KUCHING: Sejingkat Coal-fired Power Plant is the appropriate location for the Chitose Carbon Capture Central Sarawak (C4 Sarawak) project.
Sarawak Energy chairman Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi said the facility is fitting as the site for the first biological capture for decarbonisation effort through the multi-party collaboration which also involves Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC), ENEOS and Chitose Group, which is leading the project.
“Sarawak Energy agreed to participate in the development of this facility because we believe that it is aligned with our commitment to sustainability and decarbonisation goals, with a focus on studying and evaluating options to reduce our operations’ carbon footprint.
“Our role in this project is to explore carbon capture and the potential production of biofuels through the integration of microalgae technology, which is provided by Chitose and SBC, in a coal fired power plant,” he said at the launch of C4 Sarawak by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari at Sejingkat Power Plant, Wednesday (May 10).
In line with this, Abdul Hamed said Sarawak Energy has established a flue gas delivery system from its Sejingkat Coal-fired Power Plant to the industrial scale microalgae production facility.
He added that microalgae cultivation provides a green method of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2).
“Rather than introducing hazardous chemicals, which may compromise our people’s safety as well as environmental health, to sequester CO2 – we can leverage microalgae to achieve the same outcome naturally.
“Based on an earlier study, the facility is expected to capture 450 tonnes of CO2 and produce 300 tonnes of dried biomass annually. In addition, the downstream applications of capturing CO2 through microalgae will create another wave of economic value, resulting in potential products like sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), animal feeds and pharmaceutical products, in comparison to pure carbon storage,” said Abdul Hamed.
The facility, he said, will also be used to conduct research into industrial scale microalgae production.
“This is essential information for the future development and expansion of microalgae production in tropical climates like Sarawak’s.
“Ultimately, the launch of this facility is another milestone in Sarawak Energy’s ongoing journey to forge a sustainable energy future, facilitating the move towards a renewable and low carbon economy and aligning with the Sarawak government’s Green Energy Agenda,” he said.
Also present at the launch were Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian; State Secretary and SBC chairman Datuk Amar Abu Bakar Marzuki, Sarawak Energy group chief executive officer Datuk Sharbini Suhaili, SBC chief executive officer Dr Yeo Tiong Chia, deputy chief of mission from the Embassy of Japan Karimata Atsushi, Chitose group founder and chief executive officer Dr Tomohiro Fujita and other distinguished guests.
