PacificLight is one of the newest kids on the power generation block. Its $1.2 billion plant on Jurong Island began operating four years ago and is fitted with relatively new equipment, making it more energy efficient than older plants.
Since then, the firm has spent another $5 million to further reduce its carbon footprint, said its chief executive Yu Tat Ming. These efforts have led to a 1.5% reduction in the plant’s carbon emissions – equivalent to taking 15,000 cars off the road.
But despite this, PacificLight’s annual operating cost is set to go up by $8.25 million in 2020, when the first carbon tax payment is due. The payment will be based on emissions next year.
The carbon tax will initially be set at $5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions until 2023, with plans to increase it to between $10 and $15 per tonne by 2030, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced at the Budget on 19 February 2018.
Mr Yu said that it would be a challenge for his plant to become “greener”, considering that it is relatively new and already fitted with energy-efficient fixtures.
But he acknowledged that there is always room for improvement. “We will continue to look for ways to improve energy efficiency at our power plant, however modest they may be,” he said.
PacificLight will also look into increasing the use of solar energy within its premises and those of its customers. Mr Yu said the company will find ways to continue to supply its customers with energy “in as green a way as possible“.
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Source: The Straits Times, 20 February 2018