24 July 2010

KOTA KINABALU: The Ranhill Power Plant has commissioned its second gas turbine turbo generator to supply an additional 65MW into the state’s power grid to help reduce power outage.

 With the completion of the second unit, the Combined Cycle generators now produce 130MW of electricity, and a total capacity of 190MW is expected when the rest of the components are fully completed end this year.
 Powertron II was officially launched by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman yesterday, just five months after the first installation work for the France Manufactured unit began in march.
 Overall, the two generators were installed and put into operation in 18 months, faster than the 24 months such a project normally takes to complete.
 “With the second gas turbine unit in operation at the Ranhill Power Plant, I hope electricity stability and reliability would be improved, especially in areas to which the power generated from this facility, will be distributed,” Musa said, adding that the Ranhill Powertron project was part of government’s effort to enhance power generation capacity in Sabah.
 Apart from the gas turbine generators, he noted the government has also approved the construction of gas-fuelled power plants in the west coast, namely the SPR and Kimanis Gas-Based power plant.
 Scheduled for completion in 2013 and 2014 respectively, the facilities would have a combined capacity of 400MW and expected to significantly enhance the state’s power reliability and to reduce power interruption caused by operational failure in independent power plants.
 Ranhill Berhad chairman, Tan Sri Sallehuddin Mohamed Said the installation of the turbines generators was completed in a commendable period, although they did not manage to fulfill the time frame given under the power purchase agreement with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd due to problems in getting the funding for the project.
 “Although we managed to get the gas turbine generators to commence operation in such a short time, we failed to do it within the time frame given.
 “I hope SESB and the authorities will consider our situation as we faced delay in getting the funds from the bank due to the global financial crisis,” he said.
 He also expressed confidence that he two units would help reduce the state’s System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) to achieve the 700 minutes/customer/year target for Sabah.
 
(Source: New Sabah Times)