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Renewables

DoE seeks broader participation in nuclear agency

23 January 2019

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Philippines

THE Department of Energy (DoE) wants the proposed national nuclear policy to involve other government agencies in the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Office (Nepio), with the Office of the President leading the entity.

“It will involve different departments and agencies, so meaning there will be a chairman for that (Nepio),” Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos said on Wednesday after a forum on nuclear energy.

He said the expanded office would include possibly the Department of Science and Technology, National Power Corp., along with Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mr. Marcos is the current designated chairman of Nepio, which was set up specifically to come up with the nuclear energy policy. He said he may have to relinquish his position once the expanded office has been set up.

He said the national policy would have three major points, including the inclusion of nuclear energy in the energy mix and as a long-term energy option.

“Second, expansion of Nepio to make it more comprehensive and to ensure all stakeholders are on board,” he said.

“Third, is to make this bill or whatever legislation it requires to be an urgent bill or a priority bill,” he said.

Mr. Marcos said the entity that will take the lead on Nepio would depend on an executive order to be signed by the Office of the President.

Asked about the role of the President, he said: “We are endorsing it because it would be better if Nepio is with the Office of the President.”

“It should be Office of the President run by a commission,” he said.

On Wednesday, the DoE hosted a talk by Michael Shellenberger, president of non-government organization Environmental Progress that claims to be independent of energy interests.

The organization provides “unbiased economic and environmental research to policy makers around the world,” including the US, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Netherlands and Belgium.

He is in the country to meet government officials and visit the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was completed in the ’80s but never became operational.

Mr. Shellenberger and climate scientists and environmentalists have written an open letter to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to urge him to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels by switching to nuclear energy.

“There’s only one way to rapidly grow the economy while reducing air pollution and that’s nuclear energy,” he said, adding that countries such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan “were able to become rich nations by expanding the use of nuclear energy.”

“The Philippines can do the same. But it will require presidential leadership,” Mr. Shellenberger said. — Victor Saulon

Electricity/Power Grid

Asean’s Power Landscape Expected to Transform in 2019

23 January 2019

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ASEAN

Jakarta. Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are on a path to transform their power landscapes as energy demand continues to rise to match the region’s economic growth potential, a power management company said this week.

“In the pursuit of a robust digital economy, Asean is heralding in an era of unprecedented innovation … 2019 will see power play an indispensable role in shaping the evolution of the region’s economy,” Ireland-based power management company Eaton said in a statement.

In Southeast Asia, technology will have to meet increasing demand for clean, renewable energy and remote power management, support the arrival of 5G connectivity, and provide resilience against growing cyberthreats.

Asean’s evolving energy demand, which according to the International Energy Agency will grow by almost two-thirds by 2040, will go together with the projected boom in the region as part of the fourth industrial revolution.

Development of the region’s smart cities network has already made way for some significant changes in regional power management, Eaton said.

“We are seeing a seismic shift in the region’s power management outlook as cities gear up on technology as the foundation of smart and sustainable urban development,” the company said.

Eaton said batteries would continue to develop in this part of the world beyond their traditional use as a backup energy source.

“At present, heavy investments in Asean are being made in preparation for such technologies in the years to come,” the company said.

Singapore, for example, has embarked on a public-private partnership through its Energy Market Authority to speed up the deployment of energy storage systems.

Though new technology seems to demand new assets, Eaton also highlighted the importance of making the most of existing assets.

“Only by devising new and innovative solutions can the industry progress amid drastic changes in power demand and supply,” the company said in the statement.

Renewables

Scatec Solar completes 65MW PV project in Malaysia; starts development on 117MW site in Argentina

23 January 2019

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Malaysia

Scatec Solar and its partners were busy over the last month, with the company completing a 65MW PV project in Malaysia while starting work on a 117MW installation in Argentina.

The 65MW Gurun solar power plant is now grid connected and reached commercial operation back in December 2018. It is the first of three 65MW PV projects under completion by Scatec Solar in Malaysia.

Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar, said: “Completing our first solar plant in South East Asia together with our partners marks another important milestone for us. We are now realising one of the largest solar energy portfolios in the region with a total of 197MW and we continue to see several interesting opportunities in the South East Asian market.”

The installation is expected to generate about 94,000 MWh of electricity annually, providing energy for more than 31,000 households. The clean energy produced by the Gurun plant will contribute to avoiding about 70,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

Scatec Solar entered the Malaysian market in December 2016 by signing a partnership with a local ITRAMAS-led group that signed off on three 21-year PPAs with the country’s largest electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). This partnership led to the development of Scatec Solar’s 197MW pipeline in the country, with a total investment of about US$293 million.

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In Argentina, Scatec Solar and Equinor have started construction on the Guanizuil IIA solar plant, which is located in the Province of San Juan in the northwest of Argentina.

Back in November 2018, both parties signed off on a 20-year PPA with CAMMESA, the Argentinian Wholesale Power Market Administrator, for the delivery of electricity from the power plant.

Carlsen added: “We are pleased to have reached these significant milestones for our first project in Argentina. The project is ramping up activities according to plans with expected commercial operation by year-end 2019.”

Total capital expenditure for the project is estimated at US$103 million, with the installation owned at a 50/50 split between Scatec Solar and Equinor. Once completed, the power plant is expected to produce about 308,000 MWh of electricity annually, providing electricity to 80,000 homes.

Scatec will lead the development of the project, while Equinor will provide a construction bridge loan covering 60% of the capex required for the project.

Energy Cooperation ,
Energy Economy ,
Energy Efficiency

Global Power Synergy set to grow power and utilities

23 January 2019

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Thailand

Chawalit Tippawanich, president and chief executive for PTT’s power arm, GPSC, said that its board on Monday agreed that either the company or a yet-to-be-established subsidiary, would purchase the energy recovery unit in a deal worth no more than Bt24.11 or about $757 million.

The unit is part of TOP’s capacity expansion project, Clean Fuel Project (CFP).

The unit is expected to be completed and receive a provisional acceptance certificate to start commercial operation in the third quarter of 2023.

“The deal follows the company’s business strategy focusing on expansion of investment” to grow with its parent company, PTT. It would give an opportunity to GPSC to extend its power and utilities business and invest for future power security, Chawalit said.

Contract signing by GPSC or its subsidiary is expected after approval from a shareholders’ meeting scheduled within this April. The company will use its cash and/or other sources of funds, such as borrowings from financial institutions, to finance the deal.

The energy recovery unit will use oil sludge from the CFP to produce power and steam for the project. The unit has power production capacity of 250 megawatts and steam production capacity of 175 tonnes per hour.

The CFP is a part of TOP’s five-year $4.825 billion (Bt153.5 billion) investment plan (2019-2023) to improve the refinery, upgrade fuel oil to jet oil and diesel, and increase the refining capacity to 400,000 barrels per day. TOP’s current refining capacity is 270,000 barrels per day.

TOP is expected to finance $1.37 billion for the CFP in the first quarter of this year.

Presently, the company’s fuel oil accounts for 7 per cent of the total. In the future, jet oil and diesel will rise to 70 per cent from the current 60 per cent, while gasoline will decline from the current 15 per cent following future higher demand for electric vehicles.

GPSC currently has a combined power production capacity of 1,530 megawatts and steam production capacity of 1,512 tonnes per hour. This year, its power production capacity will rise to 1,940 megawatts after the Nam Lik power plant and Xayaburi power plant in Laos, and the Central Utility Plant 4 in Rayong province commence their operations.

GPSC also gained a conditional approval from Thailand’s Energy Regulatory Commission for its merger plan with Glow Energy Plc, which is majority-owned by France’s Engie. The approval comes with the condition that Glow will have to sell its Glow SPP 1 Co Ltd. before the merger.

Others

Sharing Singapore’s smart-city experience

23 January 2019

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Singapore

Singapore is a small country with no natural resources, but it has successfully harnessed technology, including sensors and automated meters, to help it fulfil its ambitions of becoming a smart city.

This is an experience it hopes to share with other nations looking to technology for solutions to challenges such as climate change, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sam Tan said on Monday.

Speaking to a crowd of policymakers and academics at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromso, Norway, he said the theme of this year’s event, Smart Arctic, was a timely one, with new technologies bringing about opportunities and disruptions.

For example, Singapore is investing in revamping its power grid to become more energy-efficient and deploying sensors that can collect real-time data on wind, sunlight and shade in residential areas.

By analysing this information, urban planners will be able to get more insight into how to design and site future housing estates to reduce the need for air-conditioning. “This will in turn reduce our carbon emissions,” said Mr Tan.

The use of technology to strike a balance between development and the protection of the Arctic environment looks set to be a major theme during the five-day conference, which kicked off on Sunday.

On Monday, Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment Ola Elvestuen cited a recent scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as being an urgent call for countries to transition to a low carbon future.

The report highlighted the differences in impacts of a 1.5 deg C global warming scenario versus a 2 deg C one, with the latter resulting in catastrophic impacts on earth systems, human livelihoods and biodiversity.

“We must be smarter and more efficient at using energy. We need smart cities and communities, and… strong policies to speed up transitions to a low emission society,” he said.

Some of Singapore’s home-grown innovations could help.

Local start-up Third Wave Power, for example, has designed a portable solar charger that can be used by off-grid rural communities.

“This is useful for people living in remote areas, not just in South-east Asia, but also in the Arctic region,” said Mr Tan.

Ms Hema Nadarajah, a Singaporean doctoral candidate studying international relations at the University of British Columbia’s department of political science, said both the Arctic and South-east Asia have many remote communities that experience extreme weather conditions and share common issues related to ageing energy infrastructure.

She said: “With similar challenges, solutions can be translated and adapted to the local context.”

Mr Tan also highlighted the importance of context during the event, acknowledging that solutions from Singapore cannot be directly applied to the Arctic region due to the differences between both regions.

“But I hope this will provide examples and options to think about while you are planning for a smarter Arctic. As an observer, we would like to share our information and experience with our Arctic counterparts” he said, referring to how Singapore was granted observer status at the Arctic Council in 2013.

He added: “Together, we can make the Arctic cool again.”

Renewables

Sembcorp and Singapore Polytechnic to work on solar panel recycling technology

23 January 2019

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Singapore

SINGAPORE – Solar energy is growing as a source of clean, renewable energy in Singapore. But this raises a key and pressing challenge for the local solar energy industry – where do all the used solar panels go at the end of their lifespan?

The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that by 2050 the world will have produced 60 million tonnes of photovoltaic panel waste. But local energy company Sembcorp Industries and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) say they have a solution to this problem.

Sembcorp and SP signed a collaboration on Wednesday (Jan 23) to commercialise what is said to be Singapore’s first solar panel recycling process.

Developed locally by researchers, it involves extracting recyclable materials from parts of used solar panels, such as glass, silicon, and metals including silver and aluminium.

Under this collaboration, Sembcorp and SP will also work together to develop a pilot recycling plant for solar panels.

The technology will eventually be used to help recycle panels from Sembcorp’s rooftop solar projects here, that are located at public housing blocks, schools, government sites, as well as private commercial and industrial facilities.

If the technology proves commercially viable, the pilot plant can then serve as a potential prototype for larger-scale recycling of used solar panels in Singapore, and beyond.

Both Sembcorp and SP hope that this method will help to minimise waste, as well as ensure that photovoltaic energy remains environmentally friendly.

Sembcorp and SP will also work to increase and strengthen the pool of skilled manpower for the growth of solar energy here. This will come in the form of jointly developed course curricula at the polytechnics, internships and programmes for managers, engineers and technicians working on solar projects. The new course curricula will also complement SP’s current course material on solar energy systems and deployment.

“The partnership with Sembcorp provides Singapore Polytechnic a platform to test its innovative solution that can potentially be a game changer for Singapore’s zero-waste vision. The collaboration also allows us to play a part in keeping Singapore’s workforce relevant to the changing needs of the industry through our robust full-time and continuing education training courses,” said Mr Lim Peng Hun, deputy principal (academic) at SP.

Solar panels here have yet to come to the end of their lifespan of around 25 years.

The initiatives, Sembcorp said, will help Singapore develop an approach in which solar projects will be seen through from the stages of procurement, design and installation and operation to beyond the end of their operational lives.

“We believe this focus on responsible resource management is especially timely, given that 2019 has been declared Singapore’s Year Towards Zero Waste. At the same time, we also see a strong need to build up a pool of skilled talent in Singapore, to support future solar projects competently,” said Mr Koh Chiap Khiong, head of Sembcorp’s energy business in Singapore, South-east Asia and China.

He added that the collaboration will allow Sembcorp to nurture industry talent, and support the growth of Singapore’s solar power sector holistically, for the Republic to meet its goal of 350 megawatt peak of solar power capacity by 2020.

To seal the partnership, a memorandum of collaboration was signed by Mr Koh and Mr Lim. Officials from Singapore’s Economic Development Board, Energy Market Authority and National Environment Agency were also present.

Electricity/Power Grid

Govt says 98.05 percent of households have electricity. What does it mean?

23 January 2019

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Indonesia

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration has boasted that nearly all households in Indonesia have electricity, saying that the country had reached an electrification ratio of 98.05 percent as of September.

However, does this mean that 98.05 percent of the nation’s households enjoy 24-hour electricity for all their electronics like residents in Java’s big cities enjoy?

In early January, the ministry’s Twitter account got flooded with angry comments after it told a PLN customer, Lucky, who complained about a 10-hour blackout in Manado, North Sulawesi, that he should be “grateful”.

“You should be grateful Pak Lucky that the blackout only lasted 10 hours. [Some of] our brothers and sisters in remote areas can’t even enjoy electricity. Minergi [the ministry account’s administrator] is sure that our friends over at @pln_123 have tried their best. If there are shortcomings, please understand. Thanks,” @KementerianESDM replied to Lucky on Sunday.

The achievement

In the last eight years, the government’s data show that the electrification ratio jumped by 30.85 percentage points from only 67.2 percent in 2010 to 98.05 percent as of September 2018.

The ratio progress follows the escalation of power plant capacity from between just 25 and 30 megawatts (MW) in 2010 to 62.4 MW as of September 2018.

The government calculates the electrification ratio from the total number of households that have access to electricity compared to the total number of households in the country, which is estimated to be more than 60 million households.

In March, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said the government also included the electricity provided by the private power utility in the calculation of the national electrification ratio.

Out of the 98.05 percent, 95 percent comes from PLN, 2.5 percent from non-state electricity firms and 0.12 percent from the government’s solar-powered energy saving lamps (LTSHE) program.

Based on those figures, the government came up with the result in September that 33 out of 34 provinces had reached more than 80 percent electrification except for East Nusa Tenggara with only 61.01 percent.

“This [98 percent electrification ratio] has exceeded the target set in the medium-term development plan [RPJMN], which is 97.5 percent by the end of 2018. Next year the target is 99.9 percent,” Jonan said recently.

The remaining 2 percent of those who have yet to get access to electricity is estimated to be around 5.2 million people.

One of the measures the government will take next year to achieve the 99.9 percent target is to exempt the initial cost of electricity connection for poor households in West Java and Banten.

The cost of the policy, which targets 40,000 households in the two regions, will be sourced from PLN and 34 other state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

There is also the Rural Electrification Program (LisDes), which targets 122 of the least-developed regions, often referred to as the 3T (outermost, frontline and disadvantaged regions).

Jonan, the former banker, said the government would utilize renewable energy technology to overcome the obstacles in delivering electricity to the isolated regions.

But what is electrification?

However upbeat the government may be about its ratio, critics say its definition of the electrification ratio is imprecise.

President Joko “Jokowi (third left) and a number of ministers and officials push a button to launch the operation of a wind farm in Mattirotasi village, Sidrap regency, South Sulawesi on July 2, 2018. (Courtesy of /Presidential Palace)

In 2016, ADB published a study titled “Achieving Universal Electricity Access in Indonesia”, which started in early 2014. In one of its analyses, ADB said the government’s standard to calculate the electrification ratio lacked further explanation about what it means by electricity access.

“This regulation states that the rationale for measuring the electrification ratio is to assess the number of households with access to electricity, but it does not define what constitutes ‘access to electricity’,” the study refers to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation No.13/2013.

The regulation was then revised with Ministerial Regulation No. 22/2015 on key performance indicators for activities under the ministry. But the regulation has yet to explain what kind of electricity a household will get; it only states a key target of “improved energy infrastructure”.

Furthermore, the study also concluded that there was no monitoring or measurement of whether this supply actually functions, especially for off-grid supply by both PLN or non-PLN programs.

“Unfortunately PLN and other government programs haven’t established comprehensive monitoring and evaluation procedures to confirm whether households with off-grid supply actually continue to receive the benefits of electricity after initial installation of the systems,” the study further said.

Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) executive director Fabby Tumiwa said the international measure for calculating the electrification ratio was based on head count, not household, as one house could be occupied by more than one family.

“The World Bank [WB] has even developed a concept that specifies a [benchmark] of quality and a minimum electricity consumption. What if the electricity can only last for a few hours, can you still say that the community is already connected with electricity,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The WB Group’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) report, which was published in 2015, states that the definition of energy access based on household electricity connection is a thing of the past.

“In the past, access to energy was usually considered synonymous with household access to electricity. It has been defined variously as a household electricity connection, an electric pole in the village and an electric bulb in the house.”

“[The definition] also ignores energy for cooking and heating needs, as well as for productive engagements and community facilities,” the report says.

Regarding the basis of its definition, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general for electricity Andy N. Sommeng told the Post that the government was already using an international standard for the electrification ratio.

“You can look up on Google what is the definition of electrification ratio, so we [the ministry] don’t make up our own definition,” he said on Monday.

When asked about the gap of electrification between developed regions and 3T regions, Andy said it was not a problem of electricity capacity, but merely a difference in electricity consumption.

“It’s about the purchasing power, as most of the people [in 3T regions] are still unable to pay [for electricity]. Therefore, the government wants to increase the electricity infrastructure as much as it can so that it leads to better productivity for them,” he said.

The infrastructure projects he mentioned included the flagship 35,000 (MW) electricity procurement program, which was launched in May 2015. Of the power plants under that program, 7 percent had reached the operational phase as of September.

PLN shared the same definition as the government that electrification ratio is based on the number of households that have electricity connection, PLN regional business director for eastern Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Djoko Rahardjo Abumanan, said recently.

“The common definition [of electrification ratio] is the amount of families that enjoy electricity. […] We use the data of families from BPS [Statistics Indonesia],” he said.

Almo Pradana, energy manager at the World Resources Institute Indonesia, conjectured that the government picked the scheme for reasons of simplicity as the international standard was much more complicated and costly.

“[….] partial electrification or only several hours per day is still counted as full electrification and treated the same as customers who have 24-hour electricity access,” he told the Post on Monday in a text message.

“And the quality of homes that are fully electrified by the grid, of course, should not be assumed to be the same as a house that only has solar-powered lamps.”

Energy Efficiency ,
Others

Singapore-based firm aims to power clean energy projects in South-east Asia

23 January 2019

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Singapore

A new Singapore-based firm has set out to build and run clean energy projects across the region.

CleanGrid Partners was unveiled yesterday as a collaboration by Singapore’s WEnergy Global, consultancy ICMG Partners and energy firm Greenway Grid Global, which is backed by Japanese electricity giant Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Tepco PowerGrid.

The investment entity has US$60 million (S$82 million) in the kitty, with each partner putting up an equal share and US$20 million earmarked for short-term deployment.

It aims to build up a portfolio of electrification projects worth US$100 million in South-east Asia within four years.

WEnergy Global’s flagship micro-grid project on the Philippine island of Palawan, which electrifies households and commercial players through hybrid power sources such as solar and diesel, is now part of the joint-venture plan, according to a statement.

CleanGrid Partners plans to replicate its Palawan project in other parts of South-east Asia to meet demand for off-grid power. Other schemes are already planned for Indonesia and Myanmar, as well as the Philippines.

The firm will also target industrial estates in Singapore.

WEnergy Global chief executive Atem Ramsundersingh said in a statement that the latest move is a response to the chronic lack of access to electricity in parts of the region.

“The near-term solution that delivers on immediate, on-the-ground benefits is to build, own and operate smart microgrids for off-grid electrification, which most multilateral agencies, investment companies and mega power companies are reluctant to embark on,” he said.

“Our new partnership will combine WEnergy Global’s on-the-ground knowledge and pioneer experience in Asean with the best smart technologies that the likes of Tepco PowerGrid already own.”

Mr Gen Funahashi, director of ICMG Partners, said that “investors, development and commercial banks and technology manufacturers worldwide must address the challenge to electrify the one billion people on our planet, including 100 million people in South-east Asia, who have little or no access to electricity”.

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