“Over time, mankind had worked hard to create a better life through development, forgetting the effects it leaves on their environment - from the air that they breathe, to the water that is source of all life and to the ozone layer that protects the earth. As industrialisation escalates so does the pollution in equal proportion, and there may not be much left for the children of tomorrow. It is our obligation to keep the earth as natural, as clean as it is possible, as a legacy for the future.” (TSH Resources Berhad Website).

With its 14 MWe capacity, the TSH Bio-Energy Sdn Bhd. is the largest palm oil residues fired cogeneration plant in the world. Commissioned in January 2005, the cogeneration plant includes a watertube steam boiler with a capacity of 80 t/h at 66.5 bar (g) and a turbo-alternator with a rated output of 17,500 KVA. The expected pay back period is 4 years after commissioning.

CUSTOMER VIEWPOINT

Datuk Kelvin Tan Aik Pen, Group MD of TSH Resources Bhd

TSH Resources Bhd (TSHRB) Group Managing Director Datuk Kelvin Tan said that the group expansion into power plants would cushion its core business in oil palm plantations, palm oil milling and wood-based operations.

“We will not go into power just like that. Power has to be integrated to make the core business more cost effective. It does not make sense for us to set up a power plant without a palm oil mill,” he added.

“TSHRB has three palm oil mills in Sabah with combined milling capacity of 1 million tonnes Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) per year. This will provide ample supply of palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) as fuel for our biomass power plant”.

TSHRB’s 14MWe renewable energy power plant in Sabah was commissioned in 2005. It is expected to generate an annual profit of 8-10 million RM (Euro 1.75 - 2.2 million) through sales of power to the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB).

TSHRB is the first local company to sell renewable energy from oil palm waste to SESB, which is 80% owned by Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

“We are selling up to 10MWe at 21.25 sen (Euro cents 4.66) per kilowatt-hour through a 21-year renewable energy purchase agreement (REPA) to SESB,” he told reporters at a media briefing in Petaling Jaya in April 2004.

SUPPLIER VIEWPOINT

ENCO Systems Sdn. Bhd. has built a strategic co-operation partnership with Babcock & Wilcox Volund ApS (BWV) of Denmark, for the design of modern boiler pressure parts, including those for high capacity and high pressure grid-connected cogeneration plants.

ENCO’s Managing Director, Allen Ng, who has been in the boiler and energy business since 1975, is very upbeat with the TSH project. “This is the first palm-EFB-fired grid-connected cogeneration plant in the world to produce 80 tonnes per hour of steam at 66.5 bar(g) and 402 °C. It is also the first EFB-fired boiler employing the well-proven vibrating membrane grate in South-East Asia,” he added.

The boiler pressure parts, as well as the vibrating membrane grates, were designed by world-renowned BWV, but were fully fabricated locally at ENCO’s modern factory in Rawang, Selangor, under the supervision of BWV and the RW TUV, the German third party inspector. The boiler materials were imported from Germany and France, while the high pressure boiler fittings, and instrumentation, were also sourced from Europe.

The boiler was constructed with fully-welded membrane walls, with only sealing refractory works. The boiler’s overall height is about 25 metres. It is fitted with a steam drum of approximately 10 metres in length with a shell wall thickness of 60 mm.It weighs approximately 28 tonnes dry. The boiler house is equipped with an elevator to facilitate vertical travel by the boiler operators.

“The Boiler Control System is fully-automatic, and controlled by a PLC in conjunction with a SCADA System. The whole Control System was designed by Enco, with inputs from BWV, and other local partners” added Mr. Ng.

TSH BIO-ENERGY COGENERATION PLANT

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