part 1: overview of cogeneration and its status in asia - Fire

62 Part II: Cogeneration experiences in Asia and elsewhere
favourable terms are provided, offering 8-year grace period and 7-year repayment period in
instalments with interest rates that are about half the market rate. By 1995, 13 industrial
complexes had cogeneration plants with a total capacity to generate 619 MW of power.
The most important cogeneration development has been in connection with district heating
system in the outskirts of Seoul metropolitan city. Government set up an ambitious plan to
provide two million residential units, mostly apartment buildings, outside Seoul city during late
80s and early 90s, in order to disperse the population in newly developed towns. Ten such
projects were commissioned by 1995 in the satellite cities that have a great demand for heat
during the cold season. Cogeneration plants were jointly built by two public sector enterprises;
the Korea Electric Corporation assured the electric power supply, while district heating was
handled by the Korea District Heating Corporation. A total power generating capacity of 3,013
MW was already in place by 1995. Further expansion plans include the southern part of Seoul
city, which will include residential areas for over three million people.
An example of cogeneration and district heating project that has been developed recently is
the one in the town of Bundang. In order to supply electricity and other forms of energy to
approximately 100,000 households in mostly apartment buildings, natural gas fired combined
cycle cogeneration plants were installed with a total capacity of 600 MW of power and 560
Gcal/hour of heating facility. Covering a total heating area of 13.8 million m 2 , and selling 1.523
million Gcal/year, this installation has been estimated to save around 83,000 toe/year.
1.8 Cogeneration from Agro-industrial Residues: ASEAN 9 Experience
Agricultural residues from rice, sugar cane, palm oil, coconut and timber industries in ASEAN
totalled almost 100 million tons in 1990. These five main agro-industrial sectors convert
between 30 to 70 per cent of total raw material into waste that constitutes an energy
equivalent of 25 Mtoe, approximately equal to the total industrial primary energy demand of
ASEAN. Experts estimate that only 50 per cent of this bio-waste is utilized, generally
employing inefficient and outdated technologies, to generate heat and/or power and to meet
about 20 per cent of the total industrial primary energy demand in ASEAN.
Changes in national policies have led to private participation in power generation and rational
use of indigenous energy resources. Moreover, there is a growing concern for clean energy
and environmentally sound solutions. These have renewed interest among the self-producers
of energy to employ more efficient and modern technologies for added economic benefits and
environmental compatibility. Results of studies conducted by the EC-ASEAN COGEN
Programme 10 for assessing the potential of energy generation from agro-industrial residues in
ASEAN are summarized below.
1.8.1 Rice industry
Rice husks produced as residues from the rice milling industry can be used as fuel. In a
typical rice mill, electricity required for milling is purchased and heat needed for either
mechanical paddy drying or for parboiling is generated from fossil fuels or rice husk. Over
200,000 rice mills are estimated to be in operation in ASEAN, producing over 26 million tons of
rice husk annually.
9
ASEAN represents the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
10 The EC-ASEAN COGEN Programme is an economic co-operation between the European
Commission and ASEAN. Co-ordinated by the Asian Institute of Technology, it aims at accelerating the
implementation of proven technologies generating heat and/or power from wood and agro-industrial
residues.