International Goodwill Presentation at the Center for Japanese Studies, University of Indonesia
MHPS is supporting to ensure stable supplies of electric power in Indonesia with highly efficient gas turbines.
On October 8, 2019, MHPS gave a presentation at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java. The program included an active exchange of opinions with students over the future outlook of environment-friendly thermal power technology.
The presentation was a big event with some 150 students in attendance.
The presentation was part of an ongoing cultural exchange program between Japan and Indonesia, organized by the University of Indonesia’s Center for Japanese Studies and came at the request of the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia. It was attended by some 150 students from the host and nearby universities. Under the theme of the “Future Outlook of Environmentally Friendly Power Generation”, MHPS Senior Vice President Junichiro Masada cited the growing awareness of the global environment and Jakarta’s worsening air pollution problem, pushed the introduction of environment-friendly thermal power as one possible solution thereto, and introduced power generation technology from MHPS that is helping to realize a low-carbon society.
Indonesia’s growing economy and increasing population are to blame for the worst air pollution on the planet.
Indonesia is currently the fourth most populous country in the world with its roughly 260 million people. Its population continues to grow year after year and is predicted to reach near 300 million 10 years down the road. That will naturally increase domestic demand for electric power, which analyst put at 6.4% a year and will push power consumption from the 2,400 TWh/year seen today to 4,400 TWh/year over the next 10 years.
According to AirVisual, a non-governmental organization that monitors air quality in cities all around the world, because of the increased demand for electric power driven by its growing economy and population, the Indonesian capital of Jakarta surpassed Chengdu, China, Hanoi, Vietnam, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Dubai, UAE with the world’s worst air quality index in August 2019.
As seen widely across western countries, the world is shifting to renewable energies like wind and solar power, but because territorially it consists of some 17,500 islands of varying sizes and sees comparatively less sunshine and wind than other countries, Indonesia has limited areas where renewable energies could be introduced.
Indonesia is generating more and more power from natural gas.
Indonesia has rich supplies of energy resources like oil, gas and coal. Of these resources, natural gas (LNG) is drawing attention as a clean fuel for thermal power generation. Reason being that natural gas can be readily obtained and, amongst the fossil fuels used for thermal power generation, it emits minimal CO2 and NOx and generates hardly any SOx or soot when burned.
The presentation toted the need for environment-friendly thermal power generation.
Citing Jakarta’s worsening air pollution problem and geographic conditions that prohibit full development of renewable energies, the presentation explained how the country’s rich natural gas reserves could be used to generate power via Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (GTCC) technology as part of a possible solution. It also introduced the contributions that MHPS has made to Indonesia’s power industry over the years.
MHPS thermal power systems supply 30% of the power generated in the Java – Bali region.
MHPS has built strong relations in the Indonesian power market over the decades since it shipped its first steam turbine there in 1971 and continues today to contribute equipment for ensuring stable power supplies in that same country. Thanks to this half century of proven reliability and performance, over 30% of the power generating capacity in the Java – Bali region is supplied today by equipment delivered by MHPS. This little-known fact marveled the students and seemed to make them fonder of the company.
The presentation went on to explain how a gas turbine works, trace MHPS improvements to heat efficiency and introduce next-generation technologies like hydrogen gas turbines.
What allowed MHPS to rack up such an impressive track record in Indonesia has been its high-efficiency gas turbine technology like GTCC power generation, which has been technologically unmatched on the global market. The presentation explained the structure, mechanisms and development process of the gas turbine, as well as the end-to-end development system at the Takasago Works where MHPS develops, designs, manufactures and tests gas turbines.
The future outlook of several core innovations – a quick-start gas turbine for countering the load fluctuations of renewable energies, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), and a hydrogen gas turbine that emits no CO2 for a zero-emission society – was also presented in terms of where development was at.
The students had lots to ask during the Q&A session.
During the Q&A time that was allotted after the presentation, the students had much they wanted to know about MHPS, Indonesia’s power generation issues, the future introduction of hydrogen fuels and more, and many of them could be seem feverishly taking notes of SVP Masada’s responses.
MHPS is helping Indonesia to supply electricity and become a low-carbon society by providing the supporting technology.
At the very end, the University of Indonesia presented SVP Masada with a certificate of appreciation for delivering such an impactful presentation. The Japanese Embassy in Indonesia also expressed their hopes and expectations of “collaborating further with MHPS in the future, given the success of this program.” MHPS will continue contributing to the development of scientific technologies, the decarbonization of energy and environmental protection in Indonesia, by providing environment-friendly power generation technology.