THURSDAY-13TH DECEMBER 2007-SEPA hails building of biomass fired power plant in Lahad Datu

SEPA hails building of biomass fired power plant in Lahad Datu
KOTA KINABALU:
The Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) has hailed the plan by the State Government to build the Sabah’s first biomass-fired power generation plant in Lahad Datu. “We welcome the State Government’s initiative in bringing in technology and investors to implement a project that is in line with the Clean Development Mechanism,” said SEPA chairman Datuk Sue Jayasuriya. “Perhaps the State Government can apply to have the capacity of the combined head and power plant enlarged so that there will be no need to pursue the construction of the proposed coal- fired power plant at Silam near Lahad Datu,” she said. According to her, the combined head and power plant (CHP) will be able to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by the oil mill effluent or POME. She acknowledged the fact that before the CHP, a number of oil palm players in Sabah have been using empty fruit bunches and palm kernel shells for the production of electricity or as feedstock for firing their boilers. She said the oil palm industry in Sabah, which is the main revenue earner for the State, is a major producer of methane gas, one of the four main greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. The proposed 24 megawatt and 150 tonne-per-hour steam plant at the Lahad Datu palm oil industrial cluster is expected to be commissioned in 2010. State-owned POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd, the developer of the Lahad Datu palm oil industrial cluster, signed an agreement with Korean company Eco Biomass Energy Sdn Bhd for the purchase of 20 acres of land for the CHP plant. Other than POME, the methane gas also comes from rotting empty fruit bunches. At present, only a small fraction of empty fruit bunches are used as feedstock for energy production. Much of it is spread onto oil palm plantations for mulching. Empty fruit bunches emit emthane when they rot, and rotting takes places within several days after being left in the open.