Renewable-based zero-carbon fuels for the use of power generation: A case study in Malaysia supported by updated developments worldwide

Abstract

The existing combustion-centered energy mix in Malaysia has shown that replacing fossil fuels with zero-carbon alternative fuels could be a better approach to achieve the reduction of the carbon footprint of the power generation industry. In this study, the potential of zero-carbon alternative fuels generated from renewable sources such as green hydrogen and green ammonia was addressed in terms of the production, transport, storage, and utilization in Malaysia’s thermal power plants. The updated developments associated to green hydrogen and green ammonia across the globe have also been reviewed to support the existing potential in Malaysia. Though green hydrogen and green ammonia are hardly commercialized in Malaysia for the time being, numerous potentialities have been identified in utilizing these fuels to achieve the zero-carbon power generation market in Malaysia. The vast and strategic location of natural gas network in Malaysia has the potential to deliver green hydrogen with minimal retrofitting required. Moreover, there are active participation of Malaysia’s academic institutions in the development of water electrolysis that is the core process to convert the electricity from renewables plant into hydrogen. Malaysia also has the capacity to use its abundance of depleted gas reservoirs for the storage of green hydrogen. A large number of GT plants in Malaysia would definitely have the potential to utilize hydrogen co-firing with natural gas to minimize the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released. The significant number of ammonia production plants in Malaysia could provide a surplus of ammonia to be used as an alternative fuel for power plants. With regard to the energy policy in Malaysia, positive acceptance of the implementation of renewable energy has been shown with the introduction of various energy policies aimed at promoting the incorporation of renewables into the energy mix. However, there is still inadequate support for the implementation of alternative zero-carbon fuels in Malaysia.