Thailand-based cement producer Siam Cement Group (SCG) has announced that its new plant in Sukabumi, West Java, which is expected begin operating in 2015, will be equipped with a waste-heat power generation (WHG) system that could reduce energy use by up to 30 per cent.
“At the Sukabumi plant, we will use the same technology, the WHG system, that we have been using at our plant in Lampang province in Thailand,” SCG president and CEO Kan Trakulhoo said on the sidelines of the 2014 ASEAN Sustainability Development Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand, this weekend.
“Such technology can transform heat produced during the cement production process into electricity. It could cut 25-30 percent of [our] energy use. This is part of our commitment to establishing plants that are eco-friendly, not only here in Thailand but also in other countries where we have plants,” Kan added.
The Sukabumi cement plant, which will be run by SCG’s wholly owned subsidiary, PT Semen Jawa, will have a capacity of 1.8 million tons per year. SCG invested US$456 million to build the cement factory.
Between the two WHG systems in Lampang and Sukabumi, SCG could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 300,000 tonnes per year and coal imports by up to 450,000 tons per year.
“For the Lampang plant, we could also save around 1.6 billion Thai Baht [THB] on power use every year,” said SCG managing director for the Lampang plant, Surachi Nimlaor.
He added that installing a HWG system at the Sukabumi plant would benefit local residents, as heating the power plant would require many workers.
“In Lampang, the WHG project has provided permanent jobs to around 75 people,” Surachi said.
Established in 1913, SCG is a business group controlled by Thailand’s royal family. The group comprises dozens of firms in a variety of sectors, including petrochemicals, paper, cement, construction and material and logistics distribution.
As of 2014, SCG’s assets in Indonesia were valued at $983 million, accounting for 55 pe rcent of the company’s total assets in the Southeast Asia region.
