Economic and environmental sustainability of low carbon power generation: relevancy in Malaysia green technology master plan (GTMP)

Abstract

The Malaysia Green Technology Master Plan (GTMP) is a systematic framework and planning initiative to mitigate national CO2 footprints by targeting several sectors which include power generation (energy sector). Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze economic and environmental sustainability (via techno‐economic analysis) of CO2 mitigation technology (i.e. postcombustion CO2 capture system, PCC) that can be employed by the energy sector as a way forward for low‐carbon power generation. The analysis was performed by using a previously developed hybrid mixed integer nonlinear programming and model predictive control (MINLP‐MPC) algorithm. Based on the simulation results, operation of coal‐fired power plant associated with PCC plant under fixed forecast conditions (year 2020) would be capable of delivering substantial net operating revenue, subject to carbon taxes at US$7, 10 and 14 t–1 CO2 (scenarios 1–3), with the highest revenue gained from Scenario 1 (US$7 t–1 CO2) of US$601 million yr–1. Contrariwise, PCC plant operated at minimum efficiency by only capturing c.24% from the total CO2 emissions (under three carbon tax prices), illustrating the ineffectiveness of this plant for promoting national environmental sustainability. The big trade‐off between economic and environmental sustainability found in this study demonstrates the impracticality of PCC technology as a mitigation measure in pursuing low‐carbon power generation as part of Malaysia's GTMP.