(EnergyAsia, October 26 2010, Tuesday) — PowerSeraya Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s YTL Power International Bhd, has officially started up its new 800 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle power plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island.

The natural gas-fired plant simultaneously generates electricity and steam to service growing demand from the over 95 petrochemical companies on the island. The company already provides steam for the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS) through a 15-year supply contract.

The plant also uses waste heat produced from electricity generation, combined with water from its own seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant to produce almost 600 tonnes per hour of high-pressure steam.

This not only supports the government’s ‘Jurong Island 2.0’ initiative to strengthen the Singapore petrochemical industry’s competitiveness, it also decreases the company’s carbon footprint by an estimated 10%.

Along with the successful conversion of two units of its combined cycle power plants, the new facility has increased PowerSeraya’s co-generation capacity to nearly 1,500 MW, the largest in Singapore.

The S$800 million plant is in line with PowerSeraya’s diversified energy strategy to provide multi-utility services that include electricity, steam and water. The company has a 30% share of Singapore’s contestable energy retail market. (US$1=S$1.3).

Gracing the launching ceremony last week was Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore Minister for the Environment & Water Resources and YTL’s top executives, Yeoh Tiong Lay, chairman of YTL Corp, and Francis Yeoh, chairman of the PowerSeraya Group.

John Ng, PowerSeraya’s CEO, said: “The establishment of the co-generation plant is a testament of our commitment to meet the growing demand and opportunity we see in the sector. With the new plant, PowerSeraya will be able to improve the competitiveness of steam-user companies on Jurong Island by allowing them to focus on their core business due to a resulting decreased need for them to produce their own steam supply through internal operational conversions. This allows them to reduce their business capital and operating costs.”

Dr Francis Yeoh said: “PowerSeraya has made commendable efforts in transforming itself from a single commodity power company to a multi-faceted energy company. With PowerSeraya’s multi-utility capabilities and excellent customer reputation, we see the company as a clear platform for growth in Singapore and the region.”

YTL Power’s operations include power generation in Malaysia and Indonesia, power transmission in Australia, provision of water and sewerage services in the UK as well as plant operations and maintenance in Indonesia.