As Executive Vice President & Head of Utilities of Sembcorp Industries Limited, Ng Meng Poh is responsible for managing Sembcorp’s Utilities business in Singapore, ASEAN and Australia, the Middle East & Africa, and UK & the Americas. He also sits on the boards of various companies within the Group. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the energy industry, and has held both government and private sector appointments. Prior to joining Sembcorp, Ng was part of the executive management team of Senoko Power and also spent more than a decade at Singapore’s Public Utilities Board. In the course of his career, he was actively involved in the restructuring and liberalization of Singapore’s power and gas markets, as well as in negotiations for the importation of piped natural gas from Malaysia and Indonesia into Singapore. Ng holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and a Master of Science in Energy Resources from the University of Pittsburgh, US. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Business.
Our newest gas-fired cogeneration plant is now completed and we are now preparing for its official opening ceremony. The plant greatly enhances the flexibility of our energy operations, and the reliability of our power and steam supply on Jurong Island. It has a capacity of 400 megawatts of power, as well as 200 tonnes per hour of process steam that we supply to industrial customers on the island’s Banyan district.
It is a strong complement to our other facilities in the vicinity, which include a multi-utilities centre and an industrial wastewater treatment plant. Together, these facilities extend Sembcorp’s capabilities to serve newer entrants to Jurong Island and strengthen our position as the leading supplier of energy, water and onsite logistics to companies across the whole of the petrochemical and chemical hub.
We see significant potential for growth in emerging economies, where rapid industrialisation and urbanisation drive demand for essential utilities such as energy and water. With greater development, rising prosperity and improved living standards, the demand for power is set to rise. For Sembcorp, these trends present opportunities for us to provide essential power to meet these growing needs.
For instance, in India, where we are building two power plants, the demand for electricity has increased steadily, with baseload deficits expected to remain between 8% to 10% until 2022. When both our supercritical coal-fired power plants totalling 2,640 megawatts in Andhra Pradesh begin operation, they will help to meet this growing demand.
We are still seeing a trend towards greater energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Currently, much research and development is being done on ultra-supercritical technology, carbon capture and sequestration, trigeneration and even quadgeneration, to increase the financial viability of these technologies thereby maximising resource utilisation and efficiencies, while reducing greenhouse emissions.
Besides technological improvements in thermal power generation, there has also been a shift to more environmentally-friendly forms of energy production. Governments, industries and the general public alike are now increasingly conscious of renewable energy as a sustainable alternative. For Sembcorp, renewables such as biomass, energy-from-waste, and wind power form an important component of our diverse energy portfolio.
Another key technological focus of the energy sector relates to the energy-water nexus. It takes a lot of energy to produce water, and also a lot of water to produce energy. As a company that provides a full range of energy and water solutions, Sembcorp is always looking for ways to increase efficiencies and manage the environmental and material costs of our operations. On Jurong Island for instance, we reclaim demineralised water from industrial wastewater which we treat for our customers on the petrochemical hub, then use this reclaimed water in our cogeneration plants. We are also constantly on the lookout for technologies which enhance the energy efficiency of our operations. In markets like the UAE and Oman where there is a need for both power and water, we help to meet these needs efficiently with large-scale combined power and desalination plants.
Another side of the energy-water nexus is that activities such as fracking, mining, and coal-to-liquid operations also present complex water issues for industry. As a world leader in industrial water and wastewater management, Sembcorp is actively looking at ways to help address these issues. For instance, we are developing a total water management plant to serve a coal-to-diesel plant in Shanxi, China, which will supply water to the site, treat and recycle high concentration industrial wastewater and aim for zero liquid discharge.
I believe if more people are aware of how incredibly dynamic the entire spectrum of careers in the energy industry is, they would be encouraged to build a career in the energy sector.
The beauty of working in the energy industry is the myriad of career options that are available. There is a place for people of different interests, aptitudes and skills. Some people may like a career as an engineer in power operations; others may prefer getting involved in the commercial aspects of power generation and sales. Another group of people may enjoy working with a bird’s eye view of the entire industry through policy planning at public agencies like the Energy Market Authority, or dealing with the financial clearing and settlement mechanisms of the power market at the Energy Market Company. There are still others who may want to take up the challenge of energy trading or being part of a business development team looking into power projects. These would require one to have keen business acumen, sharp analytical and decision-making skills.
Creating platforms for youth to interact with industry leaders and young people who have a successful career in the industry, is a good way to help them gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities available in the energy sector. EMA’s Energy Connect initiative is one good example; others might involve giving young people greater exposure to energy-related studies, internships and work attachments or career roadshows.
Sembcorp's renewable energy portfolio accounts for approximately 5% of our global power and steam capacity. As more emphasis is placed on striving towards a low carbon future, renewables will continue to play an important part of a sustainable and diversified fuel mix for Sembcorp’s energy business.
In Singapore, Sembcorp has led the way in sustainable power generation on Jurong Island. We provide a reliable and economical supply of energy to serve our customers’ needs, while helping them to reduce their carbon footprint.
Our 60 tonnes per hour biomass-fuelled facility was the petrochemical hub’s first commercial renewable energy plant. It produces energy in the form of steam from waste wood collected and processed by our solid waste management operations. In addition, we are now developing the first large-scale steam energy plant on Jurong Island to be fuelled entirely by industrial and commercial waste. This facility will produce 140 tonnes per hour of steam using around 1,000 tonnes of industrial and commercial waste each day, roughly 14% of the total tonnage of waste bound for incineration in Singapore daily. Both facilities are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 120,000 tonnes a year.
Meanwhile, in the Wilton International site in the UK, Sembcorp runs the country’s first large-scale wood-fired renewable energy plant. The 35 megawatt biomass power station uses sustainable virgin wood and recycled wood collected from waste disposal sites throughout the country as fuel. We are now developing an additional energy-from-waste plant on the site, which will be capable of producing up to 49 megawatts of power or 190 tonnes per hour of steam using municipal and commercial waste. Targeted to begin operations in 2016, it will divert up to 430,000 tonnes per year of waste from landfill and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 130,000 tonnes per year, compared to landfilling an equivalent amount of waste.