Siemens Malaysia ready to expand business portfolio in RE
KUALA LUMPUR: Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Siemens Malaysia) is all set to expand its business portfolio in renewable energy (RE) by preparing several concepts that fit into the country’s plan to increase RE efficiency.
Malaysia has targeted to increase its RE efficiency to 20 per cent from the current two per cent.
President and chief executive officer Indranil Lahiri said that the German conglomerate would come up with solutions for the solar portfolio and be ready to jump on the bandwagon when the government announces its RE project.
“It depends on the government, whenever they are ready, we will be ready too,” he told Bernama when met at the Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry 2018 (CEPSI 2018).
He said Siemens did some profiling on Malaysia and found that the country was not suitable for wind turbines while for solar photovoltaic (pv), there were challenges including land issues.
“We have to look at viable landbanks and I think there will be also a focus on biomass as well, so we need to figure out whether we have a sustainable source of biomass or waste.
“We are still looking at various concepts and it will take three to four months before we come out with a clear-cut concept that exactly fits Malaysia but at the same time, we will still push our gas turbine as it should be the base or foundation for the power generation mix,” he pointed out.
According to Lahiri, Siemens has not yet put its solar portfolio in Malaysia as it has not seen any large-scale solar project in the country.
“But I believe that the government will come out with the regulations and policy which are going to push for large solar projects and we will be coming to the government to (discuss) on RE solutions,” he added.
As the country gears up for RE, he pointed to the need for a balance in the power grid due to the high fluctuation and big swings in power output as compared with primary energy sources, namely fossil fuel power plants.
“We will participate with solar solutions and at the same time, not to forget about the base load, we still have to depend on it.
“This is the stable supply that needs to be there as a backbone. We talk about fossil power going hand in hand with RE,” he explained.
Siemens’ HL- class SGT9000HL gas turbine is capable of supporting any RE, alongside with the primary power plant in the country.
Malaysia has a total of six H-class gas turbines installed — two in Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) combined cycle power plant in Perai, Penang, and four in Petronas’ co-generation power plant in Pengerang, Johor.
Asked on the contribution from the RE segment to earnings, Lahiri said it would depend on the government’s RE move.
“We have engaged with stakeholders but it’s too early to say what scale of project that we are looking at in the future, but as soon as the government announces it, we will participate,” he said.
He further explained that Siemens has a very strong power generation segment with a steady revenue flow, especially in servicing power plants apart from contributions from different segments including energy management and mobility.
Commenting on its collaboration with TNB, Lahiri said Siemens was involved in the first phase roll-out of 650,000 smart meters and the giant utility is expected to announce tenders for the next phase.
TNBhadpreviouslyannounced that it would invest RM2.7 billion, from the RM18.8 billion capital investment in transmission and distribution grid secured under the second Regulatory Period (2018-2020), in the “Grid of the Future” technologies that help improve the grid’s reliability and efficiency.
This would include a subsequent deployment of an additional 1.2 million smart meters in the Klang Valley.
“We will participate, and the next level of digitalisation is the meter data management, and the focus of Siemens Malaysia would always be on large utilities,” he said.
TNB is hosting CEPSI 2018 on behalf of The Association of Electricity Supply Industry of East Asia and the Western Pacific (AESIEAP).
The three- day conference themed ‘ Reimagining utility of the future’ ended yesterday, attracting 2,000 participants and 4,500 trade investors. — Bernama
It depends on the government, whenever they are ready, we will be ready too. Indranil Lahiri, president and chief executive officer