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  • Others
19 August 2019

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  • Philippines

AYALA-LED AC Energy, Inc. has advanced by a year its plan to build new energy capacity in the Philippines as it expects energy supply and demand in the country to reach equilibrium by 2021, or earlier than its previous forecast of 2022.

“There will be equilibrium in 2021, one year earlier than what we originally expected,” Eric T. Francia, AC Energy president and chief executive officer, told reporters last week when asked to give an update on the company’s projects, including those outside the country.

“[It] doesn’t mean we want to build 1,000 megawatts (MW) [immediately]. We’ve always said a couple of 100 MW every year. You need to pace these things,” he added.

The change in the company’s energy supply projection comes after it sold some of its thermal assets and bought a company with subsidiaries involved in a range of energy projects using diverse energy sources.

“Today after the partial divestment of AA Thermal, [Inc.] and after the acquisition of Phinma Energy [Corp.], AC Energy group now has approximately 1,600 MW of attributable capacity. It decreased slightly from 1,700 MW same time last year,” Mr. Francia said.

The tally includes the company’s projects in the Southeast Asian region, but excludes deals that has yet to reach a financial close.

Including projects under construction, AC Energy’s energy capacity is 55% coal-fired power plants, 11% diesel-fired facilities and 34% renewable energy. Of the existing capacity, 74% are based in the Philippines and 26% in regional sites.

Up to 69% of the attributable capacity come from power plants that are operating, and 31% ongoing projects.

“Our renewables now is about 600 [MW] out of the 1,600 [MW],” Mr. Francia said. “We do expect to reach the 1,000 MW in the next 12 months.”

AC Energy previously set a goal of developing 1,000 MW of renewables by 2020, a target that he said would be reached or even exceeded by Ayala Corp.’s energy investment arm.

“We have significant projects in Australia, hopefully Vietnam and then Philippines, as well. Indonesia is still a question whether we can get significant renewable megawatts there in the near term,” Mr. Francia said.

“We also do have new markets that we’ll be opening up, so in due course we will be announcing where and what,” he added.

AC Energy has more than $1 billion of invested and committed equity in renewable and thermal energy in the Philippines and around the region. It aims to exceed 5 gigawatts of attributable capacity and generate at least 50% of energy from renewables by 2025.

With its acquisition of Phinma Energy, the company has also diversified into oil and gas exploration through Phinma Petroleum and Geothermal, Inc. (PPG).

PPG subsidiary Palawan55 Exploration & Production Corp. holds a 37.5% participating interest in the consortium and is the operator of Service Contract 55, a deep-water block in the southwest Palawan Basin.

“First, we would like the upstream [venture] to be developed. Having studied the oil and gas exploration potential in the Philippines, we think that sector is under-invested,” Mr. Francia said.

“We may be bringing in partners in the future,” he said, referring to PPG, which AC Energy has renamed ACE Enexor, Inc.

“I think the idea is over time, we will bring in a strategic partner, at least one strategic partner,” he said. “In all likelihood, it’s going to be foreign, who’s got experience, a big balance sheet, and expertise in oil and gas exploration.” — Victor V. Saulon

  • Renewables
19 August 2019

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  • Indonesia

The slow development of geothermal energy projects has been slow, as was revealed at the recent Indonesia International Geothermal Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Industry players continue to complain about the power purchase price provisions by state energy company PT PLN based on the current regulations.

In a statement to local news, Riki Firmandha Ibrahim, Managing Director of PT Geo Dipa Energi, revealed that the main cause of the slow development of PLTP is due to government regulations themselves.

The rules include, among others, Ministerial Regulation (Permen) ESDM No. 50 (2017) concerning Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources for Electricity Supply, ESDM Ministerial Regulation No. 49 (2017) concerning Principles in Electricity Sale and Purchase Agreement, and ESDM Ministerial Regulation No. 24 (2017) concerning Mechanism of Determining Principal Costs for PLN Power Generation.

“The regulation states that the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) or geothermal renewable energy (EBT) prices are valid for 30 years. Whereas what the Independent Power Producer (IPP) requires is that the FIT is only for 10 years, no more. After that the price of buying and selling electricity follows the cost of production (BPP) of the local PLN electricity, “said Riki.

Riki estimates that BPP PLN in the next 10 years will be enough to provide reasonable benefits to geothermal EBT developers. So there is no need to apply FIT for 30 years.

The span of 10 years, according to him, is also in accordance with the agreement on funding of power plant projects from banks, which requires the loan to payback.

“In addition, it also considers the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) input on the state’s potential loss of a 30-year contract with FIT due to a high and long price,” he said.

He continued, the application of the FIT for 10 years was in line with the proposed incentive scheme from the Directorate General (Ditjen) EBTKE of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to the Minister of Finance.

  • Renewables
19 August 2019

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  • Indonesia

PT Star Energy continues to develop Geothermal Power Plants (PLTP). Just so you know, Star Energy is a subsidiary of Prajogo Pangestu’s Barito Pacific.

Hendra Soetjipto Tan, Chief Executive Officer of Star Energy Geothermal, Hendra Soetjipto Tan said that the company plans to increase the capacity of the power plant to 1,200 MW.

He said that they now have a capacity of 875 MW of electricity obtained from geothermal power plants from the Wayang Windu, Derajat and Salak geothermal working areas, West Java.

The capacity of 227 MW from PLTP Wayang Windu, then 377 MW in Salak, and amounting to 271 MW in Darajat. In addition, Star Energy also has the right to manage Hamiding geothermal energy in West Halmahera, South Maluku, and Sekincau geothermal in southern Sumatra.

In the plan to increase capacity, he continued, the company will build a geothermal power plant in Sekincau with a potential capacity of 500 MW, while in South Maluku as much as 200 MW to 300 MW.

“We hope that the 1,200 MW has been reached before 2028, three regions in West Java are already operating,” he said in Jakarta today.

However, the development in geothermal power plants in Maluku will be built in stages, the first phase they plan to build with a capacity of 2×50 MW. To reach the target capacity of 1,200 MW, they need funds of US $ 2 billion to US $ 2.5 billion.

For information, PT Star Energy acquired Darajat and Salak geothermal power plants with a capacity of 610 MW in 2017. The two new assets of Star Energy were bought from Chevron Corp with a transaction of US $ 2.3 billion.

After the acquisition, Star Energy became the manager of the largest geothermal power plant in Indonesia, and the third largest in the world. Star Energy aims to become the largest geothermal company in the world.

  • Others
19 August 2019

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  • Indonesia

Jakarta. The government has proposed cutting energy subsidies by 3.4 percent in next year’s state budget, as it is confident that effective targeting measures would ensure that the benefits only reach those most in need.

It plans to spend Rp 137.5 trillion ($9.7 billion) on energy subsidies in 2020, compared with the Rp 142.6 trillion earmarked in this year’s budget. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been reducing energy subsidies since taking office in 2014, seeking to allocate more resources for infrastructure development and education.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Sunday that the government would subsidize diesel fuel by Rp 1,000 per liter next year, while it would also control the prices of kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas.

In detail, the government has earmarked Rp 18.8 trillion for oil fuel subsidies, Rp 52 trillion for subsidized LPG and Rp 62.2 trillion for subsidized electricity. It has also allocated Rp 4.5 trillion to reimburse state energy firm Pertamina for subsidized fuel it supplied in 2018.

Jokowi said the subsidies were still needed to prop up people’s purchasing power, especially those in lower income levels.

He added that the government would continue to improve its targeting scheme, “to be effective in assisting underprivileged people.”

Sri Mulyani said the government would improve cooperation between the central and regional governments in controlling and monitoring the consumption of subsidized fuel and subsidized LPG – distributed in 3-kilogram canisters.

“Energy subsidies are aimed at ensuring price stability by strengthening the control and monitoring of energy consumption for the sake of effectiveness,” the minister said.

She added that only consumers with 450 volt-ampere (VA) and 900 VA power capacity installed in their homes, or those listed in the poverty reduction program, would qualify for subsidized electricity.

  • Renewables
19 August 2019

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  • Indonesia

Air pollution is worsening in Jakarta and West Java, while tens of millions of people experienced a day-long blackout earlier this month after gas-powered electricity generators failed and significant proportions of eastern Indonesia have do not have reliable power supplies. So why does Indonesia remain so reliant on fossil fuels?

For an archipelago as large as Indonesia, located along the equator and on top of a ring of active volcanoes, you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking the nation could become one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy.

In fact, Indonesia has the potential to generate 788,000 megawatts (MW) of power from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal. This is more than 14 times the country’s current electricity consumption. Thanks to magma, hot rocks, and hot water beneath its surface, Indonesia has 40% of the world’s geothermal energy stores, enough for 29,000 MW of energy. Meanwhile, its huge maritime area could provide 75,760 MW of power through projects such as the Larantuka Straits Tidal Bridge, a US$550 million project that will power 250,000 homes in East Flores. When completed, it will be the world’s largest tidal power plant.

Yet in 2018, of the approximately 60,000 MW of electricity used every year in Indonesia, only 12% of this came from renewable energy sources. The rest is sourced from coal (55%), gas (26%), and oil (7%), and it is these fossil fuels that are responsible for Jakarta’s air pollution woes (coal plants in Banten and West Java) as well as the 4 August blackout (caused by failures at gas plants in Cilegon). State energy provider PLN is now offering Rp 839 billion (US$58.7 million) in compensation for the power outage.

Food vendors serve customers by lantern light on 5 August, the second day of an electricity blackout in Wanasari Village, West Java
Food vendors serve customers by lantern light during an electricity blackout this month in Wanasari Village, West Java (Photo: Aditya Irawan via Getty)

Indonesia’s electricity needs are predicted to grow by around 7% every year until 2027. This is averaged out across the whole country, so it is important to note that somewhere between 10 and 20 million Indonesians still do not have access to electricity. Only 60% of people in East Nusa Tenggara have electricity, for example, while in Papua the rate is just 50%. In many areas, power is also not available 24 hours a day, and is instead only accessible for a few hours at night.

Even if just half
of the country’s
potential wind
energy was
captured, it would
meet current
energy needs.

Even if just half of the country’s potential wind energy was captured, it would meet current energy needs. Indonesia’s first wind farm was only built in 2018 in Sidrap, South Sulawesi – its 30 turbines provides 75 MW of energy to 70,000 households, and covers 100 hectares of land, making it Southeast Asia’s largest wind farm. At its launch, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo joked, “I feel like we’re in the Netherlands, but we’re in Sidrap.”

So why aren’t more renewable energy sources being harnessed? After all, both the national government and PLN are keen to increase the use of renewable energy, with a target of 23% renewable energy by 2025. Indonesia is also committed to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement, although it has been threatening to quit the agreement over Eurpean Union plans to phase out its use of palm oil for transportation fuel.

Part of the problem lies in regulation. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2003 that electricity is an important state product and must be managed by the government through either state-owned enterprises or public-private partnerships. This means that no independent power companies can sell electricity directly to consumers; instead, they must sell their electricity to PLN first.

As Abidah Setyowati points out in East Asia Forum, the situation isn’t that simple. Multiple new energy policies are issued every year – in 2017 alone, 20 policies were released, some of which were later withdrawn. One policy requires private investors to transfer their projects to PLN at the end of agreement periods, which, combined with the fact that the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources sets the consumer price of energy, has led to concern about return on investment.

Coal barge in Samarinda, Kalimantan
Coal barge in Samarinda, Kalimantan (Photo: Ed Wray/Getty)

Financing is another problem. To achieve the 23% target of renewable energy by 2025, Indonesia needs an investment of Rp 2,000 trillion (US$154 billion). The state is unable to allocate this huge amount, meaning that private financing is necessary, yet regulatory uncertainty and clashing policies are seeing significant reluctance from both potential investors and lending banks to get involved.

A third issue lies in Indonesia’s massive coal reserves. Coal is not only plentiful but cheap – the domestic price is capped at US$70 per tonne, much lower than the global market price which peaked at US$100 in January. This makes it difficult for renewable energy to compete, especially when considering how embedded and powerful the fossil fuel industry is. Not needing to import coal means the situation is very different to neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, where hydropower meets 38% of national energy needs in 2016, ahead of coal at 33%.

Despite all this, consumers concerned about climate change are increasingly demanding that their electricity come from renewable sources. Minister for Energy Ignasius Jonan has even been willing to face the wrath of PLN and fossil fuel interests, not only pushing rooftop solar panels as a solution for both homes and businesses but installing them on his own house.

With lofty targets, strengthening user demand, and significant natural resources, Indonesia has the potential to become a leading nation in renewable energy. The challenges are also many, however, especially with powerful fossil fuel players likely to do all they can to face off the “threat” of renewable energy. But with air pollution, climate change, and blackouts, for how much longer can this really be considered a question of choice?

  • Electricity/Power Grid
18 August 2019

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  • Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Bernama) — Many people don’t really appreciate the critical role of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) until there’s an unexpected power failure. That’s when the lights go out, the air-conditioning fails to function, the fridge becomes heaty and the Internet doesn’t connect you to the outside world.

TNB can be likened to an elder brother or sister, constantly staying in the background but assisting you almost day in, day out without fail to ensure that you can go the full distance of your potential in whatever you do.

TNB has been in action even before Malaya gained its independence in 1957 in lighting up towns and villages. Starting from 1949 as the Central Electricity Board (CEB), it has progressed over the years as the National Electricity Board (NEB) and now, TNB towards powering Peninsular Malaysia.

It has been illuminating lives and livelihoods as Malaysia advanced from a purely agricultural economy to one that is so multi-faceted today. One cannot dispute that TNB has been the pride of the nation for the last 70 years.

But many seem to have taken its sterling role in helping to modernise Malaysia to what it is today for granted. Other than brightening up communities, TNB has also been crucial in the country’s industrialisation, assisting in trade and commerce, and even unlocking the value in people. And why not

Tony Goh, for example, an investment analyst and commentator on the energy industry in Malaysia, is one such beneficiary. He recalls that the corporatisation of the then National Electricity Board (NEB) and the eventual birth of TNB in the 1990s, which changed the country’s energy landscape, was one of the best things to have happened during one of the most crucial periods of his life.

“It was a time when I relied on the reliable power supply to make the grades through college and to enjoy some of the privileges of a rapidly booming economy, also made possible by a revitalised power supplier,” he says.

From personal experience, Goh says that “the efficiency and sufficient power supply we all enjoy today is sometimes under-appreciated even under the ‘new normal’ of eternal mid-summer days of scorching heat”.

Growing up in the suburb of Petaling Jaya in the mid to late 1980s, he could still vividly recall the occasional days when his family would be woken up in the middle of the night and sweating in darkness due to a power blackout.

“Calling NEB staff in the middle of the night during power disruptions then was never a good thing to do,” he remembers. “One can only imagine the situation in terms of power supply disruption or even availability to those in the rural and smaller towns across Malaysia.”

In those days, more often than not, one could be talking to a gruff-sounding employee who might have handled 200 calls or more from irate consumers non-stop. But things have changed.

The employees who handle such calls now have more tact and polish as they furnish you with details on what is the nature of the problem and what is being done by the technical staff to get power on again.

Although things have improved, TNB is not resting on its laurels and plans to better its performance for its over 9 million customers dotted along more than 660,000 km of its distribution network. Under its “Reimagining TNB” transformation plan, a lot is being done to meet the challenges head on. It appears that TNB has done its scenario planning well.

For a start, TNB aims to place its domestic power generation and electricity retail businesses under the purview of newly-incorporated wholly-owned subsidiaries to prepare for pending reforms in the country’s electricity market. It has done its homework to prepare for any eventuality of the government opening up the country’s electricity retail sector to allow for new energy suppliers.

The proposed internal reorganisation is expected to place TNB into an advantageous position to compete ahead of the expected market changes by establishing the first-mover advantage.

TNB’s bold move falls in line what ex-top civil servant in the finance and transport ministries, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, has been advocating for the power utility: moving more towards meritocracy.

TNB, he says, must be more plural and inclusive for the country’s multiracial society to reap the benefits of shared prosperity as advocated by the present government.

But Navaratnam also wonders why the government is toying with the idea of dismantling a system that has been efficient by opening up the market since TNB has served the country well. Maybe the current government wants more out of TNB, he adds.

For property developer Haji Ahmad Khalif Mustapha Kamal of MK Land, he says that TNB is currently in an interesting position in balancing the national agenda and its own going concern.

“With power production decentralised, it needs to redefine its current role and future too. In urban areas, it is less appreciated but its real contribution comes from lighting up rural areas. We take water and electricity for granted, only during disruptions do we take notice. I hope TNB continues to serve Malaysia for the next 70 years and more,” he adds.

For that, TNB has been preparing for the future, especially in light of the government’s intention to liberalise the electricity supply sector. It is now preparing the groundwork for new rules under the Incentive Base Regulations (IBR) framework in the government’s Third Regulatory Period from 2021 to 2023.

By preparing early, TNB has also moved to become one of the most reliable energy networks in the region and whose standards are on par with many other advanced countries. For instance, its System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) improved to 48.22 minutes per customer per year in 2018 from 50.24 minutes in 2017 while its systems minutes lost per customer has been at 0.35 minutes, below the two-minute mark since 10 years ago.

TNB’s chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie, who oversaw the development of TNB under his watch as a minister responsible for the energy and works sectors in the late 1970s till 2004, says TNB had already anticipated such market-wide reforms as early as in 2016 and its strategic plan under Reimagining TNB demonstrates that state of preparedness.

“The solid foundations we have put in place today have transformed our internal processes and structure to render TNB to be more technologically-advanced and cost-optimised than we were before,” he reveals. Moggie adds that TNB has always anticipated and adapted to changes in the past – for example, in the 1990s when Independent Power Producers (IPPs) came into the scene.

Moggie, who has helmed TNB since 2004, also reveals that many of the engineers in the competing IPPs had come from TNB itself, a reflection of its significant role by providing valuable human capital to the country’s growing engineering sector.

He is especially proud of TNB’s own Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), one of the top private universities in Malaysia, has taken on an aggressive national service role by producing graduates in engineering, computer science & information technology, business, accounting, finance and energy management for the country’s key business sectors.

Moggie, who hails from rural Kanowit in Sarawak, knows fully well what education and rural electrification can do for the progress and upward mobility of people, especially those living in the interiors.

“That’s why we have earmarked funds each year to provide scholarships, including specific programs for those from B40 background and loans to bright young Malaysians so that they can have a brighter future,” he adds.

For TNB itself, it is important to have highly skilled and high-calibre human resource to stand the test of time and competition. Moggie adds that TNB always appreciated the contribution of its staff at various levels and providing them with a conducive working environment so that they can contribute to its continued success.

In emphasising that having good human resource had been key for TNB to have taken on past challenges in its stride and for it to continue to be viable, he says that this was again reflected in 2018 when TNB reported revenue of RM50.39 billion and a net profit of RM3.72 billion.

Not bad for a company which was once a government department that has grown into a corporate giant. And that giant now wants to strike out further afield.

In the words of Tan Sri Jalaluddin Zainuddin, former General Manager of NEB: “The history of electricity supply in Malaysia is fascinating. It is first and foremost a story of technical advancement of the introduction of new technologies, of a nation’s struggle to acquire knowledge and competence in new and exciting fields, of the evolution of abilities and confidence.”

In the book “People Behind the Lights” published by NEB, Jalaluddin said the story of NEB/TNB was also a story of the development of society, how society had grappled and came to terms with technology, and how electricity had supported the creation of a modern society in Malaysia.

In the early days of electricity supply business, even before the formation of the Central Electricity Board (CEB) in 1949, it had been an entirely expatriate undertaking. Top electrical engineers came mostly from Britain.

CEB was renamed the National Electricity Board (NEB) in 1965 and by 1967, the Malaysianisation process of the power utility that began 10 years earlier was completed. This saw qualified Malaysians taking over key operations and demonstrated that the initial misgivings over their capability were unfounded.

Daniel Jesuthasan, former deputy general manager (operations) at NEB, who also wrote in the same NEB book in the mid-1980s, said: “We can be proud of our achievements. When I was first introduced to the electricity business, the then CEB was installing 10MW sets when others were already installing 500MW steam turbines, and there were practically no gas turbines in the electricity supply industry (in Malaysia). Today we have in service 300MW units with triple-fuel capability, combined cycle blocks of 300MW, and 100MW gas turbines firing heavy fuel oil. All are among the world leaders. Let the world move on, we have gotten on.”

Fast forward 30 years on to today, TNB has even advanced to handling advanced power plants, such as the 4,100MW Sultan Azlan Shah Power Station in Lumut, Perak and a large scale solar project in Sepang, Selangor. Having grappled with technology and finding how it works best for business and residential consumers, TNB now aspires to be among the top 10 global utility companies by market capitalisation by 2025.

To attain such quest TNB has cast its sights outside Malaysia as it does not want to be just a “jaguh kampung” or village champion. To date, TNB has spread its wings to the United Kingdom, Turkey, Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia while continuing to focus on its domestic markets.

In time to come, TNB’s revenue will also be partly more global and not just dependent on hydropower or fossil fuels. It will include more renewables in its portfolio and be in the forefront of technology if it were to gain more market share in the global energy supply business as well as other businesses related to its core structure, says Moggie.

Market analyst Goh also alludes to potential new frontiers that TNB may be pursuing, especially in leveraging on its network connections for additional revenue streams. And he says that TNB already has a strong arsenal in its backyard as the Internet-of-Things will dictate terms in the immediate future.

“What is new and exciting about TNB is certainly no longer confined to supplying power efficiently, and making sure my TNB bills remain affordable. I will be looking towards TNB to be the game-changer for another defining moment in my life. How far I will go in my professional life will be intricately-linked to the Internet and that chief enabler will be a reliable Internet connection comparable to the best the world has to offer,” he adds.

That relatively quiet giant that emerged from humble beginnings in Bangsar in 1949 is now positioned to prosper even further. Its current Bangsar headquarters, which saw the installation of the country’s first computer in 1966, is currently undergoing a massive transformation of sorts – a reflection of its confidence for the future.

The men and women at TNB’s command centre and every other installation throughout the country know fully well that they have to transform for the better for the energy giant to stay relevant. By embracing leading edge technologies, top-notch business endeavours and customer-centric undertakings, they do dare to imagine that their transformation will get TNB recharged with more “tenaga” or energy and succeed in its global quest.

  • Energy-Climate & Environment
18 August 2019

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  • Singapore

SINGAPORE: Climate change is one of the gravest challenges the human race faces and Singapore is already feeling its impact – which is likely to worsen over the next few decades, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Aug 18).

“Climate change may seem abstract and distant for many of us, but it is one of the gravest challenges facing humankind,” said Mr Lee in his National Day Rally speech.

The Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times over 100 years ago, pointed out Mr Lee.

This is a result of more carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere due to of human activity. The gas builds up, traps heat from the sun, causing the planet to warm up.

“One degree Celsius doesn’t sound like much, but it is very significant,” Mr Lee said. “Furthermore, temperatures are continuing to rise, faster and faster.”

READ: NDR 2019: It could cost S$100 billion or more to protect Singapore against rising sea levels, PM Lee says

Global warming has resulted in the weather becoming more extreme, added Mr Lee, with droughts getting more severe and prolonged. At the other end of the spectrum, rainfall and storms are becoming more intense.

He explained: “Singapore is already feeling the impact. Our weather is palpably hotter. Rainstorms are heavier and this will very likely worsen over the next few decades, within the lifetimes of many of us.”

According to a recent Swiss study, by 2050, several cities in the world will experience “unprecedented” climate shifts, added Mr Lee.

Singapore is one of these cities.

THE GRAVE THREAT OF RISING SEA LEVELS

Rising temperatures are also causing ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to melt – leading to rising sea levels. Singapore is “especially vulnerable” to this given that it is a low-lying island, said Mr Lee.

The United Nations currently projects that sea levels will rise by up to 1m by the end of the century, but scientists’ estimates have been going up,  and sea levels may quite possibly rise higher and faster than that, added Mr Lee.

READ: ‘Time is running out’: Tackling climate change a priority for Singapore, says Masagos

Singapore used to face floods in the 1960s and 1970s, especially during the rainy season but these flooding problems are now “largely resolved”, said Mr Lee.

This is because the drainage system has been improved and buildings were required to be built on higher platforms, at least 3m above mean sea level.

As the water can be as high as 2m above sea level during high tide, this leaves a 1m buffer to cope with weather events like heavy rain.

But with global warming, if sea levels rise by 1m, and when it is high tide, there will be no buffer, said Mr Lee.

He added: “If the heavy rain coincides with a high tide, the water will have nowhere to go. We will be, literally, in deep water.”

READ: NDR 2019: Singapore will be ‘principled’ in approach to China-US trade dispute; ready to help workers

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH 

In order to understand what climate change means for Singapore, the Government has set up the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS), said Mr Lee.

“CCRS is cooperating with their counterparts in neighbouring countries to study in more detail how climate change is affecting Southeast Asia,” he explained. “They are finding that Singapore, being near the equator, is more vulnerable to climate change than the global model suggests.”

In order to mitigate climate change, Singapore has and will continue to do its part in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, added PM Lee.

For example, Singapore is part of the Paris Climate Agreement and has committed to slow down as well as cap carbon dioxide emissions by around 2030.

Individual Singaporeans also have a role to play by reducing waste and being sustainable in their daily habits, stressed PM Lee.

“Although Singapore may not be able to stop climate change by ourselves, we can contribute to solutions, and we must do our fair share,” he added.

Singapore will also need to adapt to climate change – localised measures have been put in place to protect individual buildings and developments.

For one, new developments are required to be built at least 4m above mean sea level, and this requirement is even higher for critical infrastructure as Tuas Port and Changi Airport terminal 5, said Mr Lee.

READ: National Day Rally 2019: From retirement age to climate change, here are 9 things you need to know

The building of a second pump house at the Marina Barrage has also been planned, while the options to reclaim a series of islands from Marina East to Changi as well as build polders will be considered.

Ultimately, Singapore should treat climate change defences with “utmost seriousness” said Mr Lee.

“Both the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) and climate change defences are existential for us. These are life and death matters,” he stressed. “Everything else must bend at the knee to safeguard the existence of our island nation.

“With the SAF, we hope never to go to war … But with climate change, we know for sure sea levels will rise. And the only uncertainty is whether they rise a few decades earlier, or a few decades later.”

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ndr-2019-climate-change-impact-singapore-greatest-threat-sea-11819382

  • Renewables
18 August 2019

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  • Brunei Darussalam

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) will soon convert its headquarters in Seria from gas to solar power.BSP Managing Director Dr Ceri Powell said the company is investing millions to build a new solar park close to its headquarters, which currently houses 1,400 staff.

“[This is] land that we’ve used for housing before. The houses have been demolished, so we have perfect flat land for building solar park,” she said on the sidelines of a recent youth dialogue on climate change.

Powell added that the 3 MW solar-powered headquarters should come to pass in the next 18 months.

“It is a very significant investment by BSP. Multi millions of dollars of investment in renewable energies,” she said.

As outlined in the Energy White Paper, Brunei’s goal is to increase the share of renewable energy to 10 percent of the country’s total power generation mix by 2035.

The vast majority of the country’s electricity is generated by gas-powered plants, which make up 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The oil and gas industry contributes around 35 percent of emissions.

The Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry (MEMI) also recently called for proposals from interested parties to build and operate a 30 MW solar power plant in Kampung Sungai Akar.

Powell said the move would mark a “significant step in the renewable solar journey of Brunei”.

She added that even as Brunei aims to diversify its economy, oil and gas will remain an important industry in the sultanate.

“BSP is of course about mature oil and gas production, but it is also about finding new hydrocarbons. I’m very excited to say even in the last three months, we’ve found new oil and gas offshore in Brunei.”“We won’t say precisely where… but new oil and gas is offshore in Brunei which will add to the future oil and gas resources for the nation.”

According to MEMI, Brunei’s energy needs are expected to increase by three percent per annum over the next 10 years, from 3,900 GWh in 2019 to 5,300 GWh in 2029.

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