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Renewables

24 August 2019

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Philippines

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is eyeing the use of solar energy as a source of power for its communities.

This, as the Germany-based WeGen Company, has expressed interest in helping the region solve its electrification problems.

“We have yet to see the overall picture of the power energy situation of the region, then surely we could come up with certain remedies on the matter,” Charlito Ayco, chief growth officer of WeGen Philippines, said in an interview on the sidelines of the August 22-23 1st Bangsamoro Energy Forum and Planning Workshop held here.

WeGen targets to eradicate energy poverty worldwide through clean, affordable, and renewable energy, with the use of solar power technology.
“You see, our firm is ‘mission-based’ as we cater to areas we see have long been affected by electrification and other power woes,” Ayco said.

On Friday, the BARMM’s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE) wrapped its two-day forum with inputs leading to a regional power summit planned to take place before the yearend.

“The just-concluded forum is aimed for us to have a plan before holding a big summit. We are planning to have an energy summit,” MENRE-BARMM Minister Abdulrauf Macacua said.

Macacua said the forum, which carried the theme “Strengthening Opportunities for the Bangsamoro Energy Sector as Catalyst for Regional Development” and was attended by more than 100 stakeholders, was a prelude to the conduct of the energy summit with President Rodrigo R. Duterte as the guest of honor.

Apart from WeGen, the MENRE minister said many other investors, both local and foreign, have shown interest in investing in the development of sustainable energy in the region.

“Our potential partners are looking at renewable energy and one of those is solar power, they are more inclined on that,” he said, citing Germany as among the potential investor.

“Germany, for example, they came to us for the sole purpose of seeing the possibility of putting up solar or renewable energy,” Macacua said.

Meanwhile, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim said he believes that renewable energy is important to sustainable development.

“Providing households access to electricity is vital in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), specifically SDG 7, which calls for access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all,” he said.

Ebrahim said his leadership prioritizes “the protection of our environment and bringing renewable energy to the far-flung areas in the region.”

The MENRE-BARMM is responsible for preparing, integrating, coordinating, supervising, and controlling all plans, programs, projects, and activities of the region related to energy exploration, development, utilization, distribution, and conservation.

During the forum, Dr. Norodin Salam, MENRE-BARMM deputy minister of energy, also presented to the stakeholders their office’s mandates and strategic direction in achieving sustainable energy for the region.

The BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, and Lanao del Sur; the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato, and 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato. (PNA)

Others

China, Vietnam Spar on High Seas Over $2.5 Trillion in Energy

24 August 2019

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Vietnam

When a Chinese state-owned survey vessel sailed into waters off Vietnam’s coast in early July, it unleashed a high-seas standoff with trillions of dollars at stake that risks drawing in Russia and the U.S.

For weeks now the Haiyang Dizhi 8 has zigzagged across a square block of water to study the seabed in an active drilling block operated by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft Oil PJSC. Satellite images show more than a dozen Chinese and Vietnamese coast guard ships maneuvering around the surveyor, which at one point included a heavily-armored Chinese cutter known as “The Beast” that is larger than most American destroyers.

The location is particularly worrying for smaller countries looking to extract oil and gas from disputed parts of the South China Sea: It sits three times closer to Vietnam than the Chinese mainland. While Beijing has long sought to disrupt exploration in parts of the sea that fall under its expansive claims, its naval buildup and moves to construct military assets on disputed reefs over the past decade have allowed it to more aggressively assert its interests further from its shores.

“It’s the growing intensity or frequency of these occurrences that truly differs from the past,” said Collin Koh, a research fellow from Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. The current standoff “could’ve sufficed to make investors think twice about staying on that offshore project, and this might even serve as a deterrence to future investors who might want to anticipate and avoid being embroiled in such troubles.”

The Chinese move comes just as it’s holding negotiations on joint exploration in a disputed area with the Philippines, which has sought closer ties with Beijing since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power. Vietnam has persistently rejected China’s nine-dash line map of the sea as a basis for cooperating on energy resources, prompting tensions to increase as Beijing’s military strength grows.

The U.S. this week criticized China’s move to send the survey to Vietnam as “an escalation by Beijing in its efforts to intimidate other claimants out of developing resources in the South China Sea.” The State Department statement said China was blocking Southeast Asian nations from accessing an estimated $2.5 trillion in unexploited hydrocarbon resources.

For Vietnam — a country that produced 22-33 million tons of oil from its offshore blocks each year, and has as much as 4.4 billion tons in crude oil and gas reserves there — armed Chinese ships within its maritime border could have a devastating impact on an industry that made up 20% of Vietnam’s GDP from 1986-2009.

China defended the provocation, saying Vietnam should not have carried out its decision in May to unilaterally begin exploitation work in a “Chinese jurisdiction.”

“This is the cause of the current situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday.

Rosneft declined to comment.

Duterte’s Conundrum

While the Philippines produces very little offshore oil and gas by comparison, data shows deposits in the disputed Reed Bank to the west could amount to as much as 5.4 billion barrels and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of oil and gas respectively. Any attempt to extract it however would likely face strong resistance from China.

“Anything that the Philippines tries to do, particularly at Reed Bank, is going to met with the same kind of response that we’re seeing right now off the coast of Vietnam,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Washington-based think-tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

Weekly transgressions from China near its coast has also cast a shadow over Duterte’s final years in office amid his pursuit of warmer ties with Beijing. The Philippine Armed Forces said this month they’ve consistently spotted armed Chinese warships sailing through its territorial waters since early July. The presence of Chinese surveyors in its exclusive economic zone this month prompted a diplomatic protest, said Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, who was mindful that China now has the largest naval force in the region.

“Our nightmare — we send a ship and a big Chinese ship laughs at it. What do we do,” Locsin wrote in an email. “They claim it is all theirs. We claim it is all ours.”

This all follows the deployment of a maritime militia and so-called fishing fleets known to harass fisherman throughout the region. A high-profile incident in June included a Chinese vessel colliding with a trawler, leaving 22 Filipino fishermen stranded at sea.

“It is indicative of how much China has expanded its operations in and through Filipino waters on account of the government’s accommodation of China,” Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.

Code of Conduct

With Duterte and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping set to discuss recent activities in the South China Sea later this month in Beijing, Xi will be hoping to make progress on a joint exploration deal that would serve as a major concession in the ongoing code of conduct negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean.

According to a leaked draft of the negotiating text of the code of conduct dated June 2018 and seen by Bloomberg, China has stated its intention to achieve exclusive joint explorations in the South China Sea by eliminating any foreign presence. The draft also expresses China’s intent to win veto rights over any joint military exercises with foreign militaries and attain regular joint patrols with Southeast Asian countries.

The pursuit of such an agreement demonstrates Beijing’s resolve in win administrative control within its so-called “nine-dash line” encompassing some 80% of the South China Sea, while recent incidents openly challenge a 2016 Hague Tribunal ruling.

Observers say the increased hostilities in the South China Sea may be an attempt by China to coerce the 10-nation bloc to yield to China’s demands within a self-imposed deadline of three years — when Duterte’s term comes to an end.

“These actions are designed to shape the other parties’ calculus to take into account their interests with China in mind,” said Koh.

Risk of Conflict

With Vietnam less likely to yield to such pressure, China has engaged in several high-stakes deployments in recent weeks, including conducting two military exercises near the disputed Paracel Islands, lifting a controversial fishing ban and testing new warships and weapons in the Gulf of Tonkin, prompting concerns the two nations may wind up in open conflict.

“This is the most tense we have seen the relationship between Vietnam and China in five years,” said Poling from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. “Even if things are relatively quiet, they don’t seem like they are going to stay that way.”

China has repeatedly talked down the escalation calling on Vietnam to respect China’s sovereign rights.

“China hopes to join hands with regional countries to maintain stability in this area, with a focus on the negotiation of the code of conduct,” Zhu Feng, executive dean of The Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies at Nanjing University, said during a phone interview.

In an attempt defend their maritime claims as well as wade the growing geopolitical rift between the U.S. and China, Asean in June adopted its own version of an Indo-Pacific strategy in June, though its own signatories admit it has serious limitations.

“Southeast Asia had best focus its attention and confine its resources to the South China Sea instead of looking farther out in pursuit of a policy that reeks of containment,” said Philippine Foreign Minister Locsin.

Others

Amata Corporation to develop a smart city in Yangon

24 August 2019

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Myanmar

The long-awaited dream of turning Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub, into a smart city may soon be realised with the support of Amata Corporation Pcl, Thailand’s largest industrial estate developer.

VikromKromadit, chairman of Amata Corporation Pcl, said at a signing ceremony on Thursday (August 22) that the firm would bring advanced technology and quality investors to Myanmar while ensuring environment protection for the local communities.

“We will take on a grand project, unforgettable in the history of your country. We will make sure that Yangon becomes one of the best future cities in Myanmar,” he said.

“We will bring good investors in line with the All Win philosophy, which means we will not only bring the best customers but also protect the environment. We will ensure the future Yangon city will be better than Amata in Thailand.”

At the event, Vikrom sought support from the regional authorities. He called for one-stop service so that investors do not need to visit various government offices before building their factories in a 2,000-acre [5,059 rai] industrial estate, to be developed by Yangon Amata Smart and Eco City (YASEC), a subsidiary of Amata Corporation, in cooperation with Myanmar’s Department of Urban and Housing Development (DUHD).

“We just need the licence and the land. We would like to start immediately,” he said.

Vikrom expects to start construction work once the rainy season is over. Amata’s team in Myanmar is now much bigger than that of three years ago. He also takes pride in saying that Amata now has more than 1,300 factories with an extensive workforce of over 300,000 employees, contributing US$500 million in tax to the Royal Thai government every year.

“Today, I come back with a new dream. We are expanding our presence in the whole region, and Myanmar is the most important destination for us because nowadays a lot of Thai companies are coming here,” he said.

With Japanese corporations such as Toyota having established their presence in Myanmar, Vikrom is fully confident that the nation could take advantages of geopolitical issues including international companies moving out of China amid its prolonged trade war with the US.

“It is a good time, even though we are a little bit late,” he said.

“In our planning for the first phase, we are targeting an inflow of $1 billion in foreign direct investment and job opportunities for nearly 30,000 people. We expect the government to receive at least $60 million in taxation.”

Vikrom said PTT Co would establish a 600-megawatt power plant, supplying natural gas to Yangon in order to meet the city’s surging demand for electricity once the industrial park becomes operational.

“As the largest company in Thailand, PTT accounts for over 20 per cent of Thailand’s GDP [gross domestic product]. It would like to invest in this power plant in Yangon. They would like to install their equipment as soon as possible, and they are willing to provide all the gas Yangon needs in the future,” he said.

Vikrom, together with Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein, witnessed the signing of a framework agreement to turn Yangon into a smart and eco city with supporting infrastructure, logistics, services and other related businesses. According to the agreement, DUHD will hold a 20 per cent stake in the mega project.

YasuoTsutsui, managing director of YASEC, said the project would come with huge employment opportunities, reduce regional poverty and promote capacity building for peopole in Myanmar. He said the green and smart technology concept would be adopted in project management.

“It will be the first sustainable eco city in the country,” he said.

“We believe it will meet all the conditions of a sustainable city with the focus on providing an eco-friendly environment, quality employment opportunities, education, healthcare and commercial facilities in a single venue.”

Ye Sit Min, deputy director at DUHD, told The Nation that the framework agreement is the very first step in the implementation of the large-scale industrial estate which will ultimately become much larger than the Thilawa Special Economic Zone upon completion.

According to the official, the first phase would be developed on 200 acres [506 rai] in the East Dagon township of Yangon. Light and medium scale industries will be prioritised in the initial phase which is scheduled for completion in two years.

“Today, we signed the framework agreement and hope to enter into a joint venture agreement soon. We will immediately implement the project once we have received the permit from the Myanmar Investment Commission,” he said.

Energy-Climate & Environment

Explainer: How much time does Singapore have to build up its response to climate change?

23 August 2019

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Singapore

SINGAPORE — A “50- to 100-year problem” was how Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong described the “grave threat” of rising sea levels to Singapore.

While a hundred years from now seems far away, Singapore has already started to feel the impact of climate change with hotter weather and heavier rainfall in recent years. Studies have also shown that Singapore could experience more extreme weather patterns as soon as 2050.

Indeed, steps are already underway to mitigate the impact of rising sea levels. For example, Singapore has introduced a carbon tax to nudge companies to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. It has also begun building infrastructure such as train stations on elevated ground.

More measures are in the pipeline. How much time does Singapore have to make sure that it is sufficiently ready? TODAY takes a closer look.

HOW WAS THIS TIMEFRAME DERIVED?

The 50- to 100-year timeline is based on the findings of a study by the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) in 2015, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) said.

This study used climate modelling technology to forecast the potential impact of climate change on Singapore, based on different scenarios of global greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, the study found that if greenhouse gas emissions stay high and continue to increase throughout the 21st century (let’s call this the “high emission scenario”), there will be a total rise of 0.45m to 1.02m in sea levels around Singapore by the year 2100.

If greenhouse gas emissions peak mid-century and then decline (let’s call this the “controlled emission scenario”), sea levels around Singapore will still rise, but not as much. The CCRS forecasts that under this scenario, they would rise between 0.3m and 0.74m by 2100.

These are its full forecasts for sea level rises by 2050 and 2100:

Year 2050 2100
Range of projection for sea-level rise Lower Median Upper Lower Median Upper
Controlled emission scenario 0.14 0.22 0.30 0.30 0.53 0.74
High emission scenario 0.17 0.25 0.32 0.45 0.73 1.02

The CCRS also noted that an earlier report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said global average sea levels are likely to rise between 0.45m and 0.82m from 2081 to 2100.
It gave this mildly reassuring statement: “Only the collapse of marine-based parts of the Antarctic ice sheet, leading to glacier acceleration and thinning, could cause global average sea level to rise substantially above this range during the 21st century, and while the risk of this is not precisely quantified, current research gives medium confidence that the additional sea level rise would not exceed a few tens of centimetres this century.”

Rates of sea level rise due to glacial melt and ice sheet melt are somewhat higher for Singapore than many other countries due to its position near the equator, the CCRS noted.

The response of different processes around the world to global temperature rise also means that estimates of average sea level rise for Singapore differ from the global average, the CCRS said.

Furthermore, there are local factors affecting sea level extremes, such as waves, surges and tides around the coasts of Singapore.

SO DOES THIS MEAN THINGS WILL ONLY GET SERIOUSLY BAD IN 50 TO 100 YEARS?

Actually, things are about to get rough pretty soon, if there is no action to stop climate change.

A recent study by Crowther Lab, a research group based at Swiss science and technology university ETH Zurich, found that Singapore would be one of several cities experiencing unprecedented climate shifts by 2050, with its temperatures rising by 1.3°C.

The study also found that a fifth of the world’s cities, including Singapore, will experience more intense dry and monsoon seasons. Singapore, being a tropical country, could also face more severe flooding and droughts.

The IPCC special report released last year called for countries to urgently cap the increase in average global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which is in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The special report found that at the current level of emissions, the world could pass the 1.5°C mark as early as 2030 and could rise another 2°C to 3°C if there is no sharp reduction in carbon emissions. The Paris Agreement stressed that any rise in temperatures beyond 2°C could see the worst effects of climate change.

The United Nations has described a devastating picture for the world if this happens, with more frequent very hot days in the tropics and the disappearance of most coral reefs. Rising sea levels could cause massive refugee flows from low-lying areas and major food security problems.

In a commentary for TODAY, Professor Benjamin Horton, the chair of the Asian School of the Environment at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said that warming seawater and melting glaciers and ice sheets have accelerated the rise in sea levels.

Some studies had found that there is a one in 20 chance that sea levels in Singapore could rise in excess of 2.5m by the end of the century, significantly more than the 1m quoted by Mr Lee at the rally, he noted.

SO WHAT IS SINGAPORE DOING ABOUT IT NOW?

Singapore is already part of global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the IPCC, carbon pollution will need to be cut by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels and brought down to net zero by 2050 to ensure that average temperatures do not rise more than 1.5°C beyond pre-industrial levels.

The Paris Agreement, to which Singapore is a party, also stipulates that signatories come up with “concrete, realistic plans” to determine their national contributions to net zero emissions by 2050.

The Singapore Government has put in place several measures to meet the Paris goals. They include introducing a carbon tax of S$5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, which came into force this year. The Government plans to lift it to between S$10 and S$15 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Currently, Singapore contributes 0.11 per cent of global emissions.

WHAT ABOUT LONGER-TERM MEASURES?

To combat rising sea levels in the years ahead, the Government has been building infrastructure at higher levels, such as elevated entrances for MRT stations.

New developments are also required to be at least 4m above mean sea level, instead of 3m previously, while critical infrastructure such as Changi Airport Terminal 5 and Tuas Port will be built at least 5m above mean sea level.

There are also plans to build an additional pump house at Marina Barrage.

The other two options to protect Singapore’s coastal defences are to either build dykes and polders along the eastern coastline, or to reclaim a series of islands from Marina East to Changi and then connect them up with barrages to create a reservoir.

SHOULD SINGAPORE BE ACTING MORE QUICKLY?

While experts told TODAY said that Mr Lee’s announcements were “bold”, “timely” and “impressive”, they warned that 100 years may be too long a wait if sea levels rose higher and faster than current estimates.

Prof Horton said that if Singapore faced high rates of sea-level rise, polders would be expensive to maintain as they would need to be deeper.

He emphasised that any solution adopted by Singapore should first be accompanied by “robust accurate local projection” of rising sea levels, which he called one of the major challenges for science over the next decade.

“Singapore must invest in the science of sea-level rise before it spends up to S$100 billion on adaptation measures,” he said.

And if the science shows that sea-level rises are much higher and faster than the projected 1m by 2100, then the time to deal with the threat and implement adaptive measures will be “significantly shortened”.

A lead author of the IPCC’s upcoming sixth assessment report, Dr Winston Chow of the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University, concurred with Prof Horton.

He said that the effectiveness of the solutions proposed by the Government would depend on several factors such as estimates of the rise in sea levels for Singapore.

It would also depend on the costs and benefits involved in implementing and maintaining the proposed solutions, especially when sea levels will likely continue rising beyond a hundred years.

For Associate Professor Adam Switzer from the Asian School of the Environment at NTU, solutions to deal with rising sea levels would have to be in place as soon as possible.

“There is an urgency to this. Singapore already experiences nuisance flooding in some locations during the highest yearly tides or in combination with local storm surges,” said Assoc Prof Switzer, who specialises in geographical changes around coastal areas.

“These are bold plans and they will take time to put in place,” he said. “The longer we wait, the higher the cost will be.”
Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/explainer-how-much-time-does-singapore-have-build-its-response-climate-change

Others

Malaysia will have adequate LSFO to meet demand as IMO 2020 looms: Transport Minister

23 August 2019

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Malaysia

Malaysia is readying for the International Maritime Organization’s global sulfur limit rule for marine fuels and will have sufficient low sulfur fuel oil to meet upcoming demand as the IMO 2020 rule inches closer, Loke Siew Fook, Malaysia’s Transport Minister said during an industry event in the country this week.

“The new global sulfur cap represents a complete transformation in marine transport shipping companies to evaluate their compliance options based on economic and operational factors,” he said in a statement made available to S&P Global Platts Thursday.

Emerging reports indicate that over 95% of global shipping companies will utilize LSFO, he said.

Currently, the major Malaysian ports of Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas supply about 4 million mt of marine fuels to ships calling these ports, he said.

“I would like to reassure our esteemed shipping lines that sufficient low sulfur fuel oil would be available to meet your demands [come 2020],” he said.

With about 5 million mt of storage and blending facilities in Westports Bunkering Services in Port Klang, Vitol in Tanjung Bin and Port of Tanjung Langsat in Johor, sufficient supplies will be made available to meet immediate demand, he said.

Approved ship-to-ship activities in Tanjung Pelepas, Malacca and Kuala Linggi are expected to supplement any additional demands for LSFO in the shipping industry, he added.

The IMO will cap global sulfur content in marine fuels at 0.5% from January 1, 2020, down from the current 3.5%. This applies outside the designated emission control areas where the limit is already 0.1%.

Ship owners will have to either burn cleaner, more expensive fuels or install scrubber units for burning high sulfur fuel oil.

OTHER INITIATIVES

Meanwhile, Malaysia is also undertaking several other initiatives to enhance its bunkering landscape.

The Malaysian Shipping and Ports Council is progressing measures including identification of issues related to bunker demand and supply, licensing of service providers, integrity aspects including the quality and quantity of the fuel, competency of personnel in the bunkering industry as well as construction and operational standards of bunker vessels, he said.

Initiatives such as the use of mass flow meters on board bunker vessels, training and licensing of bunker surveyors, determination of fuel standards, establishment of bunker fuel testing labs within port areas and appointment of a sole competent authority to oversee the bunkering industry will also be given vital consideration, he added.

Mass flow meters, or MFMs, measure the flow rate in the pipe, indicating the quantity as well as the mass and density of the fuel.

Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering port, first implemented the MFMs mandate for fuel oil deliveries starting January 1, 2017. From July 1, 2019 it extended the MFMs mandate to distillate bunker deliveries as well, ushering more transparency and efficiency in operations for its bunker industry.

Energy Efficiency

PLUS wins Seda’s Diamond award for low carbon building

23 August 2019

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Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: PLUS Malaysia Bhd’s headquarters Persada PLUS has bagged a One Diamond award from Malaysia Sustainable Energy Development Authority’s (SEDA) 2018 Low Carbon Buildings Assessment recently.

PLUS became the first highway concessionaire in the country to receive such award.

The company said the recognition was given to organisations which have successfully implemented electricity consumption exercises via renewable energy and reduced carbon dioxide emission to preserve environment.

All buildings were judged and selected based on their annual carbon dioxide emissions reduction percentage which leads to electricity energy consumption.

In 2018, PLUS said it had reduced carbon dioxide emission of 6.75 per cent, equivalent to 286.78 tonnes of carbon dioxide and an energy savings of 413,228 kWh at Persada PLUS through the installation of Variable Speed Drive (VSD) for air conditioning systems.

Others include reducing the usage time of air conditioning systems, developing solar photovoltaic technology, implementing de-lamping (reducing/ relocate the use of fluorescent lamps in adequate lighting locations and lighting not required) and installing motion sensor lighting system in toilets and prayer rooms.

Managing director Datuk Azman Ismail said this is yet another milestone for PLUS in its efforts to optimise the use of Green Technology in preserving the environment for the firm’s staff and the surrounding communities.

“Our RoadMap will also see PLUS introducing solar photovoltaic panels as other rest areas such as the Sungai Buloh overhead bridge restaurant, Ayer Keroh overhead bridge restaurant, Dengkil R&R (both bounds), Gurun R&R (both bounds), Gunung Semanggol R&R (southbound), Tapah R&R (both bounds) and Ayer Keroh R&R (northbound) within the next five years,” he said in a statement.

The PLUS Green RoadMap started when PLUS launched the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in the country at the Ayer Keroh overhead bridge restaurant (southbound) in December 2018 and transformed the Machap (northbound) R&R as the first R&R in Malaysia to use photovoltaic solar system in April this year.

Oil & Gas

RPT-China’s July crude oil imports from Malaysia near record – customs

23 August 2019

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Malaysia

SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Aug 25 (Reuters) – China’s crude oil imports from Malaysia stood near record levels in July, customs data showed, with traders and a tanker-tracking analyst citing oil either transshipped from Venezuela or blended with Venezuelan crude for the unusual growth.

Crude imports from Malaysia rose to 1.35 million tonnes last month, more than double from a year earlier, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.

That was just below the previous record set in May of 1.38 million tonnes, triple the average monthly volume in the first four months of 2019.

Imports for the first seven months of 2019 totalled 5.64 million tonnes, versus 5.17 million tonnes a year earlier.

Emma Li, analyst with Refinitiv Oil Research, estimated that about 500,000 tonnes of the Malaysian supplies arriving in July were transshipped from Venezuelan crude supplied by Russian state oil firm Rosneft.

The growing supplies of Venezuela-originated oil come after the Russian firm stepped in as the top trader of Venezuelan crude as traditional dealers like Vitol and Trafigura avoided dealing directly with Venezuelan state firm PDVSA for fear of breaching secondary U.S. sanctions.

Venezuelan crude, mainly heavy grade Merey, was either blended or moved into other vessels at Malaysia’s transshipment hub of Linggi and Tianjung Bruas, and renamed in new grades such as Singma and Mal Blend, according to Refinitiv Oil Research.

Rosneft did not respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Most of these cargoes found a home in east China’s Shandong province, a hub for China’s independent refineries, as well as the port of Tianijn in north China.

“About four to five refineries in Shandong have been taking Malaysian blends which look like Venezuelan oil with similar specifications,” said an executive with one Shandong independent refiner.

Prior to May, China’s imports of Malaysian crude were mostly of one grade, Nemina, blended from West African crudes, and went to primarily one buyer, state trader ChemChina, according to Refinitiv’s Li.

Only a fraction of Malaysia’s locally produced crude oil, which typically is light and of lower sulphur content and thus more pricey, moves to China.

The surge in Malaysian exports contrasted with a fall in total crude oil production by its dominant oil and gas producer Petronas, which recorded a 1.3% drop year-on-year to 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in the first quarter.

Petronas did not give its output in Malaysia.

Renewables

AboitizPower unit buys Vietnam wind power company

23 August 2019

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Vietnam

ABOITIZ Power Corp. said Friday that a unit signed a deal to buy for around $46 million a Vietnamese company with a 39.4-megawatt (MW) onshore wind power facility.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, AboitizPower said a share purchase agreement was signed by its wholly owned subsidiary AboitizPower International Pte. Ltd., which will buy 100% of Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd. from Armstrong Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund Pte. Ltd.

“This transaction is a milestone for AboitizPower and sets the tone for our expansion in the international market. We announced our intention to go international some time back and we have been prudent in looking for the right opportunity that will bring the best value for the company and our shareholders. This is such a transaction,” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Erramon I. Aboitiz said in a statement.

The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, the company said.

“We are excited for this opportunity not only to expand beyond the Philippines but to also bring our experience in the power generation sector, especially in the renewable energy space, to Vietnam,” AboitizPower Chief Operating Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said in a statement.

“We are proud of what we have done with our Cleanergy brand in the Philippines and we will bring the same level of expertise and dedication to the Vietnam market,” he added.

The acquisition captures all legal and economic interest in Mekong Wind, which in turn holds a 99.9999934% direct interest in Dam Nai Wind Power JSC. The price may be subject to certain closing adjustments.

Dam Nai Wind owns and operates the onshore wind power facility in Ninh Thuan Province, in southern Vietnam. The province boasts some of the most attractive sites for wind energy in the country.

“Dam Nai Wind is one of the first wind power projects in Vietnam to have been successfully brought online with commercial operations having commenced in late 2017,” AboitizPower said.

The company, along with partners, generates around 1,200 MW of clean and renewable energy from its portfolio of hydro, geothermal, and solar power plants under its Cleanergy brand.

It said the deal in Vietnam builds on its investments “in the rapid growth of renewable energy and marks its entry into one of Asia’s most attractive markets.”

AboitizPower described Vietnam as having robust economic growth backed by strong government support, which it said creates an attractive environment to increase its commitment and contribution to energy supply security in Southeast Asia.

The company also has thermal power plants in its generation portfolio to support the baseload and peak energy demand in the Philippines. It owns distribution utilities that operate in growth areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

On Friday, AboitizPower rose 1.67% to close at P36.60

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