Tang Kin Fei has been Group President & CEO of Sembcorp Industries since May 2005. With 25 years at Sembcorp, he has been instrumental in its growth into a focused energy, water and marine group with operations across six continents. In addition to Sembcorp's energy & water and marine businesses, it is also an established brand name in urban development. Tang is active in several bilateral business councils and is Vice Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation, as well as a council member and External Relations Chairman for the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Q1: Sembcorp's utilities business has begun taking a step towards sustainable energy generation resources. What is your view on the use of alternative energy such as renewables for power generation?
Tang Kin Fei: For Sembcorp, using renewables and alternative fuels is part of our strategy to target a portfolio of high-efficiency assets with a diversified fuel mix. We believe this helps us manage risks, cost, and ultimately helps us stay competitive.
Currently, our global renewable energy sources include biomass, energy-from-waste, and wind energy. In Singapore alone, we plan to grow our waste-to-energy capacity in the near-term by ten-fold, from 20 to 200 tonnes per hour of steam. With this, 5 percent of our global power and steam portfolio would run on renewables, and there is scope to grow this even further to 10 percent or more.
Q2: Solid waste management is currently a major issue worldwide with numerous areas reaching critical levels. As a solid waste management service provider as well as an energy player, what plans does Sembcorp have to tap into waste-to-energy opportunities?
Tang: Diverting waste from incineration and processing it into a resource to fuel energy production can help to create value from waste, create an economical alternative source of energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As both an energy player and a solid waste management service provider, Sembcorp has unique capabilities to manage the entire energy-from-waste value chain.
In Singapore, we are already playing a part in Jurong Island's sustainable future by investing in energy-from-waste technologies. This April, we commissioned a 20 tonnes per hour steam plant fuelled by chipped waste wood. We also announced plans to develop a second 40 tonnes per hour woodchip boiler, as well as new energy-from-waste boilers producing another 140 tonnes of process steam per hour using industrial and commercial waste. Ultimately, our target is to supply one-third of our existing customer demand for steam here in Singapore through energy-from-waste.
Q3: Going forward, what do you identify as some of the key strategic shifts affecting your energy business?
Tang: I believe we will continue to see shifts in the global macro-economic environment, with the focus increasingly on the growth of emerging economies and the needs in their markets. Urbanisation and industrialisation in markets such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam will continue. For Sembcorp, these trends present opportunities for our businesses. For example, if you look at growth in the demand for power, this generally follows GDP growth. With increased development in these markets, there will also come a demand for more power infrastructure. As an energy player with a strong track record in developing, owning and operating both greenfield and brownfield power plants, we are upbeat on the opportunities we have for growth.
Aside from this, I believe that within the power generation industry we will also see a greater push to apply technology for greater efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Keeping abreast with the latest developments, and implementing technology that is proven to be efficient and reliable, is absolutely critical to maintaining our relevance and competitiveness as energy players.
Q4:As a leader in providing utilities, what is your outlook for the ASEAN Power Grid? What challenges do you think exist in creating a framework for power exchange in ASEAN?
Tang: An ASEAN power grid would result in higher efficiency and less wastage through the pooling of resources and sharing of reserve generation capacity.
Of course, for such a grid to work there are some issues that must be resolved. For instance, there would be a need to upkeep power quality through applying a unified ASEAN power transmission grid code to all power generation and transmission systems. This should stipulate the standard of equipment, the types of power relays, switchgears and other components to be used, and the power protection scheme. Also, to ensure a level playing field, power systems need to be aligned in terms of being market-based and transparent with open and free access to all players.
But aside from these, by and large it would be good to have an ASEAN power grid. For countries with excess capacity, an ASEAN grid could allow them to sell their excess capacity, whereas for countries where power demand is increasing faster than infrastructure growth, it could allow them to access to power from regional gencos to meet domestic needs.
Q5: Sembcorp is developing large-scale urban mixed-use projects in China, Indonesia and Vietnam. How does the company integrate sustainability in its approach to master planning and infrastructure development for these projects?
Tang: Sembcorp develops self-sufficient urban developments which integrate industrial, residential and commercial space in well-planned mini-citiesĀ. These developments facilitate inflows of foreign investment into emerging markets like Vietnam, China and Indonesia, and provide an economic engine to drive development in the area by promoting a conducive business environment for investors and creating jobs for locals.
For this business, sustainability is increasingly becoming part of the story. Many of our newer projects feature a green approach to development. A good example is our fourth Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park development in Hai Phong, Vietnam. The development incorporates conservation considerations in its masterplan, with 30 percent of land within the development reserved for green space and preservation of local flora and fauna. Existing wetlands on the site as well as tributaries from the Cam River running through the township have been preserved in plans for the site, and made a feature of the development.
Another example is our Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco-Island project in China. The development is in one of the designated "green lungs" of Nanjing, and half of the 1,500-hectare site has been set aside for eco-tourism. The exploration of environmentally-friendly features such as water reclamation and green energy will also help to strengthen the development's ecologically-conscious emphasis.