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Electricity/Power Grid

DOE admits only one power plant inspected out of 22 forced outages

4 May 2019

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Philippines

Despite its mandate under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that it shall ensure reliable, quality and sufficient power supply for the country, the Department of Energy (DOE) admitted in a Senate hearing that it just inspected one power plant out of the 22 generating facilities that conked out from the March to April episodes of yellow and red alerts.

Department of Energy (DOE) logo
(MANILA BULLETIN)

Section 37 of the power industry reform law expressly mandated the DOE to be the agency that shall secure power supply for the Filipino consumers – and that has been reinforced with the department’s own Circular (DOE Circular No. DC2010-03-0003) issued on February 26, 2010.

Hence, without DOE inspecting the causes of forced outages in power plants, it will be reneging on its very mandate of guaranteeing reliable as well as sufficient and quality electricity service for consumers.

Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola disclosed that it was just the Sual power plant in Pangasinan that was inspected by the DOE. That pales very much in comparison to the nine plants visited and technically inspected by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Instead of keeping pace with the department’s mandate, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi preferred to toss that responsibility to the ERC, although it is clear in EPIRA’s prescription that the ERC’s function revolve around rate-setting; while DOE is in-charge of the provision of enough power supply.

Under Section 37 (d) of the EPIRA, it was explicitly stated that the DOE shall “ensure the reliability, quality and security of supply of electric power; and further in Section 37 (l), the department was enjoined “to formulate and implement programs, including a system of providing incentives and penalties for the judicious and efficient use of energy in all energy-consuming sectors of the economy.”

When asked why the DOE had not inspected the power facilities on unplanned outages, Cusi said “that’s technical and we are not the regulator.” All of his predecessor-secretaries at the department though exercised discretion on power plant inspections and investigations when power facilities suffered mechanical breakdowns during their watch.

On the part of the ERC, it had done field visits to gather information and data as to the real causes of the forced outages in power plants.

The electricity generating assets visited by the ERC included the GNPower Mariveles coal plant of the Ayala group; SCPC Limay coal plant of San Miguel Corporation; South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp plant units 1 and 2 of the Ayala group; First Gen Santa Rita plant of the Lopez group; Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp of the Consunji group; Pagbilao-3 coal plant of Aboitiz Power Corporation and TeaM Energy Philippines; Malaya thermal plant and the Sual coal-fired plant.

ERC Commissioner Catherine P. Maceda reiterated that the Commission “was able to inspect nine (9) plants out of the 16 that had breakdown between March 5 to April 15, that’s more than half of the plants on outage.” She added that five more plants were on forced outages after that and the ERC was also planning to undertake field visit for technical inspection on these facilities.

“All of them have been validated, the details of the technical breakdown, we will have to assess that when we finally have the technical report,” the ERC official stressed.

Electricity/Power Grid

EGAT looks to renovate power plants

3 May 2019

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Thailand

Bangkok – The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is planning to renovate existing power plants as well as make preparations to support electricity generation from renewable energy.

EGAT’s Governor Viboon Rerksirathai said on the occasion of EGAT’s 50th anniversary this week that his company will continue to develop the country’s energy security in keeping with consumers’ changing demands and the global push towards more renewable energy sources.

Renovations costing 160 million baht will start at Wang Noi Power Plant budget and are expected to be complete in 2020. Further renovations are also planned for Phra Nakhon Nuea and Chana power plants.

EGAT has also developed power storage systems in the shape of pumped storage hydro plants and large scale batteries at Bamnet Narong Electricity Station in Chaiyaphum, and Chaibadan Electricity Station in Lopburi, equipped with power management, usage prediction, and generation control from renewable energy systems.

Thailand’s highest electricity usage so far this year was recorded on 24 April at 30,120 megawatts, with the hot weather conditions leading to a higher than normal public demand. It is expected this number may increase up to 30,500 megawatts later in the summer.

Renewables

Solar cell recycling beckons

3 May 2019

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Thailand

Workers are installing solar panels as roofs in parking lots. Thailand needs recycling facilities to support widespread use of solar panels. Chanat Katanyu

Local companies are keen on investment in solar panel recycling plants under the flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme to capitalise on growth of solar panel installation in Thailand.

Recycling facilities for solar panels are in demand as usage of panels on rooftops, farms, households, factories and buildings skyrockets, with prices of installation falling as the panels become cheaper.

Solar panels contain many different silicon cells — thin film solar cells and crystalline silicon solar cells — as well as cadmium telluride, which is needed for recycling.

The Industrial Works Department projects the volume of solar panels expiring in 5-10 years will reach 500,000 tonnes or 18 million solar panels.

Solar panels typically last 20 years.

Thongchai Chawalitpichaet, director-general of the department, said the pilot location for solar panel recycling plants will be in Chachoengsao, as some local investors have prepared budgets and land plots there.

“They would like to invest in these facilities, but investors are calling for the government to support their investments with incentives and privileges,” he said.

The department is in talks with many state agencies and related organisations to push forward such plants.

Mr Thongchai said there will be 10 strategic areas across the country allotted as recycling zones for solar panels.

According to the department, Thailand has 450 solar power generation projects.

Most projects are located in central and northeastern provinces.

“We forecast the country needs 100 recycling plants to support the expiry of solar panels,” said Mr Thongchai.

He said the department has cooperated with the Energy Ministry to allocate a government budget of 20 million baht to support a study of each investor for the recycling facilities.

“It is the first time Thailand is preparing recycling facilities of solar panels after the government supported solar power generation,” said Mr Thongchai.

The Energy Ministry said companies and industrial operators have installed solar panels generating 8,600 megawatts as of 2018, some 15% of the country’s power generation of 56,034MW.

Capacity from this platform grew nearly 300% from 3,200MW in 2017.

The new version of the national power development plan 2018-37 has set new solar power capacity at 12,725MW by 2037.

Electricity/Power Grid

RM155m for Ranau power supply

3 May 2019

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Malaysia

RANAU: The completion of the 132kV electric transmission line project and the Main Entrance Substation (PMU) which is currently under construction will enable the people here to enjoy more stable electricity by 2021. General Manager (Major Project) Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), Ir John Gomez, said, for this project alone, the government has allocated RM155 million, which would benefit over 16,000 existing clients here. “At this point, the absence of the Sabah Grid system connection has caused the Ranau area to be exposed to the risk of power supply disruption. This is because the Ranau area now relies entirely on limited existing electricity generation rather than increasing electricity demand each year. “Towards that end, the implementation of the construction project of 132 kiloVolt (kV) Kota Belud-Ranau will benefit the people around Ranau when fully completed,” he said.

According to John, this project involves the construction of towers and 74km transmission lines covering Kota Belud, Tuaran and Ranau areas and is expected to be able to supply electricity to consumers by 2021. “SESB also expects when that time arrive, the development in the Ranau area will be intensified since there is no further restraint on SESB to provide electricity to new consumers. “In addition, the government will also save on fuel subsidies being channeled to SESB as the main source of electricity generation in the Ranau area is from diesel oil,” he said.

John added that the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) is currently leading the implementation of the Rural Electricity Supply (BELB) project in Sabah and will only be handed over to be managed to SESB once the project is fully completed. According to him, the internal wired installment installment scheme or the Assisted Rural Wiring Scheme (ARWS) is also available to eligible users who consists of those who are less fortunate in Sabah. “Interested users are advised to get more information and application forms at nearby SESB offices,” he explained.

Renewables

TTG completes 19MW solar project in Vietnam after lengthy delay

3 May 2019

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Vietnam

Thien Tan Group has completed a 19.2MW solar PV project in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai, after three years of construction.

The Mo Duc solar power plant, in the South Central Coast region, had a ground-breaking ceremony in August 2015, but it faced various delays.

With total investment of VND900 billion (US$39.8 million), the project is spread over 30 hectares and uses technology from US firm FTC Solar. The firm claims it is the first large-scale PV project to have been connected to the national grid in Vietnam. Although, earlier this week BIM and Ayala laid claim to having completed the largest PV project in Southeast Asia, standing as a 330MW cluster of projects in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam, which has also been connected to the grid.

TTG claimed that the plant can endure strong storms as the mounting brackets use smart sensors that automatically close in extreme weather.

Oil & Gas

Singapore Pavilion Energy marks first ship-to-ship LNG refuelling operation

3 May 2019

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Singapore

PAVILION Energy has performed the first commercial ship-to-ship (STS) liquefied natural gas (LNG) refuelling operation in the port of Singapore, the company said.

The operation included loading 2,000 cubic metres of LNG onto a small-scale tanker at the Singapore LNG (SLNG) Terminal, followed by an STS transfer to a receiving heavy-lift commercial vessel, Pavilion Energy said in a statement on Thursday.

The use of LNG as a marine or bunker fuel has grown amid tightening regulations on global shipping emissions.

“We strongly believe that LNG will become the worldwide fuel of choice for bunkering in the long term,” said Tan Soo Koong, chief executive officer of SLNG.

“We are keen to work with all stakeholders and invest in infrastructure as necessary, to help grow LNG bunkering here,” Mr Tan said.

Pavilion Energy is a Singapore-based LNG company incorporated by state-owned Temasek Holdings to invest in clean energy.

From 2020, International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content above 0.5 per cent – compared with 3.5 per cent now – unless they are equipped to clean their sulphur emissions. Using LNG to power ships instead of traditional fuels such as fuel oil or gasoil can reduce polluting emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides by 90 to 95 per cent, according to industry estimates.

Singapore is the world’s largest bunkering hub with sales of 49.8 million tonnes of fuel in 2018. Other major bunkering ports such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands have also encouraged the use of LNG bunkers.

In Rotterdam, demand for cleaner-burning LNG rose more than sixfold in 2018 to 9,500 tonnes, up from 1,500 tonnes in the year before. REUTERS

Oil & Gas ,
Renewables

Shell pursuing $1 billion exit from Indonesia LNG project – sources

3 May 2019

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Indonesia

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is moving to sell its stake in Indonesia’s $15 billion (£11.5 billion) Abadi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, industry and banking sources said, following on from an asset disposal programme that has raised more than $30 billion.

Shell, the world’s largest buyer and seller of LNG, is raising cash to help pay for its $54 billion purchase of BG Group in 2015 and hopes to raise around $1 billion from the sale of its 35 percent stake in the project, the sources said.

Shell’s decision to sell out of the Abadi project in the Masela block, operated by Japanese oil and gas firm Inpex Corp which holds the remaining stake, highlights the difficulty Southeast Asia’s largest economy has in attracting energy investment.

Shell, Inpex and an official with Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources all declined to comment.

Construction was due to start in 2018, but in 2016 was delayed until at least 2020 after Indonesian authorities instructed a switch from an offshore to an onshore facility.

Inpex and Shell are now preparing a new Plan of Development for submission this year, Shell’s annual report revealed.

The project is not expected to be operational until at least 2026, but Inpex has started preliminary front end engineering design for an LNG plant with an annual capacity of 9.5 million tonnes.

Dwi Soetjipto, chairman of Indonesian oil and gas task force SKK Migas, said in March that the government and the operators have not agreed on the cost for the project and the government has not approved the revised development plan.

LNG GROWTH

Shell sees LNG as a central pillar of the world’s transition to lower carbon energy in the coming decades. The super-chilled fuel allows easier transportation of natural gas, the least polluting fossil fuel, but is relatively expensive to develop.

The decision to sell out of Abadi comes weeks after the Anglo-Dutch company decided to exit a major Baltics LNG project led by Russian state gas giant Gazprom.

Shell last year gave the green light for the development of a $31 billion LNG export terminal in Western Canada, known as LNG Canada.

Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said on Thursday that overall Shell was happy with its LNG portfolio and was confident of its ability to grow it in line with the market.

Oil & Gas

Oil potentials in Indonesia need more exploration: association

2 May 2019

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Indonesia

akarta (ANTARA) – President of the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Tumbur Parlindungan expects oil and gas exploration activities in Indonesia to be encouraged given that there are still many oil reserves in the Southeast Asia region.

“Unfortunately, in the past 15 years, exploration activities have been quite minimal in Indonesia. In fact, many other countries whose oil and gas reserves are less than those of Indonesia have been improving for upstream oil and gas investments,” Tumbur Parlindungan said in a press release received here on Sunday.

He stated that at present, Indonesia is having opportunities and challenges in restoring the glory of the upstream oil and gas sector.

This, he continued, can be done by restoring the interest and enthusiasm of global oil and gas investors to carry out exploration and exploitation in the country.

“National oil and gas reserves are proven to be still relatively large in the Southeast Asia region, even in Asia. It’s just that there needs to be additional oil and gas reserves realized by exploration,” said Tumbur.

For this reason, he said, this fact should be of concern to all stakeholders, considering that the portion of oil and gas in national energy needs is still highest when compared to coal, or with new and renewable energy.

Based on the General Plan of National Energy (RUEN), the target of mixed fossil energy in 2025 reaches 47 percent compared to 43.5 percent in 2050. .

Still based on RUEN, national oil production is projected at 567,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) in 2025, while in 2050 it is 698,000 barrel oil per day (BOPD).

Meanwhile, the national crude oil refinery needs in 2025 reached 2.19 million BOPD and increased to 4.61 million BOPD in 2050.

Assuming that national oil production is absorbed by 100 percent for domestic needs, national crude oil imports in 2025 will range from 1.67 million BOPD and 3.92 million BOPD by 2050.

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