disruption upstream to the SRs, and also to help regulate the supply of water to customers. In certain instances, the pressure of water supplied to customers located at high grounds is augmented by boosting stations. Our water network is also designed in loops built with alternate feeds to ensure that an alternate stream can be tapped on for supply if a source is not available. !us, the loop system, together with water storage tanks at the customers’ end, helps ensure a reliable water supply network. Today, we have developed a highly reliable network of 5,400 km of pipelines serving a population of #ve million. PUB has been perennially conscious of the need to manage the water supply network e%ciently and account for the amount of water distributed through the network. Over the years, with a system

planning approach, close inter-department coordination, and the use of advanced technology, PUB has created sustainable work processes which in turn enable Singapore to achieve a Unaccounted-for-Water (UWF) rate of about 5% today, one of the lowest in the world. What measures and metering practices do PUB have in place to address Non-Revenued-Water losses? PUB has an Integrated Water Network Management which comprises both the ‘hardware’ and the ‘software’ necessary to ensure the integrity of the water supply network and address non-revenued water losses. ‘Hardware’ refers to the technical and legislative aspects of network management; ‘software’ refers to close partnerships with stakeholders to ensure quick resolutions to any de#ciencies in the network. !e key components of the Integrated Water Network Management System are categorized as the following:

Good quality network and efficient management.PUB uses good quality and corrosion-resistant materials for pipelines (cement lined steel/ductile iron pipes and #ttings) and ensures that newly-laid pipelines are watertight during pipe-laying work. In addition, PUB implemented the Mains Replacement Program to replace all unlined cast

iron pipelines and galvanized iron connecting pipes in the water distribution system with cement mortar-lined ductile iron pipelines and stainless steel or copper connecting pipes. !e bulk of the asbestos cement (AC) pipelines have also been replaced. Moreover, to further enhance the performance of the transmission and distribution network, PUB also constantly identi#es leak-prone water mains for replacement /rehabilitation under the Mains Renewal Program. !ese programs have been e"ective in reducing the number of leaks in the transmission and distribution system. Active leakage controlsA dynamic leak detection program is carried out for all mains in the system throughout the year. !e objective of the program is to minimize the occurrences of leaks through annual checks on the mains of the entire network, with leak-prone areas checked two or even three times a year. To operationalise this, the entire transmission and distribution network is divided into 112 regions, and further divided into 2 to 5 sub-regions, amounting to a total of 312 sub-regions, where leak noise loggers and other detection equipment are used to pinpoint any leak position. Apart from the dynamic leak detection program, PUB also monitors the dry weather $ow in the drains/canals and waterways to spot tell-tale signs of underground water leaks. During dry spells, there should be

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW WITH: MR. CHONG HOU CHUN, PUB

Planning, Checking, Maintaining: PUB’s Efforts to Secure Supply

Ensuring a secure supply of fresh water is a dilemma faced by many growing Asian nations, and Singapore’s National Water Agency has implemented rigorous measures to ensure they can ful$ll demand. !e e#orts of PUB have contributed almost exclusively to the nation’s water success. We asked Mr. Chong Hou Chun, PUB’s Director for Water Supply Network, to tell us a bit more about PUB’s water technology, metering practices and future plans.

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Thi

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Only Itron.Water is precious. At Itron it’s our mission to give you thecustomized tools, expertise, and actionable data to prevent lossesand increase operational effi ciency–creating satisfi ed consumersand facilitating greater access to clean water around the world.

Only Itron has the complete breadth of talent and technology thatcan help you manage and protect our most valuable resource,now and well into the future.

Find solutions as unique as you are. itron.com

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little or no water $ow in the drains/canals and waterways. Substantive water $ow in these waterways may indicate possible leaks in the underground water mains in the vicinity, where water #nds its way to the drains/canals and waterways. Excess in$ux of water into the underground sewerage system may be another tell-tale sign, hence inter-departmental coordination amongst the water supply, water reclamation and drainage departments is important to maximize the e"ort to detect underground water leaks. !e dynamic leak detection program was intensi#ed in 1990, and has contributed signi#cantly to keeping underground leakage to a very low level. Accurate metering practicesSingapore’s entire water supply system - from waterworks to customer premises - is 100% metered. !e accuracy of meters is important as any error in registering would a"ect the water balance account. PUB operates a workshop for maintaining and testing water meters. Since 1985, the in-service testing of meters has been carried out periodically to check for their accuracy. A random selection of meters according to model, size, period in service and location are returned to the meter workshop for accuracy testing. !e results obtained are useful in checking the e"ectiveness of particular meter models and deciding on the replacement or bulk-changing intervals and frequencies. In addition, a dynamic meter replacement program ensures that meters in domestic premises are replaced when the meters are more than 15 years old. For large non-domestic customers, their meters are replaced every 2-7 years; for customers that have very high water consumption such as re#neries and wafer fabrication plants, the meters are replaced at least bi-annually. A computerized billing system incorporating a check program called Investigation & Report system (I&R) is used to verify readings taken o" meters. Any abnormally high or low consumption is automatically detected by the computer during

the billing process and singled out for further investigation. !is enables defective meters and leaks in the customers’ reticulation systems to be identi#ed and recti#ed early. Strict legislation on illegal draw-offs & minimizing damages to pipelines!e low incidence of illegal or unauthorized siphoning in Singapore can be attributed to the deterrent legislation and stringent enforcement. Anyone found responsible for carrying out an illegal or unauthorized siphoning can be #ned under the Public Utilities Act or imprisonment or both. To prevent the damage of water mains, the Public Utilities Act issues sti" penalties for failing to ascertain the location of water mains before excavation work. Anyone who fails to ascertain the location of water mains prior to excavation work or found damaging our water mains can be #ned under the Public Utilities Act or imprisonment or both.Customer relationship managementIt is essential to enlist public co-operation in the reporting of leaks, as the extent of water loss from a leaking main is contingent on the length of time between the occurrence of the leak and the isolation of its location. PUB manages all feedback from customers, including water, drainage and sewerage issues, through its one-stop PUB 24-Hr Call Centre. Based on the nature of feedback, the call centre allocates cases to the di"erent response centers. In particular, water-related issues are sent to the Water Services and Operations Centre (WSOC) which operates 24 hours, 7 days a week. !e WSOC maintains a crew of o%cers and service vans to respond promptly to any water-related cases, especially for leakages. Customers can contact the PUB 24-Hr Call Centre by telephone, fax, emails, SMS, web-chat and voice-over-IP. !e centre is also equipped with modern data recording and retrieval systems, CINDY (Central Information And Data System) and a communication system.

PUB has also expanded its engagement platform to include mobile applications, so as to o"er an additional avenue for the tech-savvy public to provide immediate and prompt feedback on issues and problems such as major pipe leaks. What specific tools is PUB looking toward implementing to ensure continual operational success and functionality throughout the entire water Network? Smart Water GridPUB is developing a Smart Water Grid for the real-time acquisition of hydraulic and water quality information with monitoring and modeling applications. Together with research institutes, MIT-Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM) and Sandia National Laboratories, PUB is looking at the island-wide deployment of water quality, pressure, and $ow sensors to monitor the quality of potable water and pressure within the water distribution network. !ese sensors, together with analytic algorithms to detect changes in water quality and system pressure, will help us to support operational decisions to ensure water quality and enhanced leak detection. In the future, the data from the pressure and $ow sensors can also be used together with the automated meter readings (AMR) to develop a more comprehensive method of detecting leaks, in the manner of a “virtual DMA”. Instead of leak detection conducted at routine intervals, the comparison of aggregated consumption with actual $ow in the network can identify the area of potential leaks at the macro level. !is can be supplemented by pressure sensors within the network to cross-check possible leak locations, before deploying leak detection teams to identify the exact location of out$ows through the use of leak-noise localizing techniques. Such DMAs need not be con#ned zones, as boundary $ow meters can be installed to track the $ow in or out from a “virtual DMA”, thereby alleviating the drawback of compromising supply reliability with con#ned supply zones.

Automated Meter Reading (AMR)PUB has been keeping abreast of technological advances in the #eld of meter reading, one of which is automated meter reading. !is technology allows us to save on the hassle and expense of regular trips to each physical location to read a meter. An additional advantage is that billing can be based on near real-time consumption rather than on estimates based on previous or predicted consumption. PUB is carrying out small-scale pilot projects to evaluate the technical feasibility of implementing AMR systems under local conditions. !e pilots involve 2 AMR systems to read a total of 445 meters located in 2 high-rise residential estates and 1 low-rise industrial estate. Preliminary #ndings show that the cost of AMR is still high and we will continue to explore more cost e"ective systems.


INTERVIEW

PI


CASESTUDY

Arjang Alidai MSc. and Daniel Rudolph MSc., a Hydraulic Engineer and Manager respectively at Deltares, help explain why performing water hammer analysis at desalination plants is so critical

The Water Hammer Phenomena

he importance of high quality drinking water for public health and production processes makes water treatment and desalination plants crucial infrastructure

elements. Due to stressed groundwater resources and a growing demand, the dimensions of water treatment and desalination plants are constantly increasing. Hence, careful planning is necessary to design #t for purpose plants. Water treatment in desalination plants takes place in several sequential stages. In each stage, the quality of water is improved and then water is transferred to a next stage. Each stage consists of several hydraulic systems which are connected to the systems of prior and post stages. In order to ensure a safe and e%cient operation of the systems, it is necessary to carry out a hydraulic investigation. !is investigation assesses the hydraulic capacity of the systems, determines the settings for their operation and leads to optimizations which decrease the operational risks due to transient events and increase the e%ciency of the plant. Often, the hydraulic study is limited to a simple steady state investigation where

main hydraulic aspects of the systems such as capacity and component performance are examined. However, dynamic behaviour of the systems resulting from transient events such as start up, shut down, pump trip and valve closure etc. is often not investigated in detail. !ese events determine the maximum and minimum pressures. !ey can put a serious threat to a safe and reliable system operation and hamper the e%ciency of the plant. !erefore, it is vital to perform a surge analysis in addition to the normal steady state hydraulic investigation. In the following, a brief explanation about the hydraulic systems in a sea water desalination plant is given. Moreover, the method with which a surge analysis can be carried out is explained. Finally, the importance of performing a surge study is elaborated through a case study.

Sea Water Desalination PlantAccording to recent statistics (IDA Desalination Yearbook, 2011), most of the feed water is obtained from seawater (60%) followed by brackish (22%) and river water (8%). !e worldwide installed capacity already exceeds 65 million m3 per day. Most common technologies are Reverse Osmosis

T DEFINITION

Water Hammer:Water hammer (or, more generally, fluid hammer) is a pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid (usually a liquid but sometimes also a gas) in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly (momentum change). Water hammer commonly occurs when a valve closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system, and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe. It is also called hydraulic shock. This pressure wave can cause major problems, from noise and vibration to pipe collapse.


(RO, 60%), multi-stage $ash (MSF, 27%) and Multi-E"ect Distillation (MED 8%). In this article, we are focussing on SWRO (Sea Water Reverse Osmosis), although similar hydraulic studies need to be conducted for all technologies. !e #rst screening is done in the intake structure by the trash racks and the travelling water screens. After that, the water is pumped into the pre-treatment system in order to remove the un-dissolved particles from the water. !is improves the water quality and avoids an excessive fouling of the SWRO membranes in the later stages, which results in a more sustainable system. !e brackish water from SWRO is puri#ed further in a Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) #ltration system. Depending on the initial quality of water, mineralizing or de-mineralizing of water takes place in post treatment stages. Finally, water is transferred directly to the consumer network or stored in storage tanks. In all of these stages, hydraulic components such as pipes, pumps and valves are deployed to transfer water through the treatment process. !ese components are chosen in the design phase of the plant so that they meet the capacity requirement of the plant. However, special attention should be paid to the e"ects of these components on the dynamic behaviour of the system. For example, a fast closure of a valve might lead to excessive pressures which damage the pipeline. On the other hand, a slow closure of the valve might result in large losses in the product water and consequently hinder the e%ciency of the plant. !erefore, a proper surge analysis is required to obtain a good understanding of the dynamic behaviour of the systems. !is provides a guideline for operation of the hydraulic components. !e surge analysis starts with building a numerical model of the hydraulic system, and all relevant hydraulic components should be included. After creating the model, numerical simulations should be performed to assess at #rst the steady state behaviour for all extreme operating conditions. After the completion of the steady state analysis, the dynamic behaviour of the system has to be analysed. !is requires a robust and validated numerical program which is able to compute cavitation accurately, allows to model control systems, and which includes considerable amount of components for performing the simulations. For this purpose, the water hammer program Wanda (Deltares in-house program) can be deployed.

After carrying out the numerical simulations by a water hammer program, the results have to be analysed, critical events should be identi#ed and proper measures should be taken. It has to be noted that maximum $ow rate is not always decisive for the design, especially if control systems are implemented. In some cases, it is even necessary to make small but crucial changes to the initial design of the plant in order to ensure the safety of the system against the adverse e"ects of the water hammer phenomena.

Ashdod Desalination Pant Case StudyHere, the surge analysis of the pre-treatment system of the Ashdod desalination plant is brie$y explained and the bene#ts obtained from the study are presented. !e Ashdod Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant will be located in the northern industrial zone of Ashdod, Israel. Its maximum production capacity will be 16,000 m3/h (384,000 m3/day, if 24 hours operation is considered). !e seawater is drawn by the intake system located o"shore and is transferred to the plant by a 2 km pipe. !e seawater is pumped through the disc #lters and UF modules (2 separate lines, each consisting of 25 Pentair skids) and then $ows to the SWRO unit for further puri#cation. An extensive hydraulic study was performed to ensure that the transient events do not cause adverse hydraulic e"ects in the pre-treatment system. Figure 2 shows the schematic view of the hydraulic model that was built for the Ashdod pre-treatment system. !e model included all relevant hydraulic components such as valves, pipes, and pumps. !e upstream boundary of

the model was the seawater tank as the start point of the plant and the downstream boundary was the storage tanks. Since the study focussed on the pre-treatment system, the SWRO model was simpli#ed by using a representative model which included all transient characteristics of the SWRO unit (i.e., the pressure wave travel time and the water hammer storage). Critical transient cases with regards to minimum and maximum pressure, velocity, energy consumption and water production were considered. !ese cases covered transient eventssuch as power failure, start-up, shut down, unintentional valve closure, etc. !e study showed that for some of these cases, the acceptance criteria de#ned by the manufacture of the Ultra Filtration unit were not met and therefore, the system was potentially in danger. For example, in case of power failure the pressure in the highest located UF module dropped to the cavitation pressure which might lead to a massive #bre breakage of UF modules, so preventive measures were taken to avoid large negative pressure. !e backpressure on modules was increased by increasing the height of the siphon to the concentrate tank. It was crucial to keep the height of the siphon as low as possible, since higher siphon required more pressure (and higher power consumption) by the backwash pump. !e minimum required height of the siphon was determined such that in combination with a surge vessel, no signi#cant negative pressure was observed due to the power failure. !erefore, the initial design of the system was optimised in a way that the system operated safely and optimally.

ConclusionIn order to ensure a safe and e%cient operation of hydraulic systems (e.g. pre-treatment or Reverse Osmosis) in a desalination plant, the dynamic behaviour of the system should be realised. !is can be done by performing a transient hydraulic investigation. To do so, a robust and validated water hammer program, which can compute the properties of all relevant hydraulic components in a plant (e.g. UF modules, pipes, valves and pumps) correctly, is required. After performing numerical simulations for critical transient events, the result obtained from water hammer program should be analysed and proper modi#cations should be implemented to the initial design of the system. !e early recognition of the adverse e"ects of water hammer phenomena and improving the design of the system to diminish these e"ects can save large amount of maintenance costs and increase the e%ciency of the plant.

Figure 2: Schematic view of hydraulic model for pre-treatment system of Ashdod desalination plant.

“According to recent statistics (IDA Desalination Yearbook, 2011), most of the feed water is obtained from seawater (60%) followed by brackish (22%) and river water (8%).”

CASE STUDY: THE WATER HAMMER PHENOMENA

PI

WANDA: a powerful and user-friendly hydraulic so!ware

WANDA is a powerful and user friendly software tool for the analysis of fast transients in pipeline systems. WANDA has unique functionality and application areas.

Main features:

www.deltares.nl | [email protected] | +31 (0)88 335 8188

Wanda is used to analyse:

Plant D

Plant C

Plant BPlant A

DN600

DN400B

DN800

DN1000C

DN1400B

DN400A

DN1400A

DN1000B

DN1000A

P7907

P7906

P7905

P7904

P7903

KW7-2KW7-1

KW1

KW7

Welcome Mr. Rajan to the latest edition of Power Insider. Can you start by giving a brief outline of W.O.G Group’s current activities in South East Asia?

W.O.G has been awarded a Waste Water Recycle/Reuse Project by the Phuket Municipality, !ailand, last year to increase municipal water supply in Phuket. !rough this project, treated sewage is further treated to ensure tap water quality. When completed, the plant is expected to produce 20,000 cubic meters+ of ‘high-quality’ water for the municipality. !e plant will treat wastewater to the same quality as the water supplied by the Provincial Water Authority (PWA). !e company is committed to serve the Municipality for 30 years. By recognizing its innovative solutions, W.O.G Group is in the process of concluding a project with a Semi-Govt-local industrial partnership to build a full scale plant based on Anaerobic MBR in a petrochemical complex at 150,000 ppm of COD in Jurong Industrial area, which will be a unique plant in itself. One of W.O.G’s major installations includes ETP for Indorama Ventures, !ailand, where a hybrid digester has been installed for treating an additional 17 tonnes of COD. !is allowed the company to handle additional wastewater quantities and high strength organic

loads generated in their premises. SR- 5 membranes are used in this project in place of a #xed roof for the digester. !ese membranes are highly robust and are being rolled out in W.O.G’s own fabrication shop in Florida. With this, not only are the organics polished to the tune of 77%, but a substantial amount of biogas is generated with the high methane contents being used as an alternate fuel in the industry. W.O.G will be treating waste water with the characteristics of 6% Oil, 15 – 20% Fibers and 2 – 3% Solids Consistency from EFB juice as per Malaysian discharge standards, and will be producing energy in the form of methane rich Biogas with the potential to cut down fuel consumption by upto 70%. An in-house process adopted by W.O.G is quite robust to bring all advantages together for customers, such as state of the art consistent treatment, space savings, lower OPEX, no hazardous chemicals, and eco-friendly features. W.O.G has also been selected to provide a Waste-to-Energy solution by a poultry facility, through which 100 tons of chicken dung will be converted to 1.1 MW of electricity, which will be supplied to the grid. In addition, substantial amounts of fertilizer will be produced to be used for agricultural purposes. W.O.G has also recently commissioned an industrial waste water recycle/reuse project in !ailand where 90% of its wastewater is being recycled and partly used in the boilers.

Encouraging Quality, Minimizing Waste: The W.O.G Group in Southeast Asia

AN INTERVIEW WITH: MR. SUNIL RAJAN, W.O.G GROUP

Power Insider Asia was lucky enough to talk to Mr. Sunil Rajan, CEO of the W.O.G Group. !e company is committed to the South East Asian Water Treatment and Waste water treatment markets, and have done some great work there to improve the quality of wastewater and e%uent treatment. Mr. Rajan gives us an overview of the W.O.G Group’s work in the region.


INTERVIEW

Your offerings toward management of water, wastewater services and renewable energy generation for industrial and municipal users are vast. Can you highlight examples of where and how W.O.G Group’s technological solutions and ability to build such facilities has been implemented?

Apart from instances cited, above W.O.G has a vast and dynamic experience in treating & managing water as per local prevailing standards and customer’s/industry’s objectives. W.O.G became the trendsetter in water resource management through a 5.5 MLD E(uent treatment plant with recycle/reuse commissioned for Yunus Textile Mill in Pakistan in 2012. It is the #rst of its kind in e(uent recycling, with the most advanced technologies in industrial waste water treatment based on Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) technology and low fouling Reverse Osmosis. For this reason, the project has set the benchmark for all future developments in textile e(uent treatment, not only in Pakistan but in other textile clusters around the world. W.O.G is committed to the another project in India for a Drinking Water Treatment Plant with a capacity of 5.76 MLD, including O&M at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Mathura Re#nery Township. W.O.G operations meet all the quality standards of residential water treatment in this plant. W.O.G has been treating waste water from various industrial sources as per local government discharge norms: 1. W.O.G’s E(uent Treatment Plant (ETP) for a soft drinks company in Venezuela, completed in compliance with local discharge norms,

2. Several projects in series for UB/King#sher Group with recycling and reuse of 85% of their wastewater with full compliance of discharge standards,

3. WWTP commissioned for Coca-Cola as per discharge norms,

4. E(uent Treatment Plant for other Breweries industries as per local discharge norms,

5. Waste water treatment projects for a Distillery in the region where W.O.G treats the most stringent molasses based distillery e(uent as per local’s discharge norms.

How are your technologies and services applied to optimize the performance of your clients’ water/waste water related processes?

At W.O.G, technologies and services are proposed only after careful analysis and studying existing practices of clients, for instance:

1. W.O.G has given consultation to one of the largest quality producers of Furfural and Furfural Alcohol from Corn Cobs to improve the performance of existing ETP drastically, and is now working as per

required standards. !e consultation also resulted in su%cient biogas generation, from practically no generation previously. With this, the industry is now saving substantially.

2. Lucky Textile Mill is saving 3.2 Tons/day sulphuric acid after installing W.O.G $ue gas based smoke neutralization system.

3. Yunus Textile Mill is recycling more than 94% treated waste water from a W.O.G treatment plant directly into processes, resulting in less raw water costs. From generating high amounts of waste water and purchasing raw water for processes from outside the mill, the company can now treat more than twice the e(uent using existing structures. Also, no chemical sludge/chemical hazards are generated due to our proposed biological treatment process.

4. Phuket Municipality, !ailand: the Waste water recycle/reuse project for Aurus are show cases for minimizing disposal of waste water in the environment. After the treatment by W.O.G installed plants, these industries are able to recycle/reuse the treated water in their processes leading to minimized waste water disposal. In brief, W.O.G not only provides the end to end solution for its customers but also takes care of their future needs and prospects, and continues to provide them with the best solutions to bring revenue and lower operating costs.

Can you give a synopsis of your various membrane types and combinations with conventional cleaning processes, and other treatment phases to meet specific and individual requirements?

W.O.G has vast experience in treating various stringent industrial e(uents including PTA, brewery, molasses based distillery, textile e(uents, and tannery e(uents along with treating raw river and sea water. Treatment phases of every treatment plant are customized and decided after considering the customer’s objectives and local standards. In the Yunus Textile Mill, we have replaced the conventional system with MBR followed by a reverse osmosis system. !is has enabled them to save money on the chemicals that they have been buying for the treatment, besides treating three times the $ow biologically. For treating molasses based distillery e(uent, we proposed two-stage anaerobic treatment followed by activated sludge treatment & physio-chemical treatment. !is will result in:

1. Reduced power consumption, as there is no requirement for aeration in anaerobic treatment.

2. Less sludge generation as COD converts to biogas by anaerobic treatment.

3. Methane rich biogas production, which can be utilized as source of energy or as fuel

to boilers. For treating EFB juice e(uent, the solution we proposed was a two stage anaerobic treatment followed by an MBR system. WTP installation by W.O.G for the UB Group improved the e%ciency in their production.

So, it’s about all of those things and more that W.O.G is doing which satisfy customer requirements with a combination of technologies.

In terms of your Pre-Treatment offerings, how do you ensure that selection methods for feed waters improve the system by preventing or minimizing bio fouling, scaling and membrane plugging?

W.O.G o"ers pilot and demonstration units for membrane treatment where preliminary studies are conducted on waste water samples taken from client facilities. !ese units can be leased to client for a predetermined time period and are used to evaluate feasibility, cost, and adverse e"ects, which help us to design appropriate pre-treatment processes prior to giving suggestions. !is ensures performance of full-scale projects. W.O.G’s proven track record on handling various type of e(uents from industry shows that we take care to ensure that the right $ux rate, con#guration, $ushing’s, and selection of chemicals for e"ective cleanings are implemented. W.O.G has its own rich features in design that ensures a longer run length of the membrane systems, minimizes cleanings, has e"ective forward/backwashing and recirculation of wastewater enhancing recovery.

What new technologies can we expect to see available from W.O.G Group in the near future?

Since its formation, W.O.G has been continuously striving to develop innovative technologies that have supported sustainable growth of societies and maintain ecological balance. !e long-term strategic goals of the company are aligned with the future needs of the worldwide communities. With this global view, the company has focussed on advanced and e%cient technologies like Anaerobic MBR Systems, Forward Osmosis Systems, improved Reverse Osmosis linked with recycle/reuse and zero liquid discharge, Improved Activated Sludge Process, Membrane Bio Reactors, Media Filtration for Metal Removal, Waste (Biomass) to Electricity and Alcohols.


ABOUT THE W.O.G GROUP

W.O.G has its head quarters in Florida, USA, and is targeting 22 countries currently with a very strong base in Southeast Asia through its corporate office in Singapore, with regional offices in Thailand, Malaysia and now Indonesia.

INTERVIEW

PI

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Raising a Glass for Green Industry:Diageo Korea

features

In May, beverage behemoth Diageo Asia Paci$c invited PI Magazine’s Managing Director, Sean Stinchcombe, to take a tour of their production plant in Icheon, South Korea. Sean was able to see $rst hand the improvements that have been made to improve environmental sustainability.

nvironmental sustainability is a hot topic for drinks goliath Diageo, who have realized the full impact that businesses and individuals can have on the

environment. !e company is not alone; environmental sustainability receives plenty of attention globally from media and from governments. !is has sparked a wealth of research assessing the impact that human activity can have on the environment. Although the long-term implications are not yet fully understood, a consensus exists that emphasizes the importance for an immediate response. Businesses and industry are expected to take the lead, as they are the biggest contributors, and are in a position to make a signi#cant di"erence. For Diageo, environmental sustainability is about making responsible decisions that will reduce a business’ negative impact on the environment. It is not simply about reducing the amount of waste produced or using less energy, but is concerned with developing processes that will lead to businesses becoming completely sustainable in the future. Paul Walsh, CEO & Chairman of

Diageo’s Corporate Citizenship Committee, says of the issue: “For us, sustainability is about being ready for the future – planning for how the world will be in 100 years. Climate change, water scarcity, limited resources and energy prices are all going to have an impact on our business. !is is why we are taking decisive action now.”

Use Less to Make More!is is certainly what Diageo is trying to achieve, and Mr. Walsh claims that:“Environmental sustainability makes good business sense and is core to the future of Diageo. Our vision is that all Diageo brands are sourced sustainably, all brands are produced sustainably, employees work in sustainable buildings, premium packaging is delivered with the smallest environmental footprint and all brands are delivered sustainably.” !e company has indenti#ed main areas to improve within their value chain, and have expressed a desire to improve environmental stability within operations and production. Diageo has a speci#c set of targets for 2015:

sites by 50%

sites by 50%

waste water by 60%

an average 10%

reusable or recyclable

Diageo aim to implement these ambitious targets at their wholly owned sites worldwide. Diageo has three wholly owned facilities in the Asia Paci#c region, and the company has already invested some £200 million in new technology to reduce the production carbon footprint by 22%. Diageo’s environmental philosophy is to use less to make more, which is no easy task, but the company is sure that with the right team and determination, these targets are more than achievable.

The Profit in Environmental StabilityIn this tense time of economic instability, the issue of sustainability may seem like a luxury that many cannot a"ord. However, businesses need to consider that increasing the environmental sustainability of their business could be pro#table. Moving towards environmentally sustainable practices presents few or no risks to business operations. If a business acts now and environmental sustainability continues to become an increasingly important and heavily regulated issue, they would have a head start over their competitors. Additionally, besides the initial outlay long term negative impacts or expenses are unlikely. Conversely, costs will incur if businesses fail to act before environmental factors become policy regulated. For example, regulators may begin charging businesses based on their negative environmental impact. Businesses with a head start may also be in a better position to take advantage of potential incentive schemes. Another cost e"ective aspect of environmental measures is the potential to reduce expenses in the medium to long term. Making businesses more energy e%cient

E

The team behind Diageo’s Icheon site, South Korea

would reduce energy costs and help improve the bottom line. Environmentally sustainable businesses may also have a competitive edge when it comes to attracting customers and investors. Modern consumers are aware of social and environmental issues and investors are equally aware of these issues, which have created a trend for investing in environmentally sustainable companies.

A Unique ApproachClearly, even the most basic changes to a company’s environmental practice can reduce costs and help generate returns. Diageo have certainly recognized this by setting their targets, and is already close to meeting several of them, having reduced their carbon emissions by 35%, improved water e%ciency by 20%, and have completely met the waste water pollution and waste to land#ll targets, two years ahead of schedule. What is unique about Diageo’s approach is that although the targets are company wide and compulsory, how each plant meets that target is unde#ned. Whilst each plant will share best practice, each facility is free to implement the strategy that #ts best with their region and plant. In my visit to the Incheon facility, I was able to see what strategy the team in Korea had adopted.

Incheon and Solar ThermalDiageo’s factory in Incheon receives a great deal of their thermal energy from the solar thermal plant installed on the roof of the main facility. Installed in 2007 in co-operation with the Korean Government, the solar technology consists of 240 solar panels. !e solar thermal plant is one of Incheon’s core environmental success stories, and is indeed something to be proud of! Solar thermal is useful for a plant of this nature in several ways. !e technology uses the sun’s energy, rather than fossil fuels, to generate low-cost thermal energy. !is energy is used to heat water or other $uids, and can also power solar cooling systems. Solar thermal systems drive business value by reducing utility bills by up to 70% and reducing carbon footprints. At the Incheon plant, the system now generates over half of the heating and cooling requirements. !e Incheon team have been able to reduce their electricity consumption by 20%, the greenhouse gas emissions are down by 33% and have reduced the fuel oil consumption by a massive 75%, all because of solar power. !e return on investment from installation took an impressive 2.2 years instead of the 3.7 years originally estimated. As a testament to this achievement, the Korean government has used Diageo’s Incheon facility

as a pilot study to encourage wider use of solar energy in the country.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions !e team at Incheon has worked exceptionally hard over the past 4 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the team certainly is leading the way for other manufacturers to follow suit. !e team have implemented the following systems, with impressive results:

collectors has reduced GHG by 33%

1.5 ton model

reducing electricity consumption by 50%

centrifugal air blower

heating instead of boiler heating

to 200c from 600c

Roots Blower

improved from 60% to 100%

BIS rework place has been improved

!ese measures have certainly given the Incheon factory a head start of their greenhouse gas reduction target of 50% by 2015, having already achieved a reduction of 19.5%.

Reducing Water Use!e growing global water availability issue particularly a"ects South Korea. Water usage reduction methods are being fully implemented

the waste water from reverse osmosis drainage for re#lling #re #ghting water reduced annual water usage by more than 8%. Other changes include installing an Air Cooling compressor to replace the water cooling system; installing a hot water circulation by pump in 2010 which reduced annual water usage by 220 tons; replacing the steam shrink tunnel with a dry heat tunnel; and installing a system to reduced the rinsed water used for $ushing toilets, which saved 15% of wastewater. !e 2015 target for Incheon water e%ciency was to improve by 30%. !is was over achieved by more than 40%, bringing the total to 71.3%

Further PotentialDespite the Incheon factory’s many achievements, I was puzzled by their method of waste disposal. Diageo are spending time, e"ort and energy to reduce pollution, yet still incinerate their waste. Whilst this system allows Diageo to boast of a ‘zero land#ll’ policy, introducing a waste to energy system would surely help them build on their already admirable success. Diageo themselves would agree that there are still improvements to be made, and Paul Walsh states that they “still have a long way to go on our journey and there is still more for us to do – as an organization and individuals”. Nevertheless, the company shouldn’t shy from the praise it surely deserves for implementing such environmentally responsible measures at their facilities, and should be regarded at the best of examples for other industries. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hosts at the Diageo Incheon plant, it was certainly an interesting opportunity, and everyone at PI Magazine Asia wishes the plant’s green ambitions every success.

FEATURE: DIAGEO KOREA

90 POWER INSIDER MAY / JUN 2013 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @PIMAGAZINEASIA WWW.PIMAGAZINE-ASIA.COM 91

PI

240 solar panels fitted on the roofs of Diageo’s Icheon site


Country Directory:

Thailand

32,871 MW*Thailand has an

installed capacity of

2,404 MW (7%)

Thailand imports and exchanges

46%EGAT produces 46% of Thailand’s energy, with

IPP’s and SPP’s responsible for 39% & 8%

5,400 MW*The Energy Regulatory

Commission is running an IPP bidding scheme for 5

plants totalling 5,400 MW due for operation from 2021

70,686 MWThe grand total power capacity in Thailand is

expected to reach 70,686 MW by 2030, more than double that of the current capacity

Did you Know?Gas reserves are dwindling in the Gulf of Thailand, the fuel mix will see a dramatic

shift in the coming years

Did you Know?EGAT are looking at

developing coal plants in Myanmar and Cambodia to counteract the huge

environmental opposition at home

Did you Know?Thailand is rich in

agricultural wastes, and will see huge growth in biomass,

biogas, biodiesel, ethanol, and the by-products from processed food industry.

Thailand hope that

by 2030, total capacity of renewable

energy will be around

20,546.3 MW

Thailand has a huge scheme for

SPP and VSPP projects that will see a vast

number of new players enter the market

Thailand Fast Facts

Natural Gas 69%Lignite 11%Coal 10%Hydro 5%Imported 5%Renewables 2%

Thailand’s Energy Mix

Thailand’s Power Industry

Ministry of Energy Supported by the Energy Policy &

Planning Office and the Department of Energy Development and Promotion

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) State owned enterprise producing 46%

of Thailand’s electricity Capacity made up by IPP’s, SPP’s & imports

Electricity distribution carried out the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) and the

Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA)

REGULARS

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @POWERINSIDER WWW.PIMAGAZINE-ASIA.COM 91

Type of Plant Developer Plant Names/ Location Origin Fuel Capacity COD

Top 3 Major Plants due to come online in the next 2 years

EGAT Wang Noi Unit 4 Expansion Gas 769 MW 2014EGAT Chana Unit 2 Expansion Gas 782 MW 2014

Gulf Electric Nong Saeng New Plant Gas 2x800 MW 2014

Top 3 Coal Plants under development

Thailand NPS National Power Supply New Plant 769 MW 2017EGAT Mae Moh Unit Replacement 782 MW 2017EGAT Krabi New Plant 2x800 MW 2019

Top 5 large combined cycle plants under development

EGAT North Bangkok Expansion 850 MW 2015Gulf JP U-Thai New Plant 2x800 MW 2015EGCO Khanom New Plant 900 MW 2016

Gulf, EGCO, EGAT, Glow Thailand IPPs competitive 5 x New Plants 5x900 MW 2021 onwards

Amata, IRPC Gas plant bidEGAT Bang Pakong Replacement Unit 900 MW 2021

Top 3 Cogeneration plants under development

Gulf JP Hitech Cogeneration New Plant 120 MW 2018Gulf JP Thai Energy Generator New Plant 120 MW 2018

Amata B Grimm Pathun Thani New Plant 110 MW x 2 2015

Top 3 Solar plants under development

SPCG Khon, Kaen, Korat, Surin, Nakhorn, Rachasrima

New sites and expan-sion 25 x 7.46 MW 2013

Bangchak Petroleum Ayuttaya Phase III Expansion 48 MW 2014

EGCO (Solarco)

Nakhonpathom & Suphanburi New Sites 57 MW 2016

Top 3 Biomass plants under development

Thailand NPS Prachin Buri New Plant Palm Oil Cake, Bagasse 125 MW 2013

Seema Energy Nakhon Rachasrima New Plant Giant King

Grass 90 MW 2014

Thai Polycons

Various locations New Plants Rice Husk &

Bagasse 4x9.5 MW 2016

Top 3 Hydro plants under development

EGAT Lam Ta Khong Expansion 500 MW 2017Ratchaburi, KOWEPO,

LHSE and SKECXe-pian

Xe-Namnoy (Laos) New Plant 410 MW 2018

CH Karnchang Public Co. Ltd

Xaiyaburi(Laos) New Plant 1285 MW 2019

Top 3 Wind Farms under development

Wind Energy Holdings Korat Province New Site 207 MW 2013Natural Energy Development Nahkon Ratchasima New Site 20 MW 2016

Pro Ventum International Thep Sathit Farm New Site 90 MW Delayed

Company Coal Gas Solar Wind Hydro Total

EGAT 4699 MW 6866 MW 1.01 MW 2.5 MW 3436.18 MW 15,010.13 MW

EGCO 717 MW 3010.8ME 74 MW N/A N/A 4,707 MW

Ratchaburi N/A 4490.05 MW 23.98 MW 74.4 MW N/A 4,588.43 MW

Gulf Electric N/A 1,822 MW N/A N/A N/A 1,822 MW

Glow Suez 745 MW 2284 MW 1.55 MW N/A 152 MW 3,182.55 MW

*Based on current operational capacity in Thailand only*

Fuel Type Target additional capcity by 2031

Renewables 14,580 MWCogeneration 6,476 MWCombined Cycle 25,451 MWCoal 4,400 MWNuclear 2,000 MWGas Turbine 750 MWPower Purchase from neighbouring countries 8,623 MW

Total 55,130 MW

*Figures as per EPPO PDP2010: Rev 3

Top Projects Under Development

Top 5 Power Producers in ThailandFuture Energy Mix

COUNTRY DIRECTORY: THAILAND


Country Directory:

China

China’s Power IndustryNational Energy Administration (NEA)

Key energy regulator. Approves new projects, sets domestic energy prices, and implements government energy policies.

The Big Five Power Producers: China Huaneng Group, China Datang Group, China Huandian, China Guodian Power and China Power

Investment These power producers are state owned but privately

listed, and generate around half of China’s electric. The other half is generated by IPPs, often in

partnership with SOE’s. A small number of foreign IPPs have a presence in China.

Two main T&D companies: The China Southern Power Company and the China State Grid Corporation, who operate China’s seven

power grids through a number of regional subsidiaries.

World’s largest

consumer

China is the

of Energy108.8

million tons China produces 108.8 million tons of carbon

emissions per year

12%In 2012, China’s GDP

grew by 9.3%, and power generation grew by 12%

2,390 GW?FACTS Global Energy

expects installed capacity to double to 2,390 GW by 2030

1,073 GWChina ‘s installed capacity

Did you Know?The Chinese government

set a target to raise renewable power to 11.4

percent of the energy mix by 2015, and to 15% by 2020

342 GW by 2015The China Electricity Council

plans to increase hydro capacity to 342 GW by 2015

100 GW by 2015The NDRC aims to increase wind capacity to 100 GW

by 2015

70 GW by 2020China plans to boost nuclear capacity to 70 GW by 2020

25 GW by 2020China aims to increase solar power capacity to

25 GW by 2020

Did you Know?China is the world’s biggest producer of coal, and nearly half of all coal is consumed

there

In 2012, China completed the

world’s largest hydropower

facility The Three Gorges Dam

China & Energy: Fast Facts

Gas 8.1 GWOil 2.1 GWCoal 740.3 GWSolar 7 GWWind 75.5 GWNuclear 13.8 GW

China’s Energy Mix (GW)

REGULARS


Company Thermal Wind Solar Hydro Biomass Total (GW)

China Huadian Corporation 27,934 741 10 1,108 25 29.7 China Guodian Corporation 70,250 5,345.2 - 6,376 54 82China Datang Corporation 32,360 1,268.6 30 4,825.6 - 38.5Huaneng Power International 62,642 99 - 15 - 62.7China Huaneng Group 125.38China International Development 17,572 - - 4,698 - 22.2China Power Investment Corporation 80

Top 5 State Owned Power ProducersCN


* China’s SOE’s, their energy mix and capacities. Figures from company websites and range from 2009- 2012.

Company Key Products

Dongfang Dongfang have installed 6.9 GW of turbines. Key products include WTG sets with unit capacity covering 1MW, 1.5MW, 2MW, 2.5MW

Shanghai Electronic Wind Company Ltd The successful launch of the currently China’s biggest wind turbine – W3600W2000 SeriesW1250 Series

Sinovel Sinovel have installed 12,989 MW of turbines. Key products include 5MW and 6MW turbines, and the SL6000 series wind turbine

Goldwind Goldwind have installed 15GW of turbines, including 1.5MW PMDD and 2.5MW PMDDMing Yang Wind Power Group 2.5-6mw turbines, 1.5MW, 2.0MW and SCD 2.5/3.0MW

Top 5 Wind Turbine Manufacturers

*All info from companies direct, figures range from 2011-2013

Project Name Operator Location Capacity (MW) Turbine Manufacturer

Investment Value (Rmb)

Yandun No.6 Wind Power Farm Xinjiang Huaran Oriental New Energy Co. Ltd

Xinjian Uygar Autonomous Region 200 (67x3) Ming Yang 824m

Lushan Wind Power Project China Longyuan Anhui Province 49.5 (33x1.5) Envision 446mWanshengyong Wind Power Project Datang Hebei 150 (75 x 2) XEMC Windpower

Co., LtdUnder

constructionBinhai Offshore Concession Project Datang Jiangsu, Yancheng, Binhai 300 (100x3) Sinovel 7000m

Ningdong Wind Power Phases V & VI Huadian Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 99 (2x33x1.5) Shenyang China

Creative Wind Company 472.7m

Top 5 Wind Projects

*All info from companies direct, figures range from 2011-2013


Company Capacity (MW) Operator

Daya Bay 1&2 944 China General Nuclear Power GroupQinshan Phase I 298 China National Nuclear CorporationQinshan Phase II, 1-4 610 China National Nuclear CorporationQinshan Phase III, 1&2 650 China National Nuclear CorporationLing Ao Phase I, 1&2 2938 China General Nuclear Power GroupTianwan 1&2 990 China National Nuclear CorporationLing Ao Phase II, 1&2 1020 China General Nuclear Power GroupNingde 1 1020 China General Nuclear Power Group

Hongyanhe 1 1000 China General Nuclear Power Group – China Power Investment Corporation

Total Capacity 13,842

Nuclear: Installed Capacity

*Data from World Nuclear Association

Company Key Products

Shanghai Electric GW Class Ultra Supercritical generator units. 66 units have been commissioned and built since 2006. Serves as the EPC for gas and IGCC projects, and manufacture all supporting equipment.

Harbin Power Equipment Co. Ltd GW Class Ultra Supercritical thermal equipment. Serves an EPC for gas and IGCC projects, using imported technology.

Dongfang Electric CorporationHas an annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 MW. 600MW Supercritical CFB boiler, has just completed first operation in Sichuan Baima demonstration plant. It is China’s first supercritical CFB boiler. Can supply gas turbines and combined cycle equipment up to 270MW.

Hangzhou Boiler Group Co 400 MW vertical and horizontal gas turbine HRSG, and 300-1000 MW thermal power and nuclear power high-pressure heater.Alstom and Wuhan Boiler Company

This JV has the manufacturing capacity from 600 MW up to 1000MW sub-critical, supercritical and ultra-supercritical steam turbine and generators.

Top 5 Thermal Equipment Manufacturers

Project Name Operator Capacity (MW) EPC/Equipment Suppliers Investment Value (Rmb bn) Operational

Shizhu Coal Fired Power Plant China Datang Corporation 2 x 350 - 3.05b, March 2014

Shanxi Zuoquan Power Plant Huaneng Power International 2 x 600 USP Dongfang 5.09b, Unit I complete 2012, unit II under construction

Pingwei Power Plant Phase III China Power Development International 2x1000 USP East China Electric Power Design Recently approved

Fuzhou Plant Datang International Power 2000 Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute To be confirmed

Changshu power plant China Power Investment Group 2000 USP Shanghai Electric Phase 1: 2013

Top 5 Coal Projects

Project Name Operator Capacity EPC Equipment Suppliers Construction Value (Rmb bn) Operational

Sanmen 1 & 2 CNNC, CPIC, Huadian 2 x 1,250 MW AP1000 Reactors Westinghouse Doosan Heavy Industries, China

First Heavy Industries, Harbin, MHI 40 2013-15

Haiyang 1 & 2 CPI, CNNC, Guodian, Huaneng

2 x 1,250 MW AP100 Reactors Westinghouse MHI 40 2014 and 2015

Taishan 1&2 CGN 2 x 1,750MW CRP-1000 units EDF Areva, MHI, Dongfang, DEC,

Shanghai Electric, Alstom 50.2 2014 and 2015

Pengze 1&2 CNNC 2 x 1,250 MW AP1000 Reactors CPI, CPIC CPIC, China Power Complete

Equipment, Hamon Thermal 105 2015

Yanjiang 1-4 CGN, CLP 4 x 1,086 MW CPR1000 units CNPEC CNPEC 70 2013-17

Top 5 Nuclear Plants

Project Name Company Capacity (MW) EPC/Equipment Suppliers Operational

Hengqin CCPP China Power Investment Group 2x390 Harbin Electric Company, Black and Veatch, GE 2013Gaojing CCPP China Datang Group 3x350 Harbin Electric Company, Black and Veatch, GE 2013Yangzhou CCPP Huadian 2x400 Jiangsu Electric Power Design Institute, Babcox & Wilcox Under ConstructionTianjin Nanjiang Phase II Project Huadian 900 North China Power Engineering Company Ltd Under Construction

Jiangbin CCPP Shanghai Huadian Fengxian Thermal Power Company Limited 2x452 Shanghai Electric Dec 2014 – Apr 2015

Top 5 Gas Projects

COUNTRY DIRECTORY: CHINA


*Data from the World Nuclear Association/BOCI Group

Project Name Capacity (MW) Operator EPC Investment Value (Rmb

bn) Operation Date

Bohu, Bazhou Phase I solar power project 20 Datang Xinjiang Power Generation Company - 251m

Golmud Photovoltaic Power Phase I 20 Datang China TBEA SunOasis Co.Ltd September 2012

Xuchang City Solar Project 60 China Gogreen China Gogreen 720m, December 2015

Yulin Alternative Energy Park Solar Thermal Project 92 China Shaanxi Yulin Huayang

New Energy, Penglai Electric eSolar, China Huadian Engineering By 2021

Sayram Lake Solar Park Phase I: 30MW Bortala Government JCS Solar Phase I: 2012, Phase II 2015

Project Name Capacity (MW) Operator Investment Value/Operation Date

Baishi Power Plant 420 China Power International 46.5 million USDThree Gorges Dam 22,500 China Three Gorges Corporation 22.5 billion USD, 2012Huangjinping Hydropower Station Project 850 Datang To be confirmedHaokou Hydropower Station Project 125 Datang 1.62 billion yuanShuanjiangkou Hydropower Project 20,000 Guodian 24.68 billion yuan, 2023

Company Manufacturing Key Products

Yingli 850 MW Yingli produces monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells and has three manufacturing bases in China. Yingli also has a silicon manufacturing base in Baoding, and produces 3,000MT a year.

Suntech 2,000 MW Suntech produce cells and modules, and are the biggest module manufacturer in the world. Suntech solar cells undergo a chemical surface micro-texturing process that improves their ability to capture light.

Trina Solar 1000MW Since 2007, Trina Solar have shipped 4.8 GW of crystalline silicon PV modules. The company manufactures cells, wafers, ingots and modules.

Jinko Solar 1,200MW Jinko Solar shipped 1.188GW of solar products in 2012. The company produces crystalline solar PV modules, as well as ingots, wafers and cells. Jinko Solar have just supplied 35MW of solar modules to the Tozzi Solar plant in Italy.

JA Solar 2,500MW JA Solar shipped 1.7GW of solar products in 2012. The company also produces 2.5GW of modules annually, and has an annual wafer production of 1GW.

Top 5 Solar Panel Manufacturers

Top 5 Solar Projects

Top 5 Hydro Projects

COUNTRY DIRECTORY: CHINA

We want to know what you think!PI Magazine wants to know what you think of our new Country Directory feature! Did you find it useful and interesting? And what do you think of our daring new look? If you have any opinions or suggestions on this or any of our articles, or want to recommend a project to profile, contact us through Twitter and LinkedIn, or through our website: www.pimagazine-asia.com/contact-usAlternatively, email the editor: [email protected]

*Information from company websites.


POWER-GEN ASIA 2013Organized by Penwell2-4th October 2013Impact Exhibition CentreBangkok, Thailand

IGEM 2013Organized by Expomal Int10 – 13 October 2013Kuala Lumpur Convention CentreKL, Malaysia

22ND WORLD ENERGY CONGRESSOrganized by W.E.C13-17 October 2013EXCO CentreDaegu, South Korea

October 2013


Upcoming Events: for the Energy Business in Asia

MWM 02Nooter Eriksen 09Johnson Matthey 13Clean Energy Expo Asia 17Alstom 21Young and Franklin 25Proton OnSite 29Genesis 31Parker Hannifin 35Madico 39Lloyds Register 43Flender Graffenstaden 47

Quartzelec 51 Yangzte 54Plansee SA 59Elcogen 67SPIG SpA 71Berghof 73Tractebel 77ITRON 81Deltares 85W.O.G 88Carbon Forum Asia 99IDE Technologies 100

POWER & ELECTRICITY THAILANDOrganized by UBM25 – 28 of June 2013JW Marriot HotelBangkok, Thailand

June 2013

INDO WATER & INDO RENERGYOrganized by PT. NMA3 – 5 of July 2013Jakarta Convention CentreIndonesia

July 2013

5TH GUANGZHOU SOLAR PV EXPOOrganized by Guangzhou Granduer Expo Service19 – 21 August 2013China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex, China

POWER WEEK ASIA ‘13Organized by JFPS Group27-29 August 2013Park Royal Hotel,KL, Malaysia

August 2013

CARBON FORUM ASIAOrganized by Koelnmesse24 -25 September 2013Centara Grand Convention CentreBangkok, Thailand

CLEAN ENERGY FORUM ASIAOrganized by Koelnmesse25-27 September 2013Centara Grand Convention CentreBangkok, Thailand

September 2013

10TH ASIA GAS CONGRESSOrganized by CDMC14-15 November 2013Osaka, Japan

November 2013

12TH CLEAN COAL FORUM INDONESIA Organized by CDMC5-6 December 2013Jakarta, Indonesia

December 2013

5TH ANNUAL NUCLEAR POWER ASIAOrganized by Clarion Events21-22 January 2014Hanoi, Vietnam

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEKOrganized by Experia1-5 June 2014Singapore

2014

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