Tanjung Bin Energy project is a 1,000MW supercritical coal-fired power plant owned by Malakoff Corporation. Credit: Malakoff Corporation.
The Tanjung Bin Energy power plant was commissioned in March 2016. Credit: Malakoff Corporation.
The construction of the extension power plant began in 2012. Credit: Malakoff Corporation.

Tanjung Bin Energy (TBE) power plant, also known as T4, is a supercritical coal-fired power plant located in Johor, Malaysia. It was developed by Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer, a part of Malakoff Corporation.

The project is located at the southern tip of the West Malaysian Peninsula.

The 1,000MW unit is an extension of Malakoff’s existing Tanjung Bin Power Plant (TBPP), which has a generating capacity of 2,100MW.

The construction for the Tanjung Bin New Coal Unloading Jetty (NCUJ), a part of the power plant, began in 2017. NCUJ celebrated one million safe man-hours without loss time injury in February 2019.

Tanjung Bin Energy project details

The Malakoff power plant is spread across 65ha of land next to the TBPP. The coal handling facilities, power evacuation, sea-water intake and other access facilities are shared by the two plants.

The construction of the plant began with the first concrete pouring ceremony in August 2012. The project employed more than 5,200 people during construction.

The supercritical power plant was integrated into the existing power plant without interrupting its operations.

It was synchronised to the national grid in October 2015 and completed all tests required for safe and reliable energy generation, before being commissioned in March 2016.

Malakoff Power Berhad (MPB) operates the power plant under a 25-year operation and maintenance (O&M) agreement signed with Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer.

The electricity generated by the plant is sold to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

TBE power plant details

The Malakoff power plant extension was constructed using supercritical technology to increase the plant’s efficiency while using maximum sub-bituminous coal. The equipment installed in the plant includes two pass ultra-supercritical, low Nitrate combusting PC boilers with mills and air pre-heaters.

“The supercritical power plant was integrated into the existing power plant without interrupting its operations.”

The boiler has a main steam flow rate of 3,226t/h, while the superheater has an outlet steam pressure of 282barg at a reheating temperature of 600°C.

The plant uses STF 100 steam turbines with one high-pressure, one intermediate and two low-pressure turbines along with a two-pole gigatop hydrogen-cooling technology, using turbo generator for high efficiency and reliability.

It integrates Alstom’s Alspa Series 6 distributed control system (DCS) in combination with a highly efficient seawater flue gas desulphurisation facility and fabric filters to further lower emissions.

The plant is equipped with seven gravimetric raw coal feeders and seven HP 1103 pulverisers with dynamic classifiers.

Financing for the Tanjung Bin Energy power plant

The thermal project was financed by Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malakoff, using $838m Islamic bonds and term loans worth approximately $578m, in addition to internally generated funds.

RHB Bank and RHB Investment Bank provided financing of RM1.38bn ($459m) to support the development, construction and operation of the plant.

The high-reliability and creditworthiness of the project earned it a preliminary AA3 rating by Rating Agency Malaysia (RAM).

The TBE plant is the first Malaysian power project to receive transaction support from international banks such as HSBC. It is also the first independent power producer (IPP) plant in Malaysia to obtain dual-currency financing and to adopt the equity bridge loan structure.

The project also earned prestigious industry awards for financing, including Project Finance International’s Asia Pacific Best Project Bond of the Year 2012, The Asset’s AAA Best Project Finance Deal, Project Finance Magazine’s Asia-Pacific Power Deal of the Year and Asia Money’s Best Project Financing Award.

Contractors involved with the TBE power plant development

The Malakoff power plant was constructed by a consortium led by Alstom Power (now GE Power). The other consortium partners include Mudajaya and Shin Eversendai. The consortium partners signed a $1.13bn contract with Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer Bhd for the construction and commissioning of the coal-fired power plant.

According to the contract, Alstom supplied all key power generation equipment and also took charge of the overall engineering, project management and commissioning of the plant.

Shin Eversendai managed the structure erection works and mechanical equipment used in the project.

Fichtner was involved in the process of tendering and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award, as well as the appraisal of the EPC contractor´s design. The company also provided on-site supervision of construction and commissioning of the project.

Poratha undertook fabrication, assembly and installation of non-pressure parts, while Halfen-Moment supplied bar grip, spear line and wedge lock couplers.