(EnergyAsia, February 18 2013, Monday) — Singapore’s largest power company has completed a S$1 billion programme to transform three oil-fired steam plants into two gas-fired combined cycle units that will significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. (US$1=S$1.25).

At a ceremony earlier this month, Senoko Energy marked the completion of its 32-month completed Stage 2 repowering programme that transformed the 250 MW oil-fired plants into a total of 862 MW of gas-fired power generating capacity.

Equipped with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ latest F-class gas turbine technology, the new plants will enable Senoko Energy to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by about 40% or up to one million tons per year. They will continue using piped natural gas and could switch to using liquefied natural gas (LNG) when Singapore’s new import terminal starts up in the next few months.

Over time, LNG would account for about 20% of the company’s feedstock, said Brendan Wauters, Senoko Energy’s President and CEO.

“The completion of the project is a significant further step in the conversion from oil- to gas-fired generation, the new plant uses highly-efficient combined-cycle technology, and as part of the repowering concept a substantial portion of the existing equipment was re-cycled, re-furbished and re-used,” he said.

“The investment we have made in these new units is in line with our vision to continue to position Senoko Energy as the leading energy supplier in Singapore. We are very pleased that reliable supply from the new units has started on schedule. We are also particularly happy that a strong safety record has been ensured throughout this complex construction project.”

With an installed capacity of 3,300 megawatts (MW), Senoko Energy supplies more than a quarter of Singapore’s electricity needs. As the nation’s first power company to import natural gas for power generation in 1992, it launched a combined cycle plant in 1996 and was ISO 9000-certified in 1998, OHSAS 18001 in 2003 and ISO 14001 in 2004.

Senoko Energy is owned by an international consortium comprising four Japanese companies, Marubeni Corp (30%), The Kansai Electric Power Co Inc (15%), Kyushu Electric Power Co, Inc. (15%) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (10%), and France’s GDF SUEZ S.A. (30%).

S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, was the guest-of-honour at the ceremony.

Senoko Energy chairman Hajime Tsuda also spoke at the event.