MIGHT Partnership Exchange EU- Biomass
Stakeholders Forum
The Potential of Biomass in Malaysia as a Fuel
For Electricity Generation
Istana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
27-28 April 2010
Badrol bin Ahmad
Abdul Halim Shamsudin
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Copyright © 2009 TNB Research

Outline
• Background
• Biomass potential
• Biomass for electricity generation
• Issues
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Slide No. 2
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BACKGROUND
• Malaysia’s energy resources are dominated by fossil fuels.
• Biomass, solar and mini hydro hold great promise as complementary energy resources.
– They are plentiful
– They provide potential for the reduction of GHG emissions
• Successful utilization these resources depends on
– Favourable energy policy
– Technology availability
– Access to supplies
• This presentation focuses on biomass and its potential for electricity generation
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Slide No. 3
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Generation Fuel Mix in Peninsular Malaysia (2008)
Fuel
Gas
Coal
Hydro
%
64
29
7
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Slide No. 4
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Malaysia Agricultural
– Remains an important sector of Malaysia’s economy
• Contributes 12% to national GDP
• 3 main crops dominate agricultural export:
– Rubber
– palm oil
– Cocoa
• Rice and sugarcane are grown for domestic consumption.
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Slide No. 5
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Biomass
• Biomass are organic matters that are derived from
– plants (agriculture and timber industries)
– livestock waste
– garbage
• They represent ‘new energy resources’ that opens up opportunities for economic activities and employment
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Slide No. 6
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Sources of biomass
Animals
• manure
Waste Plant
• municipal waste
• field residues
• process residue
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Slide No. 7
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Biomass: availability and utilization
• Biomass are plentiful but their utilization as fuel for electricity generation is currently limited.
• In the near term, interest will mainly be on biomass that are associated with the major crops
– Oil palm
– Rice
– Sugar
– Cocoa
• In the longer term, other sources may be feasible
– Banana
– Bamboo
– Dedicated energy crops
– etc
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Slide No. 8
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Palm oil industry
• Malaysia is one of the biggest producers and exporter of palm oil and palm oil products
• At present the industry is the most developed among the agricultural industries in Malaysia.
• This commodity accounts for:
– 41 % of world palm oil production
– 47% of world exports
– 11% and 25% of the world's total production and exports of oils and fats.
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Slide No. 9
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Oil Palm Life Cycle
Cultivation
Felling
Pruning
Image:CIRAD
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Harvesting
(Fresh fruit bunches)
Extraction
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EFB, etc
Oil
Slide No. 10
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POME

Oil Palm Biomass
Biomass Qty/ Moisture CV/ mil. tonnes content / % kj/kg
Main uses
Fibre
Shell
Empty fruit bunch 17.08
67.00
18838 Mulch
Palm kernel 2.11 3.00 18900 Animal feed
Expeller
9.66
5.20
37.00 19 068 Fuel
12.00
20108 Fuel
Source: A.B. Nasrin et al
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Slide No. 11
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Paddy cultivation and production
1990
Harvested area 680
(T ha)
Yield
(kg/ha)
Production
(T t)
Import
(T t)
2769
1884
330
1995
672
3161
2127
427
2000
-
692
2941
2036
Source: FAO
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Slide No. 12
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States
Johor
Kedah
Kelantan
Melaka
N. Sembilan
Pahang
Perak
Perlis
P. Pinang
Selangor
Terengganu
Penininsular
M’sia
Sabah
Sarawak
Malaysia
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2006
Area / ha Production
/ tonnes
2 405 5 739
210 824
72 266
1 769
1 495
7 762
776 490
238 433
8 640
6 864
22 282
Area / ha
2 639
211 644
73 514
2 032
1 105
7 415
2007
Production
/ tonnes
9 221
911 295
249 440
7 225
5 091
22 673
Area/ ha
2 154
211 044
6 8598
1 731
1 196
6 331
2008
Production
/ tonnes
8 128
867 335
232 309
4 158
5 437
21 384
82 286
51 905
25 564
37 473
23 3923
17 0542
114 488
176 794
81 027
52 188
25 513
37 135
25 9081
19 8025
120 286
186 951
80 724
52 180
25 564
37 221
28 0237
23 3144
120 074
177 444
16 538 59 671 17 277 62 253 16 547 63 490
510 247 1 813 867 511 489 2 031 541 503 290 2 031 142
38 498
127 247
33 858 41 443
239 794 123 179
134 384 37 447
209 679 115 865
133 138
206 753
676 034 2 187 519 676 111 2 375 604 659 602 2 353 032
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Slide No. 13
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Paddy biomass
• Paddy is harvested and processed in the mill to produce rice.
• The residue from the harvests and subsequent processing includes
– Straw
• Concentrated on farms
– Husk
• 23 % of the paddy processed
• 13 % moisture content
• Concentrated in mills
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Slide No. 14
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Sugarcane cultivation and sugar production
• Sugarcane flourishes in dry region of Malaysia.
• Its cultivation, therefore, is concentrated mainly in
Perlis and Kedah .
• Johor and Sarawak are potential states identified as suitable for sugarcane cultivation
• Cultivated areas are estimated to be 20 000 to 40 000 hectares producing 1.3 to 1.6 million tonnes annually .
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Slide No. 15
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Sugar production
• Sugar cane are processed to produce raw and refined sugar, exclusively for domestic consumption.
• The processing is carried out in facilities located in in the plantations in Kedah &Perlis .
• Facilities in Penang and Selangor are refineries that produces refined sugar.
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Slide No. 16
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Sugarcane biomass
• Sugarcane biomass
– Bagasse
• Residue of sugarcane processing
• 300 kg of bagasse /100 000 kg sugarcane
• Annual bagasse production is estimated at 300 million.
– Leaves and cane tops
• From sugarcane harvesting
• About 0.7 of the dry weight of cane
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Slide No. 17
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Rubber biomass
• Rubber biomass
– Rubber wood
• Available during replanting
• Estimated at 3.4 million kg / year
• Utilization
– Materials for furniture
– Energy
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Slide No. 18
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Cocoa cultivation
• Once a major commercial crop in Malaysia.
• Cultivated areas show definite decline
– Peninsular and Sabah
• However, bean production continue to increase in tonnage.
• Cocoa biomass
– Pruning activities
• 25 000 kg dry organic matter/ 10 000 m2/year.
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Slide No. 19
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Year Peninsular Malaysia
Cultivated area / ha
Estate Small_ holding
Total
1980 37 713 19632 57 345
1985 45 798 61 134 106 932
1990 47 124 90 807 137 931
1995 15 014 32 690 47 704
2000 2 717 12 425 15 142
2008 756 6 097 6 853
Ground cocoa beans / tonnes
6 000
Estate
Sabah
Cultivated area / ha
Small_ holding
Total
39 761 18 233 57 984
27 000 131 909 40 804 172 713
70 000
323 653
143 827
103 540 81 639
139 443 19 722
2 857
35 821
32 652
32 088
5 728
179 648
113 691
51 810
8 585
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Cocoa: Cultivated Areas
Slide No. 20
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Source: Cocoa Board, Malaysia

Coconut
States
Johor
Perak
Selangor
Penininsular
M’sia
Sabah
Sarawak
Malaysia
Area / ha
20 810
2006
Productio n/ tonnes
108 214
14057
19 419
77 255
63 272
77 752
344 145
18 245
23 380
78 451
87 119
2007
Area / ha Production
/ tonnes
20 810 97 181
14 057
19 419
77 491
63 272
74 683
339 824
2008
Area/ ha Productio n/ tonnes
19 781 115 325
6 914
16 761
65 931
47 209
75 994
321 566
18 225
23 380
78 451
81 982
20 021
25 352
82 130
48 684
Planted areas and coconut production
Source: Department of Agriculture, Malaysia
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Slide No. 21
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Biomass as fuel for electricity generation
• Green energy is becoming an important feature of electricity supply industry.
• This trend is supported by favourable climate
– energy policies
– incentives
– continued supply of biomass
– technology
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Slide No. 22
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Biomass electricity generation potential in Malaysia
• The available biomass has an equivalent generation capacity of more than 3 000 MW of electricity.
• Oil palm biomass has practical advantage
– Concentrated in large plantations
– A number of plants are already in operations
– Active research activities
•
MPOB
• Universities
• Research institutions
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Slide No. 23
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Slide No. 24
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Sector
EFB
Fruit Fibres
Palm shell
Palm oil mill effluent
Wood chips
Rice husks
Bagasse
Total
Biomass energy potential
Quantity /
Ktonne/year
16 700
12 200
4 900
38 900
2 200
400
300
58 500
Annual generation potential MW
28 000
2 800
600
300
200
31 900
Maximum energy potential/MW
3 150
320
70
30
25
3595
(Halim, 2010)
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Slide No. 25
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Fuel Properties
Calorific Values of Biomass
Source EFB
1
Fruit Shell Bagasse Thrash Husk Straw
Fibre
14.6
14.8
19.0
2 19.7
20.7
18.8
17.9
18.1 15.4 15.2
1. Shamsuddin (1985) & (1995), Hussain (2006): dry basis
2. Turn et al (1997): HHV
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Slide No. 26
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Biomass electricity generation projects
• Co-gen in the mills
• EC-ASEAN Co-gen(1990,s)
• 5 full-scale demonstration projects using wood wastes
• Approved Small RE Projects (SREP)
– EFB : 165.9 MW
– Wood wastes: 6.6 MW
– Rice Husk : 12.0 MW
– MSW : 5.0 MW
– Mixed fuels : 19.2 MW
• FELDA-J-Power-TNB Biomass Power Plant
– 10 MW
• Jana Landfill Sdn. Bhd
– 2 MW
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Slide No. 27
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Biomass electricity generation projects
• TSH Bioenergy Sdn. Bhd. (Sabah)
– Grid connected with 14 MW capacity
• 2 MW : internal consumption
• 10 MW : supplied to grid
• BioGen FSM Projects
– MHES Asia Sdn. Bhd. (10 MW)
• EFB
– FELDA Serting Hilir (1.0 MW)
• Biogas
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Slide No. 28
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Experience
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Slide No. 29
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Issues and Challenges
• Resource availability
• Long term supply
• Operational optimisation
• Technology management
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Slide No. 30
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Resource availability
• Resources are available within the plantations and mills
• But not all are available for electricity generation
– Biomass to be returned to soil policy
– Competing use
• Product manufacture
– Furniture
– Mattress
– Composite materials
– Fertilizers
– Etc
• Policy on biomass utilizations is required??
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Slide No. 31
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Long term supply
• Power plants are designed for a service life of more than
25 years.
• Supply must be assured over this period of time
– Supply agreement
• Quantity
• Quality
• Ability of supplier to meet power operators
– Production capacity
• Raw biomass
•
Pelletised biomass
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Slide No. 32
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transportation
Plantation
Smallholders
Processed biomass e.g
pellets transportation
Quality
Quantity
Delivery
Mills, refineries, etc transportation transportation
Biomass supply chain
Storage
Power plant
Storage
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Slide No. 33
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Operational optimization
• Storage capacity
• Combustion efficiency
– Characteristics of fuel
• Energy content
• Compositions
• Heat transfer efficiency
• Plant availability
– Scheduled outage
– Forced outage
• Maintenance & inspection practices
– Effective
– Meets regulatory requirements
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Slide No. 34
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Technology Management
• Design requirements
– Technical specifications
• Selection of appropriate technology
– Economics
– Reliability
• Long term performance
• Skills and expertise
– In-house
– Out-source
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Slide No. 35
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Technology
• Conventional steam plant
– Maximum theoretical thermal efficiency is limited by max and min temperatures of the cycle.
• Better cycle efficiency is possible with combined cycle
– Biomass converted to gas
– Gas power gas turbine
– Gas turbine exhaust is recovered to generate steam in boiler and power in steam turbine .
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Slide No. 36
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Slide No. 37
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