Huaneng start operations at Tembusu Multi Utilties

China Huaneng’s Group started operations at their $2-billion coal- fired power plant on Jurong Island last week, the plant represents one of the largest investments by a Chinese company in Singapore.

The Tuas Power plant, called the Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex, is fully owned by Huaneng Power International. It will be completed in 2017.

The facility’s opening comes at a time when foreign direct investments by Chinese firms in Singapore are growing. In 2009, such investments by Chinese companies stood at $9.7 billion. This rose to about $14.3 billion in 2010 and $14.9 billion in 2011.

Still, 2011’s figure was behind that for investments from the United States, which was about $72.8 billion in the same year.

China’s largest energy producer, China Huaneng Group, bought Tuas Power, Singapore’s third-largest power-generating company, in 2008. Huaneng Power International is a member of China Huaneng Group.

The new facility, opened by Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, is the first utility plant here to burn coal.

The plant burns low-sulphur coal, palm kernel shells, wood chips, natural gas and diesel to supply steam and electricity to petrochemical companies in the Jurong Island Tembusu area.

Part of the excess electricity generated will be sold for use in other parts of Singapore.

The facility is also the first here that provides petrochemical firms with utility services and the management of industrial waste.

At the plant’s opening, Mr Lim said the energy and chemicals sector has “created good, resilient jobs, and is the highest-paying across all manufacturing sectors”. About 75 per cent of the energy and chemicals workforce is Singaporean.

“The growth of Asia’s demand for chemical products gives us confidence that Singapore’s energy and chemicals industry will continue to be a strong growth sector for Singapore,” he said