Reference FSDPs
(EC-ASEAN COGEN Programme Phase II)

10 MW power plant for a wood complex (Malaysia)

BACKGROUND

Forest sustainability is a major concern in South-East Asia, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, which are the two main wood producing countries of the region. Strict regulations are in place in order to prevent clear felling or logging of immature trees.

Tropical forest can also be preserved by making better use of the raw material. The trend is now towards more and more integrated wood complexes where the overall wood recovery rate is higher. Some downstream activities such as veneer wrapping, allow the utilisation of lower quality species (which are wrapped by a high quality face veneer). The Aokam Perdana Group is recognised as one of the international leaders in this wood veneer wrapping process.

As wood complexes become more integrated, there is a need for better management of the wood residues. Traditionally dumped or incinerated, they are now increasingly used as fuel, which enable wood industries to be self-sufficient in energy. The Aokam Perdana timber complex in Sabah (Eastern Malaysia), which is not connected to the local grid, has been relying on diesel gensets to produce its own power.

In 1994, they realised that all the residues from the wood complex could generate up to 10 MW of power and decided to invest in a wood-fired power plant. This investment will generate enormous savings and simultaneously solve the environmental problems previously caused by the incineration of the wood residues as well as the combustion of fossil fuel.

LOCATION

The power plant is being implemented in Keningau, Sabah, Eastern Malaysia.

TECHNOLOGY

The plant consists of:

• a wood chipper with a capacity of 20 tonnes per hour;
• a silo with a storage volume of 630 cu.m.;
• a bi-drum water tube boiler with a capacity of 52 tonnes of superheated steam at 435 degrees centigrade and 43 bar g; a 10 MW fully condensing turbo-generator

SOME ECONOMICS

This project is relatively huge by the industry standard. Equipment from Europe constitutes an important component of this project. The key machinery supplied by the European manufacturers costs around ECU 5,338,000 (US$ 7,050,000), on a non-turnkey basis. Based on the present diesel consumption and price, the annual savings in diesel purchase will be more than 3.8 million US$. An additional amount of over 236,000 US$ will be saved, which was previously spent for disposing of the wood residues. The expected pay back time of the plant is just over 2 years after commissioning.

CONTACTS

CUSTOMER'S VIEW POINT

With a workforce of more than 3,000 people, Aokam Perdana Berhad, a Malaysian listed holding company, is one of the largest international producers and exporters of processed timber products, explains Tee Choon Hwa, Executive Director of Aokam Industries Sdn. Bhd. "All Aokam Perdana timber supply comes from sustainable forest. Our logging activities are monitored by the most modern technologies such as remote sensing and satellite imaging. Our integrated complex in Sabah includes engineered wood moulding, plymilling and veneer production. This integration enables the Aokam Perdana Group to make the best use of the natural resources. To reach a high product quality, we cannot compromise on the quality of the equipment we buy. We always look for state-of-the art machinery and organise regular training sessions for our staff."

James Chia, Project Manager, pursues, "Our first criteria for buying the 10 MW power plant were the quality and reliability of the equipment. We managed to get it at a very competitive price. The use of our wood residues as fuel will generate substantial savings from the substitution of diesel oil and, in turn, increase our competitiveness by reducing our production cost. Upon commissioning of the plant, we will also solve the problem of wood waste and sawdust disposal. "We are pleased to be a part of the COGEN Programme. Its technical support as well as the coordination of SIRIM in Malaysia are additional guarantees for the success of the project,” concludes James Chia.

SUPPLIER'S VIEW POINT

Siemens and the Power Business

"All these aspects are part of our scope of supply for the Aokam Industries project, where we proposed a high efficiency system at a very competitive price. We have established our ‘Regional Centre of Competence’ in Malaysia to cover the South-East Asian market, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In the medium term, we plan to transfer even more service and project management expertise to our office in Kuala Lumpur. In this regard, we appreciate the help of COGEN and SIRIM in providing information on the development of the cogeneration business in South-East Asia,” explains Peter Starz.

"We offer complete turbo-generator sets, as well as turnkey power and cogeneration plants,” remarks Peter Starz, Project Manager with Siemens Power Generation Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. “Safety and environmental awareness, efficiency and reliability, competitiveness and low maintenance are the pillars of our company’s business worldwide.

Mitsui Babcock & Vickers Hoskins: A long lasting cooperation

"Mitsui Babcock Energy Limited (MBEL) based in the U.K. and Vickers Hoskins from Malaysia, have been collaborating for more than 15 years. From the licensing agreement that now exists, we will move forward to a joint venture business able to offer a wider range of industrial boilers at very competitive levels," explains Andy Timms, Manager of the Licensing Department of MBEL.

“Almost all manufacturing is being undertaken in Malaysia at Vickers Hoskins’ own factory. Therefore, with MBEL and Vickers Hoskins personnel working together and the use of local contractors for the supply of ancillary equipment whenever possible, the new company will be able to offer the highest quality of small, medium and large sized oil, gas and biomass-fired industrial boilers.

“Our major strengths are our engineering capabilities as well as the expertise provided by our Technology Centre in Scotland, where some of the most advanced development work on waste-to-energy plant is being undertaken. We are now able to utilise the latest combustion and incineration technology to convert domestic, industrial and agricultural waste to power.”

"Our objective is to provide an efficient energy utilisation solution in accordance with clearly defined specifications to meet the customer's steam requirement," pursues Lum Sau Weng, Managing Director of Vickers Hoskins Sdn. Bhd. "Our first priority is customer satisfaction, of which we get the evidence by repeat orders. Our staff stay on the site for supervision of the job from the start until the commissioning of the plant. Yet another reason of our success is on time delivery. It is our policy not to accept an order if we cannot meet the promised delivery time.

"Regarding the Aokam Industries project, I have personally been involved in the engineering of this project, where the main objective was to optimise the use of the wood residues for power generation. This project will definitely be a good reference for the whole ASEAN wood industry, where downstream integration is now requiring a better use of the residues. It is thus very important for us to be associated with the COGEN Programme which can give a high profile to this particular project,” concludes Lum Sau Weng.

Wood Chipping with Maier

With more than 60 years experience, we are one of the world leaders in the planning, design and manufacture of wood reduction machines and complete turnkey processing systems,” says Robert Loth, General Manager of B. Maier. “Our main business is in the particleboard industry and wood recycling industry. We are also involved in the cogeneration business. We have indeed supplied several chipping and conveyor plants for the production of high quality and homogeneous chips for cogeneration plants.

“Recently we participated in the Aokam project where we supplied a chipper with a throughput capacity of up to 20 t/h of chips. With a view to possible cost savings, we also supplied design drawings for the local fabrication of the chipper feeding conveyors. We are already well established in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is our strategy to give special priority to the South-East Asian market, especially in the wood based panels industry as well as in the cogeneration business.

"We are currently looking for qualified agencies who may be able to promote our line of products. We will continue to follow our philosophy which is to offer the optimum service to existing and future customers with the support of selected authorised consultants in the region and by periodical visits of our highly skilled sales engineers. Service trips at regular intervals are scheduled in order to monitor the actual condition of the Maier machines operating in South-East Asia,” concludes Robert Loth.

Materials handling expertise from SHW

“Founded in 1365, SHW is the oldest company in Germany, owned 50% by the State of Baden-Wurttemberg and 50% by the company MAN. Today, SHW with its 1,500 employees manufactures machines, equipment and parts for different industries,” explains Werner Weckherlen, Senior Sales Manager.“Having supplied more than 3,000 storage and/or process units worldwide, SHW Materials Handing and Process Division (VT) has established itself as a world leader for top quality, bulk storage, process and material handing equipment. Our main customers are the wood panel and pulp and paper industry, as well as utilities and industries with environmental applications. In Asia, SHW-VT is also well known for supplying tailor-made equipment for cogeneration plants, where reliability and high metering accuracy is required to guarantee the efficiency and performance of the mill.

“Our strength lies in the superior design and quality manufacturing of our products. SHW’s pledge is to achieve total customer satisfaction. Our commitment is to provide both quality products and services for all of our projects."

"SHW engineers work closely with our clients to ensure that our products fully meet the client’s needs and the ever changing industrial and environmental requirements. In the Aokam project, SHW was selected as a key-supplier because of the quality and reliability of its products. The more advanced companies have realised that the most important factor in any investment is not the price, but the efficiency and availability of the complete plant. Any downtime of the system is a loss of money.We are prepared to work with our clients from the beginning of the project up to the start-up of the plant, including training of the operation staff to make sure the project will meet the performance guarantees,” concludes Werner Weckherlen.

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