News Clipping Archive - Page 1176 of 1235

Coal ,
Renewables

Egat faces competition in bids to operate large power plants

11 December 2018

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Thailand

Thailand’s power-generating capacity will be deregulated in the near future, meaning the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) must compete with private firms at auctions for new large power plants, according to the tentative national power development plan (PDP). The latest version of the PDP is envisioned as the long-term development plan for the power industry over the next

two decades.

Public hearings on the revised PDP were held by energy policymakers last week in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Surat Thani and Chon Buri.

The plan has been updated every few years, in 2010, 2012 and 2014, in line with economic and technological trends.

A source familiar with the matter said the new PDP will set targets along the same lines as the energy reform plan finalised in October. The goal is to let private firms compete with Egat in power generation.

But the business model of enhanced single buyer (ESB) has yet to change, and Egat remains the single buyer from all power-generating plants and distributes to end-users by itself.

“A change to the ESB model is not in the reform plan, so the policymakers don’t have a clear-cut policy to deregulate this model after the public hearings,” the source said.

Small power producers (SPPs), on the other hand, can sell their power directly to end-users, in compliance with the law.

In the coming years, policymakers will open up auctions to independent power producers (IPPs). Egat will no longer receive priority as the first bidder considered, but rather the state enterprise will take part in auctions alongside private IPPs.

Egat has enjoyed priority in the last 30 years in being granted most IPP licences and dominating the auctions.

In 2007, policymakers set a quota for Egat of 50% of total power-generating capacity in the country, but the figure has since fallen to 37%.

The PDP allows for IPP auctions at a combined capacity of 23,200 megawatts over the next two decades, with power-purchase cost among the top factors to be considered.

In terms of resources for power generation, the PDP aims for coal-fired power to contribute 12% of total capacity in the new version, down from 23% before.

Natural gas remains the workhorse at 53%, while renewable fuels’ share of 10% will increase to 20%. The remainder will be imported power from neighbouring countries.

Nuclear power is no longer part of the PDP. The previous plan put nuclear’s share at 5%.

Two planned coal-fired power plants in the South remain on the back burner amid local pushback. In the meantime, policymakers will used two gas-fired power generators at Egat’s Surat Thani operations to compensate for the shortage of power capacity in the region.

The two coal-fired plants would have a combined capacity of 2,800MW. Operations are likely to be delayed until 2023 and 2024 at the earliest.

The replacement capacity from Surat Thani is 1,400MW.

According to the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo), the two coal-fired power plants have to finish a strategic environmental assessment, which may take some time, so the South needs reserve power capacity in the interim.

Meanwhile, the public has paid close attention to developments in the solar rooftop programme, which lets households sell back their surplus power output to state utilities.

A combined capacity of 10,000MW through 2037 is expected to go on stream under the Solar Prachachon programme, representing 20% of total power capacity.

The source said the revised PDP drafted by Eppo is nearly ready for the final stage of public hearings, with the office finalising some details before mandating the new PDP in early 2019.

Policymakers will launch the solar scheme at 100MW a year until 2023, increasing to 1,100MW-2,000MW until the end of the master plan.

Renewables

Ayala wants to become bigger RE player in Phl

10 December 2018

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Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate, is bent on aggressively growing its renewable energy portfolio to become an even bigger RE player in the country and beyond, its president and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala told The STAR.

In an email interview, Zobel said the company’s renewable energy investments have been growing fast.

Thus, the company would continue to invest in this sector in the country and in Asia.

“As far as new businesses are concerned, we will be very focused on aggressively developing a renewable energy portfolio both in the Philippines and in the region. This has been one of our fastest growing new businesses,” Zobel said.

The company has been reducing its coal energy capacity.

In all, AC Energy, the power generation arm of Ayala, plans to develop an additional 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects in the country within five years.

In particular, the company is looking to build a portfolio of 600 MW of solar power and 200 MW of wind energy.

These are primarily greenfield projects.

The company has also been scaling up its international energy investments. It has investment in Vietnam comprising of 1,200 MW of solar and wind; in Indonesia with 400 MW of wind and solar.

With a required investment of up to $2 billion, AC Energy hopes to have more than 5,000 MW of power generation capacity by 2025.

It has over 1,200 MW of capacity. It has sold this year some of its coal assets to Aboitiz Power Corp.

At the same time, Zobel said, Ayala Corp. will continue to grow its current portfolio of businesses — real estate, banking, telco, and water which are all dominant players in their respective industries.

“We want to make sure this continues,” he said.

The conglomerate is also focusing on financial technology or fintech.

“We also have investments in fintech which will give many more Filipinos access to reliable and efficient payment systems as well as access to loans. There is also an ongoing digital transformation taking place throughout our whole organization to find more efficient ways of interacting with our customers, streamlining our processes and identifying potential new businesses,” Zobel said.

The company is also mindful of its businesses that have strong social impact.

“We are also focusing strongly on businesses with a strong social impact such as healthcare and education. We feel these are critical areas for our country,” he said.

Ayala in recent years has formed new businesses such as AC Health and AC Education as its health and education arms, respectively.

Renewables

Geothermal – a sustainability energy solution, case study from the Philippines

10 December 2018

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Philippines

In an article on sustainability, the overall urge to break the cycle and to establish a more stable and secure future through sustainable practices in business and society is being talked about in the context of the Philippines.

The country has been ranked among the top five countries at risk of the effects of climate variability in the past couple of decades, as reported in the Global Climate Risk Index. This can be seen in the weather disturbances with catastrophic natural disasters hitting the country in recent years.

The local Business Inquirer is taking geothermal leader and leading renewable energy company Energy Development Corporation (EDC) as an example describing it as having always been cognizant of the role that sustainable power generation plays in ensuring the long-term welfare of Filipinos, and more so in recent years as climate change has become not just a more imminent threat but already a harsh reality. As such, EDC has committed itself to powering a greener future through only cleaner sources of energy, primarily geothermal.

The commitment is remarkable in the overall picture of the Philippines energy sector, as coal is still the most prevalent source of power in the country. As of today, the Lopez Group of Companies, which owns EDC, is the only conglomerate int he Philippines to make a categorical declaration against coal.

EDC is also one of the pioneering companies in the Philippines that has achieved carbon-neutral operations, if not even the only one. In 2017, EDC reported a carbon footprint of a little over 790,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which is only around 22% of the carbon absorption of all the trees it has nurtured in its environmental drive in the past four decades—in effect, even making it a carbon negative enterprise, or what industry experts also term “climate positive.”

Energy Development Corp. sees geothermal energy as a key to a stable and baseload capacity form of energy helping the country to support a developing and growing economy. Utilising a natural and national resource, geothermal also provides clean, reliable and renewable energy around the clock year round, crucial for consumers, businesses and industries in the country.

Harnessing geothermal energy is also an act of harmony with the environment. The sites where EDC operates in are proof of the symbiosis between man and nature that is genuinely possible—communities of practice where health, safety, and local livelihood thrive in tune with the flourishing natural environment of forests and watershed.

Geothermal is perhaps the only clear solution to meeting today’s energy needs without mortgaging natural resources at the expense of future generations—effectively breaking the perilous downward spiral of destruction the world faces and paving the way for a sustainable energy future.

To show that this is not at all a new concept for EDC, here a presentation the company shared on the topic back in 2012.

Renewables

Researchers seek alternatives to Mekong River hydropower dam

10 December 2018

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Cambodia ,
Lao PDR ,
Myanmar ,
Thailand ,
Vietnam

The Mekong River, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea, is a hotbed of ecological diversity. The roughly 60 million people who live in the region, many in poverty, depend on the river and its tributaries for food and income. But a surge in hydropower projects is threatening to plunge the Mekong River basin into catastrophic ecological collapse, hampering the flow of fish, nutrients and sediment, unless a viable alternative is found.

Enter Thomas Wild, Ph.D. ’14, who as an Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Postdoctoral Fellow in Sustainability teamed up with Patrick Reed, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and the nonprofit, nongovernmental Natural Heritage Institute (NHI). Together, they worked with the Cambodian government to explore alternative options for the largest, most potentially devastating dam currently planned along the Mekong, in Sambor.

“The traditional hydropower planning paradigm is for developers to look for and select dam sites that are optimized for hydropower, and then figure out how to mitigate fishery impacts later,” Wild said. “We’ve turned that on its head by focusing on ecosystem concerns from the outset, beginning with site selection.”

Wild and Reed’s resulting study, “Balancing Hydropower Development and Ecological Impacts in the Mekong: Tradeoffs for Sambor Mega Dam,” was published this month in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management.

The proposed Sambor dam is an 11-mile long “chunk of concrete,” in Wild’s words, that would block a major migration highway that sees up to half a million fish every hour, heading to upstream tributaries to spawn or swimming downstream to critical nursery and fishery habitats in Tonle Sap Lake and the Mekong Delta. Eventually they reach the Vietnam Delta, which is already facing ecological strain from flooding and land loss due to rising sea levels.

To show the Cambodian government better options, Wild and Reed created a modeling platform that helped the team discover an alternative dam design, called the Sambor Ecological Alternative, with design and operational features that would improve sediment and fish passage while maintaining significant hydropower production. Collaborating with a broader interdisciplinary team that included fish biologists, a dam engineer, a geomorphologist, a geographer, a lawyer and an economist, the team explored alternative siting, design and operation choices, and the specific tradeoffs in balancing energy and ecological objectives that would result.

While the Sambor Ecological Alternative would still pose a significant risk to Mekong fisheries, it demonstrated to officials in the Cambodian government, including the prime minister, that other options exist.

“What we’ve done is show decision makers that there are a range of options available to them, each with different social, ecological and economic outcomes. We helped them define metrics that characterize these outcomes and objectives, and identify alternatives that may offer more balanced outcomes than the originally proposed dam,” said Wild, a visiting assistant research engineer at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center at the University of Maryland and a research scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “I think they’ve been more empowered to think about what their options are. ”

Since the NHI team presented their findings, the Cambodian government has been considering multiple alternatives to the original Sambor design and has expressed interest in building floating arrays of solar photovoltaic panels that would be economically viable and less disruptive to the ecosystem.

Wild and Reed hope to share their systems toolkit with other countries that have limited technical capacity but want to explore energy alternatives beyond what developers propose, allowing them to have a say in their own development.

“It’s easy to say the word alternative, but it’s not easy to generate them in a way that has sufficient salience and credibility to be relevant in a real decision-making context,” Reed said. “A lot of the complexity, nuances, uncertainty and sensitivity of these things, you have to be careful it doesn’t become an artificial mathematical exercise that is only academically interesting. It has to be integrated, interdisciplinary, and it has to have some actual relevance and legitimacy in complex real world decision contexts.”

Energy Economy ,
Others

Blockchain gaining ground in Southeast Asia

10 December 2018

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ASEAN

20 years ago, no one could have accurately predicted the huge impact that inventions like the smartphone and the World Wide Web would have on humankind. As technology advances at a breakneck pace, the same could be said about blockchain technology.

It’s a common misconception to conflate blockchain with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. While the technology gained prominence because it served as the basis of today’s cryptocurrencies, the technology itself has a myriad of uses outside that function.

Blockchain has been touted to revolutionise global supply chains, 21st century industries and even governance. Its versatility and decentralised nature have gained significant currency in Southeast Asia and many governments within the region have warmed up to the prospect of promoting the integration of this technology into businesses and the public sector.

Leading the curve

Thailand has been most eager to adopt blockchain technology in the region. The country has already enacted laws that govern cryptocurrencies and is planning for a blockchain token for instant securities settlements. Recently, its central bank revealed that it is considering blockchain applications for cross-border payments, supply chain financing, and document authentication.

According to the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Veerathai Santiprabhob, the use of technologies like blockchain “can help safeguard financial information and reduce the number and magnitude of fraudulent activities.”

Singapore has by far been the most receptive towards blockchain technology especially when it concerns Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). The island nation has become a top destination for ICOs, especially for Chinese companies after China banned ICOs, calling it an illegal fundraising tool. Singapore’s government and private sector have set up incubators and investment funds focussing on cryptocurrencies and other uses of blockchain.

Besides that, the island state has also begun experimenting on a ground-breaking use of blockchain technology in the energy sector. Singapore-based Electrify uses the technology to create a peer-to-peer energy market where electricity can be bought and sold at cheaper rates. The start-up recently raised US$30 million in funding and is looking to penetrate the Singaporean market further when regulations which allow users to select their preferred energy provider come into effect.

Across the causeway, Malaysia houses the New Economy Movement (NEM) Foundation blockchain centre – the largest of its kind in Asia. It will serve to educate the masses on the technology as well as accommodate burgeoning blockchain based start-ups via incubator and accelerator programs.

Malaysia’s central bank has been receptive towards the use of such technology within the banking sector. Among others, it has a fintech sandbox which allows fintech companies – even those without a presence in Malaysia – to participate in it for a testing period of not more than 12 months. On top of that, it is taking necessary steps to police and regulate cryptocurrency use within its borders. In a published report, nine cryptocurrency regulators have been registered with the central bank.

Promising progress

Indonesia’s blockchain sector is eager to take advantage of the opportunities present. Over the past year or so, it has seen an explosion of blockchain related start-ups – initially focussed on cryptocurrency that are now venturing into other areas.

Moving forward, blockchain could potentially revolutionise government, supply chain logistics, consumer transactions and data security in the country. Both the public and private sectors are looking to collaborate to overcome challenges linked to data management. For example, blockchain-driven application Online Pajak helps improve transparency as well as reduce the paperwork burden related to the tax system.

In Vietnam, a fertile start-up ecosystem will likely pave the way for the development of blockchain applications. The government there recently kickstarted preparations for a fintech sandbox which could be utilised by blockchain-related start-ups. Companies like mobile network provider Viettel and intermediary payment services provider, Napas have been experimenting with the technology and have rolled out several pilot projects.

The Philippines has also recognised blockchain as a revolutionary tool and with the inception of the Blockchain Association of the Philippines (BAP) in May this year, more information and guidance would be readily available for anyone interested in using this technology. Led by Justo Ortiz, chairman of the Union Bank – one of the largest banks in the archipelagic nation – BAP hopes to help small and medium enterprises deploy the technology in order to provide them with a competitive edge.

Moreover, in a bid to improve financial inclusion in the state, Union Bank has also picked five rural banks in Mindanao – the second largest island in the Philippines – for a blockchain pilot program that will test real-time, cheaper retail payments. The initiative is set to link rural banks to the country’s main financial network.

Elsewhere, blockchain technology is still in the early stages of integration in Lao PDR, Brunei, Cambodia and Myanmar. Its uses range from providing financial services to e-government initiatives. While nothing palpable has come out of it as yet, such initiatives demonstrate an increasing awareness of blockchain as a fundamental technology for the future.

Electricity/Power Grid ,
Energy Cooperation

Low carbon electricity generation, carbon pricing could reduce emissions in Asean: MIT report

10 December 2018

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ASEAN

KATOWICE, Poland – The ongoing United Nations (UN) climate change talks in Poland have emphasised the need for the world to drastically reduce its emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, with many nations arguing that both developing and developed countries should bear the responsibility of doing so.

But how can rapidly developing nations, such as those in South-east Asia, strike a balance between mitigating climate change and providing ample electricity to its people and growing economies?

A report by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers released on Monday (Dec 10) during COP24 suggests two possible solutions:one is for countries to opt for lower-carbon electricity generation and the other is to foster more efficient use of energy by putting a price on carbon emissions, such as through a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade scheme.

COP 24 is the informal name for the UN climate change meeting currently being held in the Polish city of Katowice.

Lower-carbon options include renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, or switching from coal to natural gas. Natural gas is considered the cleanest form of fossil fuel, though its combustion still releases heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Lead author of the report Sergey Paltsev, a senior research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative, said: “Producing far less carbon emissions than coal, natural gas could also serve as a backup from intermittent renewables, thereby boosting their penetration in the market.”

Natural gas could be a buffer against the shortcomings of renewable energy sources, which are their intermittency and lack of economically feasible storage solutions, he said at a press conference.

The report, entitled Pathways to Paris: Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), analysed gaps between the climate targets and current emission levels of the regional bloc, highlighted key challenges to complying with those targets, and recommended policy and technology solutions to overcome them.

Using computer models, the study found that Asean was still at least 400 megatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions short of its 2030 emissions target, and must reduce emissions by 11 per cent if it were to achieve this.According to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator, this amount is equivalent to taking 85.6 million passenger vehicles off the roads for a year.

Said Dr Paltsev: “The main challenge that Asean countries face in achieving those goals is to lower emissions while expanding power generation to meet the growing energy demand – nearly a doubling of total primary energy consumption from 2015 to 2030 – in their rapidly developing economies.”

Of the two recommended strategies, Dr Paltsev conceded carbon pricing policies often face substantial political resistance.

That is why the report calls for an initial focus on technology-specific policies, such as increasing the portion of the energy mix from renewable sources, and develop markets in clean technology. Improving energy efficiency could also be another way to reduce emissions, he added during the press conference.

Dr Paltsev acknowledged that there was plenty of differences among the member states of Asean, citing Singapore as an example of a nation that had already reaped the low hanging fruits of energy efficiency.

The report also referred to Singapore’s upcoming carbon tax, which will be imposed on large emitters in the Republic from 2019, saying it could “set a useful near-term example for neighbouring Asean countries to study.” Singapore is the first country in South-east Asia to impose a carbon pricing scheme.

The Asean report is one of two analysing emission targets and gaps released by MIT during COP24, with the other looking at the climate targets of Latin American countries.

Added Dr Paltsev: “These regions have not received as much attention as the largest emitting countries by most gap analysis studies, which tend to focus on the globe as a whole.”

Both reports were funded by General Electric, with researchers working with representatives of the Asean Centre for Energy and selected Latin American countries.

Coal

Carbon shift still not a threat to coal-using firms’ credit worthiness

10 December 2018

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Philippines

The drive toward carbon mitigation and away from fossil fuels is expected to have a gradual effect on coal-using companies and is not a significant risk on their credit worthiness, according to Moody’s Investor Service.

However, Moody’s, in its Power Asia 2019 outlook report, said companies that operate coal-fired power plants would see their cash flows weaken as the risk from the carbon shift increased along with the rise of renewable energy and the costs of environmental compliance.

“However, carbon transition risk will not emerge as a material credit risk during the next 12-18 months because of the continued importance of coal power in Asia,” the credit watcher said.

More broadly, Moody’s gives a stable outlook for the Asian power sector as “most power companies’ operating cash flow will support their credit quality.”

Moody’s sees such firms generating steady operating cash flow in the near term due to stable or increasing dispatch volumes, or timely cost pass through.

As for regulations, Moody’s expects changes to happen gradually which, in turn, will support stable cash flows.

In a report released earlier, the London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative said owners of coal power plants in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines risk losing up to about $60 billion in stranded value as government policy, market liberalization and renewable technology advances play out.

Carbon Tracker noted that coal-fired power generation in the Philippines increased by half from 2010 to 2017. Figures were higher for Vietnam (a 72-percent increase) and Indonesia (53 percent).

The not-for-profit think tank said the companies most at risk from stranded assets were Indonesia’s PT PLN Persero with $15 billion, Vietnam’s EVN with $6.1 billion, and San Miguel Corp. with $3.3 billion.

Renewables

House OKs Legarda son’s solar energy supply franchise on final reading

10 December 2018

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Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved on final reading a bill granting renewable energy distribution franchise to Solar Para Sa Bayan Corp. (SPSB) owned by 25-year-old Leandro Leviste, son of Senator Loren Legarda.

An overwhelming 198 congressmen voted Monday to pass House Bill No. 8179 or an act granting the SPSB a 25-year franchise to “construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain distributable power technologies and mini-grid systems throughout the Philippines to improve access to sustainable energy.”

Seven congressmen voted against the approval of the proposed measure while one lawmaker abstained.

The approval came just four months after bills pushing for the SPSB franchise were filed before the chamber in August.

Several lawmakers have blocked the approval of the proposed measure, which they claimed permits an “unconstitutional super franchise” to SPSB, and violates the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001. /kga

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