The details of the project was revealed by Mr Kazuyuki Mori Senior Vice President, Division COO, Natural Gas Business Group Mitsubishi Corporation in his speech during the farewell and welcoming reception hosted for the former Brunei Liaison Office, General Manager Mr Akinori Miyasaka and new General Manager Mr Osamu yesterday.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr Kazuyuki Mori said, "We have recently embarked on the ‘Tenaga Suria Brunei' Project, a joint solar power demonstration project conducted in close liaison with the Energy Division of the Prime Minister's Office and Department of Electrical Services.

"Following completion of the detailed design last January, we will be commencing construction soon, targeting startup of operations by next January."

He also revealed that Mitsubishi Corporation will build a solar power facility with a nominal capacity of 1.2MW at the site of the Seria Power Station in the Belait District.

This will become the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia.

In support of the Government's aspiration to promote photovoltaic power generation in the country, he said: "We will fund the project, transfer technology, train experts to operate the plant and conduct experimental studies and performance analysis after the commencement of operation which we believe will serve to form the basis of practical application of photovoltaic power generation in Brunei Darussalam."

The Photovoltaic (PV) system comes with a nominal capacity of 1.2MW, comprising six different types of advanced PV Modules. It will be the first installment of a, large-scale PV system in Brunei Darussalam.

By using this system, the Energy Division at the Prime Minister's Office, Department of Electrical Services and Mitsubishi Corporation will jointly carry out verification tests of six different types of PV Modules over a period of three years to evaluate the suitability of each module for use in Brunei's tropical climatic condition.

Data and know-how gained through the project will contribute to the future diffusion of PV in Brunei Darussalam.

The Memorandum of Understanding for the project was signed between the Energy Division at the Prime Minister's Office and Mitsubishi Corporation in August 2008.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Comments (4)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Why photovoltaic?
written by T , July 02, 2009

I agree that this is a step towards clean energy generation but why use an relatively 'old technology' to start with? Photovoltaic are well known to be inefficient and produces minimal power, why not experiment with concentrated solar power (CSP) instead? These are the ones that is currently in planning and construction around the world. CSP are significantly more efficient and more importantly they are powerful enough to generate intermittent or peak power usage through proper storage tanks.

Implementing an old technology like photovoltaic does not seems necessary. We can't move backwards when most countries are moving forward. The only reason i could see is for companies like Mitsubishi to take advantage of treating Brunei as a lab rat. In return, they would have experience and historical backing to venture into more serious sustainable energy generation like CSP. I wonder if Brunei would be in their plans thereafter.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +6

...
written by T , July 02, 2009

I agree that this is a step towards clean energy generation but why use an relatively 'old technology' to start with? Photovoltaic are well known to be inefficient and produces minimal power, why not experiment with concentrated solar power (CSP) instead? These are the ones that is currently in planning and construction around the world. CSP are significantly more efficient and more importantly they are powerful enough to generate intermittent or peak power usage through proper storage tanks.

Implementing an old technology like photovoltaic does not seems necessary. We can't move backwards when most countries are moving forward. The only reason i could see is for companies like Mitsubishi to take advantage of treating Brunei as a lab rat. In return, they would have experience and historical backing to venture into more serious sustainable energy generation like CSP. I wonder if Brunei would be in their plans thereafter.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Great Big Move of Brunei Darussalm
written by midori , July 03, 2009

Renewable energy is one of the vital move toward environmental awareness and going green. This big step will bring Brunei Darussalam into another international arena by all mean.Hopefully the project will be very successful and the whole nation will be able to enjoy the clean and green energy in the soonest future.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Solar energy.
written by William , July 03, 2009

Agree with building a solar power startion, but why old technology ? Do not buy outdated and low productive technology, resources belongs to Brunei residents. We urge the government to consider upgrade, rather than spend a lot of maintenance cost later

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment