POWER Top Plants Supp December 2021 - 2

POWER AWARDS
December 2021
Track 4A Power Plant, Malaysia
W
inning
POWER's
highest
honor is Track 4A,
Southern Power Generation's
1.4-GW natural gas-fired power
plant in southern Malaysia that is equipped
with the first commercial GE 9HA.02 gas
turbines-one of the world's largest and
most efficient power-generating models.
Though jolted by the pandemic, an international
team brought this first-of-a-kind
plant online through innovative continuity
efforts. The project is today a showcase
of advanced technology integration and a
meaningful model for balancing climate
awareness, energy affordability, and reliability
in power-hungry Southeast Asia.
The award-winning project's story began
in 2014, when Malaysia's Energy
Commission (EC) awarded SIPP Energy,
a private vehicle, a fast-track project tender- " Track
4A " -to build two 720-MW
combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power
plants in Pasir Gudang through its special
purpose vehicle Southern Power Generation
(SPG). At the time, Peninsular Malaysia
was grappling with power disruptions,
forcing Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia's
largest electrical utility and a private
company that is wholly owned by the government,
to repeatedly import power from
Thailand and Singapore to stabilize the
grid. The EC deemed Track 4A essential for
Pasir Gudang, a mangrove-fringed city in
the southernmost reach of mainland Asia
in Peninsular Malaysia's state of Johor,
which has long shouldered the region's
industrial activity. Strategically located just
across the narrow Johor strait from Singapore,
the city functions as an important
international port and services hub in Asia,
bolstered by its palm oil, petrochemical,
and information technology industries.
As Rizal Nordin, managing director at
SPG, told POWER in June, the urgency
to build Track 4A was additionally driven
by newly announced climate ambitions.
In 2017, as project development ramped
up, the country was working out its
now-official nationally determined contribution
(NDC) to the Paris Agreement
to reduce the intensity of its carbon
emissions by 45% compared to 2005
levels by 2030. While it had set a 20%
renewables target by 2025, it expected
11.6 GW of plant retirements-mostly
coal-fired plants-by 2029, which meant
Peninsular Malaysia would need at least
9.3 GW of new power capacity by the
2
Courtesy: GE
end of 2030 to meet demand growth and
maintain system reliability.
According to SPG, the option to build
gas-fired generation was also bolstered
by TNB's long-term gas supply framework
with Malaysia's state-owned oil
and gas firm Petronas. Meanwhile, TNB
had also previously worked with GE, an
American manufacturer of heavy-duty
gas turbines, on other plants. Another
crucial decisive factor related to shaping
the project-including choosing its technology
and key contractors-was rooted
in a vision to operate an efficient and reliable
plant through the next 20 years, said
Norlida Binti A. Manaf, corporate and
business support director at SPG.
" GE was pretty advanced in terms of
this technology as compared with other
providers, " while SPG was determined to
secure state-of-the-art technology. That's
why developers went with the first-of-itskind
9HA.02 technology, she explained.
" Some people may say that's a big risk, "
but SPG chose " the best in the market, "
both to provide the necessary flexibility
required in the present market as well as
accommodate dramatic shifts forecast
for the global power landscape, she said.
Following a competitive bidding process,
SPG ultimately chose a consortium
comprising GE and Taiwanese engineering,
procurement, and construction
(EPC) services giant CTCI Corp. as Track
4A's EPC contractor. As Anthony Hsu,
project manager at CTCI Corp. explained
to POWER, the two companies' synergies
had already been proven. " CTCI
and GE have worked closely on several
power plant projects in the Asia-Pacific
region. We built an extensive track record
of delivering and commissioning
leading projects, including nuclear, thermal,
cogeneration, and combined cycle
power plants, " Hsu said. " Combining
www.powermag.com
our strengths in project management,
engineering, and construction management
with GE's cutting-edge machines,
we have established a competitive EPC
partnership. "
For GE, the landmark $1.1 billion was
especially significant because it would
showcase an array of first-of-their-kind
equipment. Since 2014, when it launched
its HA-class of heavy-duty gas turbines-
marking a step-change for its portfolio's
efficiency-the company has steadily
introduced new models under its 9HA
(50 Hz) and 7HA (60 Hz) offerings, each
one benefitting from advancements in
materials, aerodynamics, and advanced
manufacturing. GE's 9HA.02, launched
at Track 4A, is the largest, " most efficient
and advanced gas turbine in the 50-Hz
market, " said Amit Kulkarni, senior executive,
general manager, and head of
GE's Large Block Utility Product Management
business. The 9HA.02, rated at
575 MW under ISO conditions, pushes
net efficiency " beyond 64% combined
cycle efficiency, " and boosts GE's efforts
to reach 65% by the early 2020s, he said.
Construction and execution for the
pioneering project proceeded as planned,
bolstered by notable collaboration between
the project team, which comprised
an inter-continental partnership. However,
as Jim Vono, services general manager
for GE Power's Asia Pacific and South
Asian division, told POWER, project commissioning
was interrupted and delayed
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, as the
project owner's engineer AFRY Malaysia
Sdn. Bhd. underscored, though the
pandemic jolted its schedule, the project
began successful commercial operation
in February 2021, following a chaotic 39
months for Unit 1 and 40 months for Unit
2. That's a total of 10 million man-hours-
with zero lost-time injuries. ■
Supplement to POWER
PLANT OF THE YEAR
AWARD
http://www.powermag.com
POWER Top Plants Supp December 2021

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