General Electric’s (GE) partnership with Green & Smart Sdn Bhd (GNS) to develop a palm oil mill effluent (POME) biogas plant is intended to provide a solution for “waste-topower” for power providers in Malaysia.
The plant will use GNS’ technology in anaerobic digestors and GE’s Jenbacher gas engine technology in a bid to produce power for supply to the electricity grid, GE said in a press statement.
The engines provided by GE feature long service intervals, a maintenance friendly design and low fuel consumption to ensure efficiency while optimised components prolong service life.
The Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Malaysia targets 11 per cent renewable energy (RE) usage by consumers and the industrial sector by 2020. GE and GNS are both gearing to prepare the partnership to contribute into realising this target.
The current usage of RE generated by biogas, solar and biomass stands at 1.5 per cent only.
GE and GNS will also cooperate with Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH) in the palm oil sector with the establishment of a new oil palm mill site at Felda Kahang, Johor. The plan is to set-up a biogas power generation facility from POME waste.
The project will be based on the build-operate-own model with FGVH and is expected to begin operations by December this year.
The collaboration between GE and GNS, expected to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions created by palm oil usage, is in line with the Entry Point Project under the palm oil and rubber National Key Economic Area of the government’s Economic Transformation Programme.
GE’s power and water segment provides gas, steam and water treatment services and equipment.
