The Department of Energy is evaluating several large-scale power projects that could receiver a certificate of energy project of national significance under Executive Order 30 that streamlines the procedures for major projects. The big ticket projects include the Wawa Pumped-Storage hydro project of Olympia Violago Water & Power Inc.; 500-megawatt Kibungan Badeo Pumped Storage Hydro power of Coheco Badeo Corp.; and the 100.8-MW solar farm power project of Total Power Inc. Other projects that filed applications and under evaluation with the DoE are Repower Energy Development Corp.’s 10-MW Pulangi IV Hydropower project in Pangasinan; water-to-energy projects in Pampanga and Batangas of Green Atom Renewable Energy Corp.; the 70-MW Camarines Sur wind power project of Cornerstone Energy Development Inc.; 1.7-MW Tagpangi River hydro of Everyhydro Corp. and Hedcor Inc.’s 20-MW Sablan 1 hydro power project.
Transmission operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines also applied for CEPNS for several transmission projects.
MANILA, Oct 14 (Reuters) – The Philippines said on Sunday it would suspend the implementation of a further increase in excise tax on fuel products, set to take effect in January 2019, to stem rising inflation expectations.
Inflation in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies has been rising since January, due to higher taxes, costlier food and fuel and a weak peso, causing a decline in President Rodrigo Duterte’s popularity.
The Department of Finance (DOF) expects foregone revenues of up to 40 billion pesos ($740 million) a year from the suspension. That amount is part of the crucial funding for Duterte’s $180 billion “Build, Build, Build” programme, which aims to upgrade the country’s infrastructure.
Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, the excise tax on fuel products is to be gradually increased between 2018 and 2020, with the first hike implemented in January and the second to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.
The law allows for the suspension of the second hike if the average price of Dubai crude, based on Mean of Platts Singapore, reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel from October to December 2018.
“The President is making an early announcement of the temporary suspension of the January 2019 oil excise increase” ahead of the trigger, the Department of Finance said in a statement.
“Today’s price and multiple estimates of crude prices over the next two months show that the average price will stay above the $80 threshold,” it said.
The government expects the tax hike suspension to help tame inflation, which quickened to 6.7 percent in September, the fastest in nearly a decade and marking the seventh straight month the rate stayed outside the 2-4 percent target this year.
Higher inflation and expectations that it will remain elevated in the last quarter prompted the central bank to tighten monetary policy by hiking key interest rates.
The central bank, which has two more policy meetings this year, expects inflation to return to within its 2-4 percent target next year. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Mark Potter)
Building for the future: The tram project, if approved, will take two years to complete, and cost 15 billion baht to build.
Khon Kaen has been chosen to be the government’s model smart city for other provinces to learn from.
Last Saturday, Khon Kaen hosted the Smart City Expo 2018, an event designed to showcase a variety of projects aimed at achieving the goal.
Known as the centre of the Northeastern Region, Khon Kaen — the 9th largest municipality in the country — is the first province to hold such an expo in Thailand.
Jointly held by both the public and private sectors in the province, the expo, organised at Khon Kaen International Convention and Exhibition Centre, included innovative ideas for improving the bus and light rail networks.
The theme of the event was “Be supportive and move forward together”.
Transport hub: A digital rendition of the planned Khon Kaen light rail project. Photos: Khon Kaen City Development (KKTT) Co., LT D.
Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, who presided over the expo, said he was confident Khon Kaen would become a good model for other provinces to follow.
One of the province’s main strengths is the local educational institutions’ contribution to the efforts to make the smart city scheme happen.
“These are pieces of work by the Thai people. The work includes technology, studies and innovations by Khon Kaen that has adopted a smart work ideology,” he said.
“The bus project, for instance, will be implemented next year,” he added.
Khon Kaen’s Smart City development programme has also been included in the country’s 12th national social and economic plan (2017-21).
The programme calls for the city to double its annual GDP per person to US$12,000-$15,000 (394,000-493,000 baht) by 2029 from an average of $6,000 in 2016.
Khon Kaen has a population of 1.8 million and its GDP was 190 billion baht in 2017.
“The scheme has been created in the best interest of the public,” said ACM Prajin who serves as the chairman of the government’s committee on the smart city scheme.
The committee has recently assigned the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) to carry out a logo design contest for the project.
“To become a smart city, a city must fulfil at least two criteria: A smart environment and either a smart economy, mobility, energy, governance, living or population,” ACM Prajin said.
Any cities interested in participating are required to submit a plan to the government for consideration.
Applications will first be screened by a subcommittee before the committee makes a final decision as to which cities deserve to receive full smart city status.
A model for others: Deputy Prime Minister ACM Prajin Juntong presides over the Smart City Expo 2018 in Khon Kaen on Oct 6. Photo: Chakkrapan Natanri
A CITY FOR ALL
Rawee Hanpachern, lecturer on architecture at Khon Kaen University told the Bangkok Post that the Smart City Expo 2018 is the latest effort by the province to invite all sectors to work together on the initiative.
The first expo includes people from a broad array of professions and backgrounds including low-income housing communities, non-governmental organisations, environmental conservation groups, waste recyclers, bicycle groups and also women’s and children’s groups.
“We are trying to create a platform for all sectors to come together to find smart solutions to managing various issues in the city because a true smart city is not just about building train lines, or improving the internet, it is about management solutions to handle refusal disposal issues and improving the local environment. It can be anything, not just infrastructure,” he said.
“After all, a city is all about people. And a smart city is where smart people come together to create better management solutions,” said Assc Prof Rawee, also a native of Khon Kaen and one of the founders of the Khon Kaen Think Tank (KKTT).
Comprising natives of the city — including successful local businessmen — the KKTT was established in January 2015 and became the spearhead for driving initiatives in the province.
“What made the Khon Kaen Smart City project so unique and successful was collaboration. We have an active community, who can link with the university and provincial administrations. All the provincial governors agreed to help us too,” he said.
CHALLENGES TO SUCCESS
The government has welcomed the Khon Kaen model, but at a local level, some residents believe the smart city project benefits only the elite and wealthy middle class, not people from all walks of life.
“It will take time to bring everyone in the community on board. It is a long term project, and we need to involve all sectors. A true smart city does not leave anyone behind, and is definitely not exclusively for the elite or wealthy,” Dr Rawee said, adding that the KKTT will focus on including people from all sectors to join various community-level initiatives.
Another obstacle is that central government remains reluctant to allocate administrative power to the province.
Currently, the KKTT is waiting for the government to give overall approval to the Khon Kaen Light Rail Transit, the flagship initiative of the project.
LIGHT RAIL CATALYST
Local business groups and the provincial administration joined hands to launch the Khon Kaen Transit System Co (KKTS) in 2017.
The only similar company in Thailand is Krungthep Thanakom, launched by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to operate transit services in the capital.
The planned 26km light rail network from Samran to Tha Phra sub-district will involve the construction of 18 to 21 stations, and need two years to complete.
Even in these relatively early days of the project, progress has been made.
Local business and provincial administration, including the five municipalities in the province, launched the Khon Kaen Transit System Co (KKTS) in 2017.
The light rail project has been valued at around 15 billion baht.
So far, the Land Traffic Management Commission (LTMC), a national think tank for transportation policy, has approved the plan.
All that remains is for the cabinet to approve the development project before bidding on the construction and running of the railway can begin.
“Some people might perceive that urban mass transit is created for only the wealthy or middle class. However, this infrastructure when completed will create a new ecosystem for the urban area and bring changes to the way of life for all in the province,” Dr Rawee said.
ORIGIN OF THE SMART CITY
Tired of waiting for central government, a community of business people in Khon Kaen struggled to find their own solution. And they came up with the “Khon Kaen Model”. The model is based on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which uses mass transit as the backbone for real estate and city development. If successfully implemented, Khon Kaen will be the first city in Thailand, apart from Bangkok, to have its own rail system.
The backbone of the Khon Kaen urban development plan is the construction of a 26-kilometre light rail transit line to solve traffic congestion and increase the value of real estate along the line. The plan is to generate sufficient income and wealth to cover the cost of constructing and maintaining the rail system. However, the goals of the Khon Kaen people are not only to solve traffic problems and develop real estate, but also to make their city more liveable and their economy more prosperous.
The Khon Kaen business community also has an ambition to master rail technologies so that they can develop more transit lines in the future and even sell such transit projects to other cities. Thus, they chose to develop their system using trams, which is an open system, rather than those used in all Bangkok mass-transit systems. Such closed-systems necessitate relying on foreign technologies indefinitely.
Fully aware that Khon Kaen is not a tourist city, the local businessmen made an effort to position the city as a regional hub for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice), with a proposal to construct an international convention centre. They also plan to establish an inland container depot (ICD) to cut storage and transportation costs for the goods of small- and medium-sized enterprises. All of this will be executed and funded by the private sector.
The Khon Kaen Model sets an example of participatory development in which many sectors take part in the process. It all began when 20 local tycoons, who have known one another well since their school days, each invested 10 million baht to establish the Khon Kaen Think Tank (KKTT) Group in January 2015. The company was set up to be a vehicle to collaborate with Khon Kaen University to develop strategies for urban development. With assistance from the KKTT, five municipalities along the tram line have also founded their own company, the Khon Kaen Transit System Co (KKTS), to implement the model.
The regional government of Bandung in Indonesia has raised the wish to receive an ownership position in geothermal development companies working on project in the region.
Kamojang geothermal plant, Indonesia (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)
The Government of the Bandung Regency in Indonesia has raised the wish to receive shared ownership in geothermal or geothermal exploitation companies. Bandung Regent Dadang M. Naser said, in accordance with the Law, local governments that have oil and gas exploitation locations could have shares in management companies.
Bandung Regency itself has geothermal potential that has long been exploited by companies engaged in the field of electrical energy.
“We want Bandung Regency to be involved in geothermal share ownership,” said Dadang today. At the very least, said Dadang, in accordance with the law the Bandung regency government can have geothermal shares as much as 5% to 10%.
Efforts to ask for share ownership have been made several times to the geothermal management company. “It’s been fought many times. But there has been no answer,” he said. He hopes that geothermal parties can grant this wish.
The recent withdrawal of Vietnamese groups from billion-dollar oil refinery projects is paving the way for potential foreign investors, especially those from Thailand and China, to jump in the industry.
At a recent meeting with government agencies, Pham Van Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), proposed to pull out from the South Van Phong oil refinery project in the southern province of Khanh Hoa so that the group can focus its financial resources on developing other important projects.
Responding to the Petrolimex’s proposal, Deputy Finance Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan said that the finance ministry agreed, emphasizing that the ministry also made the same written suggestion to competent ministries and agencies about the issue previously.
According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Hieu, the main reason for the Petrolimex’s withdrawal proposal is the group’s financial health.
If the withdrawal proposal is approved, other investors will have opportunities to jump in the US$4.8 billion project, which is on the list of 127 large-scale projects calling for foreign investments, as used to see with the Long Son refinery project recently.
After Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) planned to divest from the Long Son refinery project in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Thailand’s Siam Cement Public Company Limited (SCG) in May this year acquired all 29 percent stake of PetroVietnam for more than VND2.05 trillion (US$90 million) to become the sole investor of the project.
Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president and CEO of SCG, said that the Vietnamese economy is on an impressive growth path and the Long Son refinery project is expected to encourage long-term investment in related industries throughout the value chain, as well as improving a competitive standard of products that will lessen the country’s need to import petrochemical products.
According to SCG, the engineering, procurement, and construction contract of the Long Son refinery project, whose total investment capital was approved to increase to US$5.4 billion early this year from the previous US$3.8 billion, will be implemented from the third quarter of this year and the whole project is expected to be put into operation in 2023.
Ensuring domestic supply source
Vietnam currently has two oil refinery plants, Dung Quat and Nghi Son, which meet some 70 percent of domestic oil and petrol demands. The country still has to import the products to meet its rising production and transport demands.
Chairman of the Vietnam Petrol Association Phan The Rue estimated that Vietnam’s oil and petrol market this year will rise by 7-8 percent against last year.
Statistics from the General Department of Customs showed that the country imported 7.07 million tons of refined petrol and oil worth of US$4.66 billion in the first six months of this year, increased by 11.5 percent in quantity and 40.4 percent in value compared with the same period last year.
The imports from all markets surged in the first half, of which imports from Russia rocketed by 11.5 times in quantity and 15.8 times in value to 60,361 tons worth of US$51.24 million, followed by Malaysia (up 63.5 percent in quantity and 120.7 percent in value to 2.01 million tons and US$1.24 billion) and China (up 54.6 percent in quantity and 105.1 percent in value to 790,725 tons and US$ 534.34 million).
The country last year also had to spend US$7 billion for importing over 12.8 million tons of refined oil and petrol products.
The establishment of oil refinery plants therefore will help Vietnam to be active in the petroleum supply source, minimizing adverse impacts on the domestic petroleum market due to the global market volatility.
Bentley Systems, a leading provider of advancing infrastructure solutions, said greenfield and brownfield substation projects can reap design collaboration and construction benefits from the building information modelling (BIM) and realty modelling.
Whether designing greenfield substation projects from the ground up or performing brownfield design associated with existing substation infrastructure, intelligent 3D substation design employing BIM processes and reality modelling demonstrates cost and time-saving benefits, said the company in a statement.
In a greenfield project in Cambodia, Pestech undertook a project for Diamond Power for the conceptual design through commissioning of the 230-kV Kratie and Kampong Cham Substation and Transmission System. The project will support the growing population and tourism industry.
The Kratie 230/22-kV substation will connect with the Sesan hydropower plant, which is under construction in the upper Mekong area, and also serve as a major collection center of power from several mini hydropower plants, connecting to the national power grid of Cambodia.
Visualization of the 3D substation design was essential to prepare and plan work before and during construction. The site was located far from the town within forest and hilly roads and visualisation of the design with accurate dimensions was a significant challenge, which was successfully overcome using Bentley Substation and Bentley Navigator.
ProjectWise was used for collaboration across departments on-site and offsite including procurement, management, engineering, and construction. The project is expected to be completed in November 2017 and Pestech will also be responsible for operating the power transmission system for a concession period of 25 years.
The design of past projects was done manually, via hand-drawn and manual calculation of components and third-party CAD software. This approach was prone to human error, time consuming, and resulted in inconsistent quality.
Pestech’s engineering team reported many benefits of Bentley Substation from the unified design environment facilitating cross-discipline collaboration, automated design drawing and reports, enforcement of engineering standards, and more. These included cost savings in procurement, reduction in errors, and substantial time savings. A detailed analysis comparing the use of Bentley applications with previous methods estimated time savings of up to 70 percent were achieved.
In contrast, approximately 95 per cent of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) annual $1-billion substation budget is spent on existing brownfield substations. Since 2016, PG&E has been pioneering the use of a combination of aerial equipment such as man lifts, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and on-ground photo equipment to capture images of existing substations.
Bentley’s ContextCapture is used to process these images and produce accurate 3D reality meshes, which can be referenced into Bentley Substation to complete the entire substation design in 3D.
ContextCapture models allow effective collaboration between the Transmission Line, Land Planning and Zoning, and the Electrical and Civil Substation Engineering departments. ProjectWise is used to manage the models and facilitate collaboration.
With up-to-date 3D models, all stakeholders can clearly see the impact of each department on the project, avoiding costly conflicts in the field and allowing for more streamlined, effective, and sustainable long-term planning.
Ralph Hansen, construction supervisor, PG&E, said: “Having a complete 3D model at the time of constructability review allows us to measure electrical and physical clearance in real time, which helps eliminate costly conflicts during the construction phases. With today’s increasing substation complexity and decreasing substation footprint, having a 3D model is a must.”
The South Street 115/11.5/23-kv indoor substation project executed by TRC for National Grid involved rebuilding South Street Substation in Providence, Rhode Island, converting the existing three 115-kV overhead line supply circuits to underground cable circuits, and re-routing the existing 23- and 11.5-kV underground feeder getaway facilities.
To complete the project on time and on budget required TRC to integrate existing conditions to the new construction while the substation remained in operation. This project was also in a highly visible and congested area, which caused concern over the aesthetics of the site and building.
The project had a very complicated building design and required incorporating a large number of subcontractor files in third-party formats to a single master design model for cross-discipline checking. These files were placed in ProjectWise and provided an indisputable record of what was received from subcontractors.
Bentley Substation was used to integrate these different formats into the Bentley Substation models by TRC staff in design centrrs across the country. As a result, TRC identified issues before construction or fabrication that would have led to delays at the site and cost overruns. Bentley Substation was used to do full 3D client walkthroughs for interior and exterior design reviews and the 3D models were also used in the renderings for the planning board and for public comment.
Jason Poissonnier, TRC ProjectWise administrator, said: “Bentley Substation along with ProjectWise was instrumental in successfully completing the South Street project, which was in a congested, highly visible area. TRC utilised resources from several offices who collaborated on over 2,000 CAD files as well as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, PDF, TIFF, and other files.”
“The ability to incorporate different types of design files from subcontractors into the 3D model made the design reviews truly all-encompassing and resulted in identifying many areas that needed redesign, thereby avoiding costly changes later during construction,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Real GDP in 2017 was stronger than expected, rebounding to 1.3 per cent supported by both the O&G and non-O&G sectors.
On September 17, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Brunei Darussalam.
Brunei Darussalam’s economy has been adjusting well to lower oil prices since 2014, with the authorities undertaking wide-ranging reforms. The decline in oil and gas (O&G) prices led to large budget deficits and narrower current account surpluses. In response, the authorities in 2015 launched a reform program aimed at (i) ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability and intergenerational equity and (ii) fostering economic diversification by improving the business climate. These reforms have started to bear fruit, as growth has begun to rebound and inflation has returned to positive territory.
Real GDP in 2017 was stronger than expected, rebounding to 1.3 per cent supported by both the O&G and non-O&G sectors. Higher liquified natural gas (LNG) and methanol production drove O&G sector growth, more than offsetting lower oil production, while non-O&G growth was mainly underpinned by the ongoing downstream construction projects. Recent data indicate that the recovery carried over into early 2018.
The growth momentum is expected to continue, with growth accelerating to 2.3 per cent in 2018. Over the medium term, economic growth and macroeconomic balances are expected to strengthen further. The start of downstream production—including from the Hengyi refinery and Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI)—and stronger O&G activities, will result in robust GDP growth and exports in 2019–23. Imports linked to the FDI project execution are likely to keep the current account at a moderate surplus in 2018, but the surplus is expected to increase from 2019 onward. The fiscal position is also expected to recover over the medium term but remains vulnerable to O&G price shocks. Inflation is expected to remain low but positive. Risks to the near-term outlook are broadly balanced, although substantial uncertainty surrounds O&G prices.
The authorities have made progress in implementing fiscal consolidation, adjusting financial sector regulation, improving the business climate, attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), and supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). From 2016 to 2018, Brunei experienced the largest cumulative improvement in the World Bank Doing Business score, particularly with a remarkable improvement in access to credit. Major FDI projects underway in the downstream sector—the Hengyi refinery and BFI—together with other FDI projects within other priority business clusters should contribute towards achieving the goals of more dynamic and sustainable economic growth under the Wawasan 2035 development plan. The Financial Sector Blueprint articulates the authorities’ plans for the financial sector’s developments over the medium-term. Its five pillars identify areas for action that would help foster new international financial linkages for the country and boost the financial sector’s contribution to GDP—a central component of the diversification strategy.
Executive Board Assessment
Executive Directors noted that Brunei Darussalam has been adjusting well to lower oil and gas (O&G) prices since 2014. Directors welcomed the rebound in economic growth and the prospects for continued recovery over the medium term. They commended the authorities for their wide-ranging reforms. Directors noted, however, that important risks are clouding the outlook, including uncertainty surrounding O&G prices and production, rising protectionism and tighter global financial conditions. Against this background, they underscored the need to continue reform implementation to ensure long-term sustainability and intergenerational equity, increase productivity and competitiveness, diversify the sources of growth, and build resilience to shocks.
Directors emphasized that continued fiscal consolidation is needed to bring the fiscal position closer to that required by intergenerational equity considerations. They stressed that fiscal policy reforms should focus on rationalizing current expenditure, including gradually reforming fuel subsidies and containing the wage bill by streamlining the civil service, as well as diversifying revenues. Directors encouraged the authorities to formalize a medium-term fiscal framework and intensify public financial management reforms. This would require incorporating subsidies and extra-budgetary funds in the budget presentation, improving management, and better monitoring of public expenditure.
Directors noted that the Brunei dollar’s peg to the Singapore dollar remains appropriate, providing a credible monetary anchor and stability to the financial system.
Directors encouraged further efforts towards financial sector development, while also underscoring the need for improvements in banking regulation and supervision to preserve financial stability. They underscored the benefits of broadening the investor base, establishing a secondary bond market, and creating a stock exchange. Directors welcomed plans to operationalize the macroprudential surveillance framework and supported the ongoing development of a contingency planning and crisis management framework for the banking system.
Directors commended the authorities’ efforts towards economic diversification. They considered that sustained efforts in enhancing the business environment, supporting the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and raising human capital would help develop the non-O&G and private sectors and attract FDI. However, further measures are needed to generate stronger positive spillovers from FDI to the rest of the economy. Support for MSMEs should also be assessed regularly.
Directors welcomed the steps taken to improve statistical compilation and build technical capacity. They encouraged further efforts to address remaining data and dissemination gaps. In this context, they encouraged the authorities to undertake a data ROSC.
NAYPYITAW—The government cannot control the fuel oil price, which is determined by market forces and the law of supply and demand, Ministry of Electricity and Energy managing director U Thant Sin said.
At a press conference on Thursday, the managing director said fuel oil prices were unlikely to come down any time soon due to the kyat’s decline against the Singapore dollar and other currencies.
“We can’t bring down fuel oil prices in the international market. Similarly, we can’t control domestic market prices, which fluctuate based on the [kyat-dollar] exchange rate and market prices in Singapore,” U Thant Sin said.
“But we are always monitoring the market to make sure that the prices of imported fuel oil are fair,” he added.
The kyat has slumped steeply against the dollar over the past four months, from 1,346 kyats per dollar on June 11 to 1,585 kyats per dollar on Friday. The kyat has also weakened against the Singapore dollar. The market rate was 1,148 kyats to the Singapore dollar on Friday.
Earlier this month, the Myanmar Fuel Oil Importers and Distributors Association said fuel oil prices would remain high due to price increases in Singapore, a key source of Myanmar’s fuel imports.
“We will freeze the price if the selling price in the market is unreasonably high. We have the authority to do so. But, as we’ve built a free market economy, we have to be careful with price restrictions,” said U Thant Sin.
The ministry has intervened in the market twice before, in December 2017 and April 2018, following price spikes.
Fuel oil prices have increased by around 300 kyats per liter over the past three months, with prices varying from place to place depending on transportation costs.
“The government can’t handle this; it can’t exert influence on fuel oil importers,” said U Kyaw Thura, a resident of Pyinmana Township.
“The government should intervene, for example by selling reserve fuel oil or by inviting foreign investment in fuel oil distribution, so that the market is not monopolized,” he added.
The Myanmar Investment Commission relaxed regulations last year and allowed 100-percent-foreign-owned companies to invest in local fuel oil distribution. Since then a few foreign companies have inquired about the possibility, but none has made an official proposal.
“[U.S.-based] Shell Oil Company approached us recently. We asked why they hadn’t yet come [to invest in Myanmar]. They said they are still examining the feasibility [of such a move],” U Thant Sin said.
The ministry is also considering establishing joint ventures with foreign companies to supply fuel oil in Myanmar, he said.
In response to the fuel oil price increase in the domestic market, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy has sold domestically produced petroleum, but this is only suitable for use in motorbikes.
Since April, the ministry has sold 15 million gallons of domestically produced petroleum.
