November-December . 2024 | @ green

Sabah and Sarawak appear to be taking substantially different routes for their energy-related economic developments

NZE covers the total national emissions , but the focus has been mainly on the highest emission-producing activities , such as power generation and road transport .

Several policy / strategy documents have evaluated and promoted multiple options to satisfy the commitment , especially for the emissions from the electric power supply industry . These options have included pragmatic , known and currently economically viable choices of RE ( Renewable Energy ) and have also listed other presently unavailable or not financially viable technologies to pursue to achieve the NZE objectives .

The most relevant documents have been the MYRER ( Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap ), the DTN 2040 ( Dasar Tenaga Nasional , or the National Energy Policy ), the NETR ( National Energy Transition Roadmap ), the LCMB ( Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint ) and the HETR ( Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap ). Unfortunately , not all the options incorporated in these documents give adequate confidence that they can contribute sufficient emission reductions to achieve the ambitious NZE 2050 aspirations .

Among the options considered , emphasis has been placed on the exploitation of green hydrogen ( GH ), which is to be produced through the electrolysis of water using electricity generated from RE resources . For Malaysia , the Sarawak proposal to become a GH production hub for the region , including East and Northeast Asia , is a major strategic and forwardlooking decision . Sarawak has partnered with Petronas-owned subsidiary Gentari Hydrogen to establish a centralised hydrogen hub in Bintulu , Sarawak .

Sarawak can pursue this objective as it has access to relatively low-cost electricity from its enormous hydro-electric power ( HEP ) plants , such as Bakun ( 2,400 MW ) and Murun ( 944 MW ), in addition to its older and smaller Batang Ai ( 108 MW ) plant . Sarawak has another large HEP , Baleh ( 1,285 MW ), which is expected to be commissioned by 2027 .

OTEC TECHNOLOGY

Sarawak commenced the use of GH several years ago for its KUTS ( Kuching Urban Transportation System ) and its ART ( Autonomous Rapid Transit ) using hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles .

LAL ‘ S CHAT

BY G . LALCHAND

The current production cost of GH is about US $ 6-8 per kg , which is too costly for its prospective buyers . However , the production cost is expected to become more affordable and competitive at US $ 2 or less per kg by 2030 .

Another RE source that has been proposed to produce GH through electrolysis is electricity generation through OTEC ( Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion ) technology .

What is OTEC technology ? It is a long-known technology to exploit thermal energy potential between the warm surface ocean water temperature ( of the order of 30oC or higher ) and the much cooler water temperature at ocean depths ( of the order of 1,000m ) where the temperature is about 20oC lower than the surface temperature .

Theoretically , OTEC has an exceptional capacity factor ( CF ), which is equivalent to its ability to generate its rated power output for something like 24 hours a day for about 330 days a year . So why has it not been heavily exploited where it is potentially available ?

While several experimental and demonstration OTEC power plants , mostly of much less than 1,000 kW ( or 1.0 MW ), were implemented during the second half of the last century , there are only two functioning plants in the world .

The main hurdle for the development of commercial OTEC power plants is the exorbitant capital cost ( capex ) of constructing the plant infrastructure . Such capital cost makes the level cost of energy ( LCOE ) for these potential early developments uncompetitive compared with those of the currently available alternative RE sources such as solar PV , biomass / biogas or wind generation systems .

DIFFERENT ROUTES

Malaysia has a very passionate and dedicated OTEC promoter , Prof Dato ’ Ir Dr Abu Bakar Jaafar ( better known as Dato ’ ABJ ). ABJ organised a symposium on OTEC at the UTM Ocean Thermal Energy Centre in Kuala Lumpur in 2015 in connection with a French governmentsponsored OTEC project to develop a 10 MW net electrical output plant to supply electricity to its Le Martinique Island .

The French consultants in charge of the project , DCNS , brought along representatives of other relevant project construction partners to elaborate on the project ’ s technical design and capex issues .

The 10 MW net electric output Le Martinique Island OTEC project was estimated to cost between € 250-320 million and was to be completed before 2020 . The completion date was postponed to “ after 2020 ” and has now been abandoned .

OTEC-related papers on the internet indicate that OTEC technology is suitable for Small Island Developing States ( SIDS ), which rely on fossil fuel ( diesel oil ) generated electricity , which is costly and polluting and may be complicated to deliver during inclement weather conditions .

One such document states : “ OTEC will never become a mass-market technology that will scale up to generate large amounts of electricity capacity globally , simply because of the geographical limitations . However , there are countries in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the world – such as the Pacific – where other dispatchable forms of energy , like hydropower or geothermal power , aren ’ t suitable and where OTEC could be used to complement wind and solar energy to achieve a 100 per cent renewable energy system .”

So , it is surprising that the Sabah government has enacted legislation ( Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Enactment 2024 ) to exploit OTEC for its long-term power supply planning . This raises a question : do the Sabah government decision-makers know something about OTEC that the technical content experts apparently don ’ t ?

Sabah is also said to be developing a large ( 100 MW , 400 MWh capacity ) BESS ( Battery Energy Storage System ) to improve the power supply system reliability for its East Coast Region ( ECR ) consumers , who have faced frequent power supply interruptions due to the inadequate power generating capacity in that region .

Any BESS is usually expected to be charged using clean surplus RE , which Sabah and even Peninsular Malaysia do not have . So , this raises another question : Is the BESS the optimum solution for the supply reliability problems of the ECR consumers ?

Sabah and Sarawak appear to be taking substantially different routes for their energy-related economic developments and to satisfy their decarbonisation aspirations .

Sarawak seems to be on the way to achieving its goal of becoming a GH production hub for the region through electrolysis technology when its production cost becomes competitive .

Sabah seems to be addressing two alternative avenues , at least one of which ( OTEC ) appears to be a highly speculative option for multiple reasons . At the same time , BESS may not necessarily be an optimum choice for dealing with its supply interruptions problem for the ECR .

I hope that the chosen options meet the techno-economic aspirations of both territories and wish them the best of luck for success in their choices in their respective ventures . – @ green