United Plantations Bhd (UP) plans to add more biogas plants in one or two years at its palm oil mills in Malaysia and Indonesia to save energy cost.
Vice-chairman/executive director (corporate affairs) Datuk Carl Bek-Nielsen said the company reduced 25% of fossil fuel usage yearly at its Perak plantation by relying on electricity generated from its biogas plant in Teluk Intan.
“Currently, we have three biogas plants in the country and they help a lot in terms of cost-savings. Though it is costly to set up a biogas plant, the impact that we receive is really worth it,” he told reporters during a media visit to UP’s plant here.
He said the cost of building a biogas plant was about RM7mil and the group had invested RM20mil for its existing three plants.
Meanwhile, Dr Lim Weng Soon, director of Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s engineering and processing research division, urged more palm oil mill operators to build biogas plants to boost revenue.
“Mills can use steam or/and electricity generated from the biogas plant for their own use. In view of the fuel-price volatility, plants will enjoy significant cost-savings as the energy generated will reduce the dependency on fossil fuel,” he said.
Under the Palm Oil National Key Economic Area of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the country is targeting 500 biogas plants by 2020.
Lim said Malaysia was on track to achieve the target. “There are currently 46 in operation, 22 under construction and another 46 in planning stage.”
Lim said the three states with the highest number of plants are Sabah (10), Johor (nine) and Perak (eight). Of the commissioned plants, 18 are generating electricity for their own use.
The biogas plant under the ETP are expected to generate about RM2.9bil in gross national income and create 2,000 jobs by 2020.
In assisting independent millers to fund the development of their biogas plants, an existing Green Technology Fund of RM1.5bil is being set up by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry.
