PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said Southeast Asia’s first combined-cycle power station, the Sultan Ismail Power Station (SIPS) in Paka, Terengganu has been decommissioned on Dec 31, 2019 after 33 years of operation.
The utility giant said the decommissioning is inevitable as Malaysia is replacing its ageing and inefficient power plants to be more advanced, cost efficient and environmental-friendly plants, in line with best practices in the global electricity supply industry.
The 1,400 megawatt (MW) power station was completed in 1987 with a cost of RM1.51 billion. Its current value is RM2.4 billion.
“Sultan Ismail Power Station had left a lasting legacy in TNB’s history. When it was completed, it became the first combined cycle power station in Southeast Asia, and the biggest ever built by TNB,” said TNB chief generation officer Ir Roslan Abdul Rahman.
It generated electricity using natural gas and oil, with the former as its main fuel.
SIPS’s 250 staff (prior to decommissioning) have been redeployed to TNB new power stations namely Jimah East Power Sdn Bhd in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan and Southern Power Generation in Pasir Gudang, Johor.
Until the last day of its service, only plant 4 of the power station remained operational. Plants 1, 2 and 3 have been decommissioned since 2017.
TNB’s other combined-cycle power plants are the Tuanku Jaafar Power Station in Port Dickson with two blocks of 750MW plants and Prai Power Station in Seberang Perai, Penang, with a capacity of 1,071MW.
