The Star, 7 February, 2007

Felda explores biomass power

LAHAD DATU: Having established one of the world’s most successful land development programmes, Felda is now entrusted to spearhead research efforts into developing efficient and environmentally friendly power generation. 

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Felda’s efforts should focus on developing power generation using renewable resources such as oil palm waste, particularly empty fruit bunches. 

“This is something new, and we need to engage in more research and development to make such power generation plants really efficient,” he said when launching Malaysia’s first RM40mil biomass power generation plant at the Felda Sahabat scheme, some 130km from this Sabah east coast district yesterday. 

He later told reporters that Felda’s target would be to ensure that the cost of generating electricity from such facilities was at least on par with or below that of conventional sources. 

“If Tenaga Nasional through its grid can offer a price below what can be done using biomass, then this does not become an economical proposition,” Najib said when asked whether similar biomass power generation plants would be set up at other Felda schemes nationwide. 

Noting that Felda had been dependent on diesel for power generation for its 107,000 Sahabat schemes prior to switching to the biomass plant in October last year, he said the authority had since been able to save as much as 75% in electricity generation costs. 

Built in 2003 and operational by late 2006, the biomass plant can generate up to 7.5MW of electricity by incinerating some 30 tonnes of bunches per hour. 

The power is then channelled to Felda palm oil processing plants, engineering services and domestic purposes at the Sahabat scheme. 

Asked about the need for a proposed Sabah Electrcity Sdn Bhd coal fired power generation plant at Silam that has drawn environmental concerns from Lahad Datu folk in the light of the biomass plant, Najib said: “It’s a question of economics and which is more efficient.” 

The Deputy Prime Minister added that the biomass power generation plant was “definitely more environmentally friendly.” 

Felda chairman Tan Sri Yusof Nor said the biomass plant had been recognised as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol and thus qualified for 53,000 units of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) 

Noting that these CERS were tradeable, he said Felda could earn some RM1.2mil a year by selling its CERs units.