SEB signing an ageement with General Electric and Sinohydro for the construction of a RM1b 400MW gas turbine plant

KUCHING, Oct 28, 2016 - State Government-owned utility and energy development company, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) yesterday signed an agreement for the construction of the 400 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Block at Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu with giants General Electric (GE) and Sinohydro.

Sarawak Energy Group Chief Executive Officer,  Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit (third from right) exchanging documents with Venkat Kannan, Regional General Manager for GE (Switzerland) GMBH while others look on.

Construction work on the RM1 billion project will commence next month and is expected to be completed by the middle of 2019. 

The CCGT Block, to be installed with a new advanced gas turbine technology and more efficient combined cycle gas turbines, replacing the existing open cycle turbines at the Tanjung Kidurong Power Station in Bintulu, Sarawak. 

GE, a world leader in power generation solutions for utilities, will take the lead as the Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC) contractor with consortium partner, Sinohydro, China’s leading power and infrastructure EPC contractor. 

This contract is the main package for the project, out of six packages.  The remaining packages are open to local contractors as part of the Sarawak Energy’s continued commitment to maximise local participation and content in all of its contracts.

Signing for Sarawak Energy were its Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit, Chief Operating Officer,  Lu Yew Hung and Executive Vice President of SEB Power, James Ung.

The contract was signed with a consortium of four companies; GE Power Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, GE (Switzerland)  GmbH, Sinohydro Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd and Sinohydro Corporation Ltd.

The companies were represented by:

1.  GE Power Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd:  Julian Ng Hon Leong, Senior Sales and Proposal Manager and Tiew Richard, Senior Tender Manager

2.  GE (Switzerland) GMBH:  Venkat Kannan, Regional General Manager and Vasu Swami, Regional Sales Director

3.   Sinohydro Corporation (M) Sdn. Bhd:   He Feng, Senior General Manager and Vincent Kok Chen Yung, Senior Business Manager

4.  Sinohydro Corporation Ltd: Liu Wei, Executive Vice President and Gu Hongliang, Senior Manager.

An agreement was also signed on the key terms for the proposed Long Term Service Agreement (LTSA) to provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services and support for the power plant over an eight-year term based on the power plant's requirement.

The LTSA also includes training of O&M personnel, supply of major spares as well as setting up a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Subject to continuing discussions and Sarawak Energy’s approval processes, final award of the LTSA is expected by early 2017. 

At the signing event, Datuk Torstein said: “The new and advanced technology will generate electricity at a higher efficiency and output, enabling us to meet growing demand of Sarawak’s organic load. 

"We will ensure that the plant will be effectively and safely operated through the LTSA which is crucial for the long term operational maintenance of the plant," he said.

The LTSA will ensure efficient performance of the power plant and ensure continual support from the OEM contractor. 

Sarawak Energy is developing gas-powered generation projects over the next five to 10 years with a two-phase plan to raise output and strengthen their gas generation mix by an additional 1,600MW.

After the 400 MW Tanjung Kidurong (Bintulu) Power Station, a new 1200MW gas-power plant at Samalaju Industrial Park will be built under phase two.

Currently, about 15 percent of Sarawak’s power generation is from its Bintulu and Miri gas-powered plants and 10 percent from coal resources. About 75 percent of Sarawak’s current power is derived from the hydropower plants at Murum, Bakun and Batang Ai HEPs.

Sarawak Energy Group Chief Executive Officer,  Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit exchanging documents with Venkat Kannan, Regional General Manager for GE (Switzerland) GMBH while others look on.