Feature
Story
Gas District Cooling
in Malaysia:
Pioneering a new industry
M. Amin A. Majid, Associate Professor, University Technology Petronas; S. I. Gilani, Senior Lecturer,
University Technology Petronas; C. Rangkuti, Associate Professor, University Technology Petronas
In the Southeast Asian nation of
Malaysia, district cooling is not yet
widespread. Though many Malaysian
companies and industries operate their
own electric centrifugal chiller plants,
there are only seven district cooling systems in the country that supply other
customers; all are fueled by natural gas. Of
these seven systems, two are standalone
operations, while five are cogenerated.
Gas district cooling, including cogenerated systems, was pioneered in Malaysia
by Gas District Cooling Sdn. Bhd. (GDCSB),
with the first plant established in 1997.
Now 11 years later, seven gas district
cooling plants operate in four locations
across the country with capacities ranging from 6. 5 MW to 40 MW. Though the
industry is still relatively small, the
potential for additional development is
great, thanks to conducive economic
conditions and government policies.
Entering the Market
Initially, 60 percent of GDCSB was
owned by Petroliam Nasional Berhad
(Petronas), the government-owned oil
and gas company, which originally
developed gas district cooling as a vehicle for promoting the use of natural gas
for power generation. (Malaysia held 75
trillion cu ft of natural gas reserves as
Courtesy maps.com
Malaysia is located in the center of Southeast Asia on the South China Sea. The crescent-shaped country
consists of Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and extends to Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia), located
on the island of Borneo. Though Malaysia’s gas district cooling industry is still relatively small, the potential
for additional development is great, thanks to conducive economic conditions and government policies.
of January 2007, according to the Oil &
Gas Journal.) The remaining 40 percent
of GDCSB was owned by TGMM Holdings,
an investment holding company comprising Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., Mitsui & Co.
Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. As of now,
GDCSB is wholly owned by Petronas.
The first plant built and operated by
GDCSB was completed in 1997 and is
located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital
city at Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the
commercial heart of “KL” that includes
the famed Petronas Twin Towers, a shopping mall, mosque, hotel and office space.
