KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas said on Friday work at its $27 billion refinery and petrochemical project in the southern state of Johor had slowed due to an explosion last month, but stuck to its timeline of resuming operations by the year-end.
The company also posted on Friday a 9% jump in quarterly profit and warned of a challenging year ahead given volatility in oil prices.
Petronas is in the final stages of finishing the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID), a 50-50 partnership with Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco.
An explosion and fire occurred at the plant’s atmospheric residue desulphurisation unit in April. The fire was contained within 30 minutes.
“Work will be continued towards achieving planned commercial operation date in the fourth quarter, although not at full capacity,” the company said in a statement.
Investigations on the incident are still ongoing, Petronas said.
First-quarter profit at Petronas, the sole manager of Malaysia’s oil and gas reserves and a key contributor to state coffers, rose to 14.2 billion ringgit ($3.39 billion) from 13 billion ringgit.
Company’s revenue rose 7% to 62 billion ringgit.
Total production volume for the quarter dropped 1.3% to 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day due to lower crude production from Iraq. Sales of liquefied natural gas rose 6.7% to 8.45 million tonnes.
“The board expects the overall year-end performance of Petronas to be affected by the rising volatility of oil price and foreign exchange movement,” the company said.
The oil and gas industry will continue to operate in a challenging environment arising from market uncertainties and geopolitical risks, it said.
Last month, Petronas acquired a Singapore-based solar energy company as part of a strategy to move into renewable energy and chase high-growth business to complement its mainstay operations.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — Energy supplier Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) will still be fined even after it rectifies the billing problem which led to a sudden spike in electricity bills for consumers, minister Yeo Bee Yin has said.
Speaking in an interview during 8TV’s Global Watch programme yesterday, Yeo said the high electricity bills problem was in most cases due to TNB’s technical problem in billing the customers.
“The Energy Commission has already given them (TNB) a warning letter, and instruction notice, they must resolve the problem within 30 days and all who complained must have fair treatment,” the minister of energy, science, technology, environment and climate change said in an excerpt of the interview that was made available on Global Watch’s official Facebook page.
Yeo said TNB had already violated the Energy Commission’s standard for service levels, and that the energy company would still be penalised even if they corrected their wrong.
“Even if you corrected your wrong, you did wrong, you will be fined,” she stressed in the interview conducted in Mandarin.
Yeo said the Energy Commission is currently doing an investigation to determine which provisions of the Electricity Supply Act to fine TNB under.
“Next week or the following week, we will announce the provisions for the fine and teach them a lesson,” she said.
She noted TNB’s status as being the sole company providing electricity here.
“Because TNB is actually the sole company, you want to buy electricity, if you are unhappy, you must still buy from it.
“So I told the Energy Commission, you must grow fangs, you must regulate, so although they will correct the wrong, but there will certainly be a fine,” she added.
She said the Energy Commission is expected to submit a full report of its investigation into the matter within the next two weeks.
In the same interview, Yeo was asked to comment on those in Melaka who felt that their smart meters were causing their electricity bills to go up.
But Yeo said the spike in billing problems was not only limited to Melaka, but throughout the country.
“Because the technical problem is not in the smart meters, of course some smart meters have different cases, but this bigger issue affecting everyone is not the meter problem. But of course some people is also because of the meter, but many cases is because of other technical problems,” she said, describing the cause to be technical issues in the billing.
When asked if those affected by the spike in electricity bills have to pay up first pending investigation and get a refund later or risk having their electricity supply cut, Yeo said she had already obtained confirmation that electricity supply won’t be cut especially for those affected this month.
“If you can afford, you can pay first, because actually the error is how they bill or some technical problem,” she said, explaining that those who pay first would get a rebate the following month.
Those who fail to get a rebate can still complain to the Energy Commission, she said.
The minister also answered some queries sent in by the programme’s viewers.
One of them claimed that TNB had dismissed his complaint of receiving a monthly electricity bill for RM800 when his regular bill was only RM200, even though he had not changed his lifestyle.
Yeo suggested the possibility of electricity theft, but said the consumer could mount a further complaint with the Energy Commission.
“Whether there was electricity theft or not, if you think TNB’s response is unfair and you feel that you as an energy consumer need to complain, you can complain to the Energy Commission, all information can be viewed on www.st.gov.my,” she said, noting that a microsite was launched a few days ago with the contact details of the Energy Commission in different states, and with other avenues of complaints listed such as via email.
“So we welcome all who feel they received unfair treatment from TNB and want to complain about TNB, but I hope people don’t treat the Energy Commission as TNB’s customer service.
“You have to first complain to TNB, and if you received unfair treatment at TNB, then only complain to the Energy Commission. Because TNB earns money, it has a responsibility to be responsible and fair to all who use electricity,” she said.
With almost one-third of Singapore just five meters above sea level, land reclamation isn’t only a way to create more space, it’s an environmental imperative. And while politicians elsewhere dither over climate change, the city-state is taking a decisive stance, rolling out a range of initiatives aimed at limiting the effects of global warming.
“It’s an existential threat,” Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said in an interview Thursday.
Singapore, one of the world’s smallest nations, makes up for its lack of space by careful planning. A draft master plan released in March outlined a strategy to rejuvenate the island’s central area so that more people can live closer to work. It also proposed creating another 1,000 hectares of parks and park connectors so that in future, more than 90% of households will be within walking distance of a green space.
Wong said Thursday that Singapore has been successfully using polders, or dykes, to reclaim land. It’s a Dutch concept that’s cheaper than using sand to fill in the sea and better for low-lying areas.
The master plan, which is revised every five years and which sets out a strategy for the next 10 to 15 years, also suggested use of underground space for the first time.
While the primary purpose of going beneath the ground is to free up more surface land, Wong said it has other benefits. Underground central cooling systems around the relatively new Marina Bay area are much more energy efficient, he said.
Food Security
Singapore also foresees putting more utilities, transport, storage and industrial facilities underground.
Food security is another issue for Singapore, which imports more than 90% of what the population eats. Wong said Singapore has an “ambitious target” to meet 30% of the country’s nutritional needs with home-grown produce by 2030.
The drive to enhance food security is partly driven by environmental factors that may disrupt supply chains globally.
“This can’t be done through traditional agricultural production, we don’t have land for it,” Wong said. “The only way to do it would be through innovative methods, like for example vertical farming.”
Wong added that Singapore has strengths in advanced manufacturing and biotechnology that should give it an edge in the so-called agri-tech sector.
SINGAPORE — Two Singaporean students have made it to the global finals of the Google Science Fair for their project which seeks to find a possible source of renewable energy from food waste — such as sugarcane pulp sourced at hawker centres here.
Chosen from a shortlist of 100 regional entries, Emma Tan and Jenevieve Ho, both students at the National Junior College, will be among 20 teams of students to fly to Google’s international headquarters in Mountain View, California in the United States this July to present their project to a panel of judges.
Running since 2011, the annual online competition allows students from around the world between the ages of 13 to 18 to submit proposals which offer innovative solutions to real world problems in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Winners of the grand finals will receive a total of US$50,000 in scholarship funding to further their education.
To tackle the issue of growing food waste, the girls proposed converting food waste into clean, renewable energy to meet rising demand for electricity globally.
They sought to determine if food waste could be used in microbial fuel cells (MFC), which is a bio-electrochemical device that converts organic substrates into electrical energy. MFCs are seen as a potential source of renewable energy and an alternative to fossil fuels. Some commonly-used substrates, which are substances that are required in a chemical reaction, in MFCs are pure forms of carbohydrates such as glucose.
Research has been done to find sustainable, low-cost material that can replace glucose as a substrate, but there is a dearth of research on the use of food waste.
Given that food waste contains many carbohydrates and is available easily, the girls decided to use common types of food waste for their experiment — specifically banana peels and the inner and outer layers of sugarcane. The duo sourced for juiced sugarcane pulp from hawker stalls and bananas from supermarkets, and subsequently tested them in MFC set-ups.
From their experiments, they found that food waste could indeed be used as a potential substrate in MFCs.
They also found that among the three types of food waste tested, banana peels made the best substrate as it had the best voltage performance, comparable to glucose.
This was followed by the outer layer of sugarcane and then the inner layer of sugarcane.
In their submission to the competition, Miss Tan and Miss Ho said that their study was “a step closer” to making MFC a more viable alternative source of energy, and would contribute to the fight against climate change.
Solar energy and Indonesia seem almost ideally suited for each other. Indonesia has yet to tap into its abundant solar energy resource potential in any significant way, however.
A member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), a party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Climate Agreement, the Indonesia government has set a target of renewable energy providing 23% of electricity generation by 2025 and 31% by 2050. At present, some 13 percent of power generation nationwide comes from renewable energy resources, mainly hydroelectric and some geothermal power production, according to government statistics.
“The development of renewable energy sources, including solar, is a priority that the Indonesian government is working towards,” Bernarto told Solar Magazine. “In terms of renewable energy policy, including solar, the incumbent government made it front and center in his re-election campaign bid that renewable energy is Indonesia’s way forward. Investors and developers, however, are seeing mix messages as the regulation does not seem to favor open market business competition vis-à-vis the state utility company PLN (state-owned utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara).”
The outlook for solar and renewable energy in Indonesia
IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, expects Indonesia’s installed solar power capacity to grow significantly in scale by 2030, driven by initiatives on the part of the government and PLN.
IRENA identified the potential for Indonesia to deploy 47 GW of solar power capacity by 2030 as part of its 2017 Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Future (REmap) program report. The Abu Dhabi-based agency sees Indonesian solar power capacity growing at the utility-scale, on residential and commercial rooftops, and in off-grid settings to replace costly diesel-fueled generation. That includes plans to enhance energy access significantly by rolling out solar energy systems for nearly 1.1 million households in remote areas that do not have electricity.
IRENA’s outlook is looking overly optimistic, however. As is generally the case among Southeast Asian nations, opening up the power market to independent power producers and distributors takes a back seat to boosting conventional industrial and economic growth and development, including the use of fossil-fuel power generation.
State-owned utility PLN owns and operates nearly all the nation’s generation capacity and has a monopoly on electricity transmission and distribution. It continues to rely primarily on fossil fuels to generate electricity, believing that they are cheaper and more reliable than alternative, renewable energy and clean energy technologies.
The institution of supportive policies and regulatory and market mechanisms to foster renewable energy development under the previous administration of President Joko Widodo were practically non-existent, Mr. Fabby Tumiwa<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Solar Magazine Interviewee Avatar” width=”15″ height=”15″ data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/interviewee-avatar-male.png” />, executive director of Indonesia’s IESR (Institute for Essential Services Reform), and Program Manager, Sustainable Energy Access Marlistya Citraningrum<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Solar Magazine Interviewee Avatar” width=”15″ height=”15″ data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/interviewee-avatar-female.png” /> told Solar Magazine.
Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan, speaking at the Indonesia Clean Energy Forum in Jakarta last November, said Indonesia was unlikely to meet its U.N. Paris Climate Agreement renewable energy and GHG emissions reductions goals, however. Government policy, the terms and conditions of large- and medium-scale project development and institutional market mechanisms that have been created have proved unattractive and largely ineffectual.
Realizing Indonesia’s renewable energy targets: A pessimistic outlook
“There are a lot of moving parts to Indonesia’s energy landscape, and regulations keep changing all the time,” Ariel Liebman<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Solar Magazine Interviewee Avatar” width=”15″ height=”15″ data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/interviewee-avatar-male.png” />, associate professor of Data Science & AI and deputy director of the Monash Energy Materials and Systems Institute (MEMSI), told Solar Magazine. Furthermore, “PLN, along with government leaders, want to keep electricity prices low, so they provide massive subsidies for the electricity generation and distribution assets they own,” Liebman highlighted.
That said, Bernarto pointed out that Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC and Paris Climate Agreement “put forward a holistic strategy in mitigating the impact of climate change, recognizing that climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts are inherently multi-sectoral in nature.”
It involves policy that tackles the issue of land use and land-use change (the largest contributor of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions) [and] reducing emissions from the energy sector by increasing renewable energy mix, all the while ensuring that economic development in Indonesia continues as projected to lift millions out of poverty.
More specifically, issuance of MEMR Decree No. 50/2017 has been deemed unattractive for renewable energy investment. Tariffs, risk allocation, and BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) model mandated in the Decree are the main factors making renewable PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) “unbankable,” according to Tumiwa and Citraningrum. MEMR recorded 70 PPAs In 2017, but 32 were yet to reach financial close as of year-end 2018, they noted.
Energy in Indonesia
Indonesia is home to some 264 million people, the fourth largest national population worldwide, and its economy is by far the largest among ASEAN’s 10 member nations.
Its population is dispersed across an archipelago of thousands of volcanic islands with major cities, towns and villages often separated by forested, mountainous terrain, as well as ocean waters. That makes extension, operation and maintenance of long-distance power grids centered on large-scale coal, fossil-fuel or nuclear power plants difficult and costly.
More energy is consumed in Indonesia than any of the nine other ASEAN member nations. Electricity generation capacity stood at 57.6 gigawatts (GW) as of 2017. Indonesia consumes around 220 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year. That’s marginally more than neighboring Australia’s National Electricity Market, yet Indonesia’s population is 10 times that of Australia’s, the Australia-Indonesia Centre highlights.
Around 80% of nationwide electricity consumption falls within the interconnected Java-Bali and Sumatra systems. The remaining 20% is distributed via thousands of isolated systems that are mostly fueled by diesel generators, opening up opportunities to replace them with solar energy generation and energy storage, according to the Australia-Indonesia Centre.
Fossil fuels account for more than 80 percent of Indonesia’s energy mix, with coal power plants being the largest source of electricity generation by far. Use of diesel and other fuel oils for power generation is also common across the island nation archipelago.
<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Panel Discussion: Indonesia Transformation Towards Low Carbon Economy” width=”696″ height=”428″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/panel-discussion-Indonesia-to-low-carbon-economy.jpg 696w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/panel-discussion-Indonesia-to-low-carbon-economy-300×184.jpg 300w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/panel-discussion-Indonesia-to-low-carbon-economy-356×220.jpg 356w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/panel-discussion-Indonesia-to-low-carbon-economy-683×420.jpg 683w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px” data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/panel-discussion-Indonesia-to-low-carbon-economy.jpg” />Panel Discussion: Indonesia Transformation towards low carbon economy. Left to the right: Fabby Tumiwa (IESR), Benhur P.L Tobing (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources), Budi Santosa (Indonesia Business Council for Sustainable Development), Dudi Ruliandi (Fiscal Policy Agency/Ministry of Finance), Dida Gardera (Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs)
Photo: Climate Transparency
PLN has projected coal use in Indonesia will double from 2017–2025, according to Climate Transparency’s 2018 Brown to Green report. Add to that the deforestation, GHG emissions and toxic air pollution produced by its extensive palm oil plantations, and Indonesia probably ranks as one of, if not the largest source of GHG emissions and air pollution in the ASEAN region.
King Coal
In addition, coal is big business in Indonesia. It’s the world’s second largest coal exporter, accounting for just over 16 percent of global exports, some $20.6 billion dollars’ worth.
That adds to institutional inertia when it comes to government and PLN support for solar and renewable energy, Liebman pointed out. “They don’t believe these new technologies are cheap enough, and they’ve got all that coal, which they’d rather export than burn internally,” he said in an interview. That’s “actually a good thing” when it comes to Indonesian GHG emissions, Liebman added.
Furthermore, PLN and the government’s long-term 2019–2028 Energy Procurement Plan (RUPTL) calls for building out excess new coal-fired power generation capacity. “The head of the Indonesian coal association a couple of years ago said the country doesn’t have enough coal to fuel all the coal-fired power stations the government was planning to build [over the ensuing five-plus years],” Liebman noted.
<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Java Bali and Sumatra RUPTL Forecasts Versus Actuals” width=”696″ height=”374″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Java-Bali-Sumatra-RUPTL-demand.png 696w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Java-Bali-Sumatra-RUPTL-demand-300×161.png 300w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px” data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Java-Bali-Sumatra-RUPTL-demand.png” />Figure 10: Java Bali and Sumatra RUPTL forecasts versus actuals
Source: A Roadmap for Indonesia’s Power Sector: How Renewable Energy Can Power Java-Bali and Sumatra
PLN and the government subsequently dialed that figure down, but it’s still far in excess of what’s likely to be required in terms of meeting Indonesia’s future energy demand, or the most cost-effective or beneficial for consumers, the Indonesian economy and society over the long term, according to a study commissioned by IESR.
Liebman worked closely with Warwick Forster, managing director of Australia’s Apogee Energy an energy consulting company that specializes in renewables and sustainability, to produce the study, which is said to be the first to produce a comprehensive, nationwide analysis of Indonesia’s renewable energy development potential.
The research team analyzed model scenarios based on Indonesia’s 2019–2028 national energy procurement plan (RUPTL) and initial demand forecasts and details regarding more than 1,050 existing and planned power stations representing some 90% of energy consumption on Java, Bali and Sumatra—about 70 percent of the nation’s population all told, Liebman explained.
<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”SolarGIS Map of Indonesian Solar Resources” width=”696″ height=”393″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-photovoltaic-power-potential.png 696w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-photovoltaic-power-potential-300×169.png 300w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px” data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-photovoltaic-power-potential.png” />Figure 5: SolarGIS map of Indonesian Solar Resources
Source: A Roadmap for Indonesia’s Power Sector report
According to initial modeling and analysis, they concluded “there is likely to be a significant overbuild of generation capacity for both their current forecast energy needs, and a more conservative growth scenario, such as we have modeled,” Forster highlighted in a report summary. “Either of these outcomes means an inefficient build of generation, higher system costs to Indonesia and the possibility of stranded generation assets,” he pointed out.
Business as usual and high renewables penetration scenarios
The researchers ran Liebman’s model “under different scenarios where generation was built efficiently at minimal cost whilst still ensuring adequate supply of fast start generation and minimal ‘unserved’ energy (i.e. when the lights go out),” Forster explained.
What is important is that with these levels of renewables, there is neither significant ‘spill’ or unused renewable energy, and that the inherent flexibility in the generation fleet is able to manage any issues with the variability in renewable sources.
In addition, scenario analysis results showed reductions in 2027 of between 39–89 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions under the study’s Business as Usual and high renewables penetration scenarios.
<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Indonesia’s Generation Capacity in 2027 for Renewables” width=”696″ height=”345″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-generation-capacity-2027-renewables.png 696w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-generation-capacity-2027-renewables-300×149.png 300w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-generation-capacity-2027-renewables-324×160.png 324w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px” data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-generation-capacity-2027-renewables.png” />Figure 23: Generation Capacity in 2027 for Renewables
Source: A Roadmap for Indonesia’s Power Sector report<img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,” alt=”Indonesia’s Energy Generation Mix in 2027 by Technology for RE Scenarios” width=”696″ height=”359″ data-lazy-srcset=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-energy-generation-mix-2027-tech-for-RE.png 696w, https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-energy-generation-mix-2027-tech-for-RE-300×155.png 300w” data-lazy-sizes=”(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px” data-lazy-src=”https://mk0qaxewenuu33xx1t5t.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Indonesia-energy-generation-mix-2027-tech-for-RE.png” />Figure 24: Energy Generation Mix in 2027 by Technology for RE Scenarios
Source: A Roadmap for Indonesia’s Power Sector report
Turning to cost assessments, the medium and high-renewables scenarios resulted in 4% and 7% increases in energy costs for the period. An “energy transition” scenario in which less conservative regarding the projected costs of new renewable energy deployment resulted in a 1% reduction as compared to the business-as-usual scenario.
Project development by and large is being driven by the government’s goal of achieving 100% electrification by 2020. Recently elected to a second term in office, President Joko Widodo signed a Presidential Regulation directing solar PV systems be installed to serve more than 2,500 off-grid villages from 2019–2020, Bernarto highlights in a Norton Rose Fulbright report.
Furthermore, MEMR has supported Indonesia’s One Million Rooftop Solar Initiative, which was launched in 2017 with IESR as a founding signatory. Also, it issued MEMR Decree No. 49/2018 with the aim of boosting rooftop solar use by PLN’s customers, Tumiwa and Citraningrum pointed out.
“This regulation, in IESR’s opinion, has the potential to hamper rooftop solar utilization in Indonesia, however,” they said, highlighting three main points:
The net metering scheme only allows electricity sale for a value of 0.65 to customer’s current electricity tariff (a drop from previous regulation which allowed 1:1 ratio),
Customers need to obtain permission from PLN just to install the panels and only registered business entities are allowed to install solar energy systems, which may increase installation prices and limit accessibility to those in large cities, and
A contradictory clause for industrial users, Decree No. 49, that exempts industrial users from Decree No. 1/20187 but still stipulates they pay parallel charges and emergency fees.
“The number of homeowners using on-grid rooftop solar has increased by over 100% since the initiative was made public in September 2017,” they highlighted. Furthermore, a market survey by GIZ-INFIS and IESR revealed that 13% of households in the Greater Jakarta area with a collective, potential capacity of 368 MW were interested in installing solar PV systems, they added.
This growing interest, however, is barely recognized by the government. The newest regulation on rooftop solar does not provide a supportive framework for rooftop solar users. Stakeholders see this regulation as a setback that only aims to prevent PLN from losing revenues.
—Tumiwa and Citraningrum added.
That belief is unfounded, at least according to an IESR simulation that showed PLN’s revenues would decline by just 0.58% if the One Million Rooftop Solar Initiative’s target of 1 GW cumulative installed capacity by 2020 is achieved.
When it comes to utility-scale power, project development faces the same obstacles as do other renewables: the lack of supportive policies, according to Tumiwa and Citraningrum. “In term of technology costs, Indonesia has comparable LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) to neighboring countries at USD0.06–0.11/kWh.”
Indonesia was set to implement a long-awaited solar energy feed-in-tariff for solar energy back in 2016 in the wake of the issuance of MEMR Decree No. 19/2016, Tumiwa and Citraningrum pointed out. “But as soon as the new minister took office, this regulation was annulled. The current regulation (MEMR Decree No. 50/2017) sets lower tariffs for renewables, and it affects renewable projects bankability.”
As it stands, aspiring independent solar and other renewable energy power producers need to go through a legal and bureaucratic process that entails obtaining approvals, licenses and permits at both the national and local government levels. They all need to contract with PLN, which has a monopoly on transmission and distribution nationwide, for the sale and purchase of all electricity produced. Furthermore, all project development by independent power producer is based on the BOOT model.
Modernizing the power grid to accommodate renewable energy generation, transmission and distribution poses another major challenge for solar and renewable energy growth in Indonesia more generally. PLN has begun addressing this issue, piloting implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart grid technology. The state-owned utility also continues to implement required load frequency control and automatic generation control for the Java-Bali grid network.
In addition, the lack of a solar and renewable energy industry base and supply chains constrain Indonesia’s capacity to realize the nation’s renewable energy potential. So does the lack of skilled, experienced people, Liebman highlighted.
Developing a supply chain, developing or acquiring a workforce with right skills, along with difficulties distributing and managing energy resources to centers of demand are challenges all industry, governments and communities face when considering how to design and implement a clean, renewable energy transition, Liebman noted.
“Even though we know renewables are cheaper on average, you need to build out supply chains. The next 100 MW [of renewable power generation] is going to be higher than any broad-based average. There’s no significant grid-connected, utility-scale solar there, although there are a lot of small, off-grid installations, around 1–2 MW at the most. There’s nothing installed at present at the scale we modeled,” Liebman said.
Those challenges are the sorts of variable factors that are difficult to model anywhere. They’re also challenges that government and multilateral development agencies typically step in to address to build a techno-economic foundation upon which private-sector enterprises and markets can be built upon.
We had to assume these challenges were going to be solvable at some point. The [study’s renewable energy] development trajectory is probably a little bit optimistic in the first few years. It’s hard to hit the ground running without an industrial base, so development would probably be slow in the beginning, but costs should decline as installations increase.
—Liebman said.
Solar energy in Indonesia: A look ahead
Indonesians went to the polls to elect a new president and government leadership in late April. Based on an early quick count of election results from late April, Widodo appeared poised to serve a second, five-year term as Indonesia’s president. If Widodo “maintains his current approach and the national energy policy is not translated well into sectoral regulations, renewable energy development in Indonesia will see a stagnant state or best case, very limited progress,” according to IESR.
What is the future of renewable energy in Indonesia?
Widodo’s administration did launch initiatives to attract more solar and renewable energy investment to Indonesia in the run-up to the national election, Bernarto pointed out. Among others, these included reducing the number of permits and licenses required to establish businesses, as well as introducing the Online Single Submission System (OSS) for project proposals.
“We see reasonably good interest from investors who are considering Indonesia for renewable energy investment based on the potential resources…The current government is likely to improve the investment climate in general. However, it seems like more effort is needed to convince renewable energy developers, including solar,” Bernarto said.
In addition, PLN is developing a national standard for electric vehicle (EV) charging systems. It’s also preparing a strategic road map for EV charging stations in support of the government’s plan to develop the Indonesian EV industry.
Bernarto cited floating solar power as one prospective solution to land acquisition issues in Indonesia that usually hinder or slow down power projects in Indonesia. In addition, “solar combined with storage microgrids could be the solution to supply energy that is reliable, and cost-effective for those living in remote areas, far from the national transmission lines,” he said.
Bernarto believes that the economics of solar energy in Indonesia will become increasingly attractive in coming years. “Renewable energy options that are reliable and affordable would do very well in a developing nation such as Indonesia,” he said.
“Solar technologies and hardware are projected to be increasingly affordable overtime for developing nations such as Indonesia given increasing investments in renewable energy projects. There is potential for renewable electricity prices to become competitive against [conventional] alternatives,” Bernarto concluded.
MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order making it easier for the government to enter into oil exploration and development deals with third parties.
Duterte, through Executive Order 80, allowed third parties to participate in service contracts awarded by the government to the Philippine National Oil Company Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC), the upstream oil, gas and coal subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company.
“In all cases, PNOC-EC shall enter into farm-in/farm-out agreements only with reputable, technically competent and financially capable entities,” the order stated.
According to Duterte’s order, farm-in or farm-out refers to a practice of allowing the entry of third-parties to spread the risks inherent in oil and gas exploration, development and production.
It repealed the Arroyo administration’s EO 556, which banned the awarding of farm-in or farm-out contracts by any government agency, including the PNOC and required it to “follow a strict bidding procedure” in selecting parties for oil exploration.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has long been pushing for the repeal of the Arroyo-era EO to allow a pending joint exploration in Service Contract (SC) 57 to push through.
SC 57 refers to an area under the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.
According to the contract, state-run China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) farmed in into SC 57 in 2006, acquiring 51 percent participating interest.
Arroyo’s EO prohibits farming in, but its amendment would allow SC 57 to push through, according to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
The DOE, under Duterte’s new order, is tasked to issue regulations specifying the third party selection process for the PNOC-EC.
All farm-in or farm-out agreements to be undertaken by the PNOC-EC must be approved by the energy department.
“The DOE shall take into consideration provisions of existing government selection procedures that enhance transparency and objectivity in the selection process, including GCG issuances requiring that contracts to be entered into by the government-owned and/or controlled corporations undergo review by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel,” the EO stated.
Duterte’s new order comes months after the Philippines and China signed a memorandum of understanding on oil and gas development in the disputed South China Sea.
Under the MOU, the 2 countries will set up an inter-governmental joint steering committee that will be “responsible for negotiating and agreeing the cooperation arrangement and maritime areas to which it will apply.”
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich in energy reserves and marine resources, conflicting with partial claims of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
In 2016, the Philippines won a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, and also made clear that the potentially oil-rich Reed Bank was inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China does not recognize the ruling and has instead ramped up its militarization efforts in the vital waterway.
The Minister of Energy of Thailand has officiated at the first public sale of PTT UltraForce Diesel B10 in Thailand, as it bets on biodiesel B10 as the country’s main diesel fuel.
The Minister of Energy Siri Jirapongphan presided over a ceremony to launch PTT’s UltraForce Diesel B10, the first biodiesel B10 fuel to go on sale in Thailand.
Thailand is promoting biodiesel B10 as the main diesel fuel, replacing the current biodiesel B7 by 2021. To support the switch it is offering 1 baht per litre excise tax discount for biodiesel B10.
The ministry is anticipating that the introduction of the new biodiesel B10 will raise palm oil consumption to 2 million tons annually from the current figure at 1.5 million, reports Pattaya Mail.
There are currently some 1,600 PTT petrol stations in Thailand.
Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Electricity National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) and the US Embassy in Vietnam held a seminar in Hanoi on May 30 to discuss opportunities in Vietnam’s power transmission development.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of EVNNPT’s Management Board Dang Phan Tuong said EVNNPT is wholly owned by the State and in charge of building and operating the nationwide 220kV and 500kV power transmission system. It has a chartered capital of 1.1 billion USD and combined assets worth 3.6 billion USD.
At present, the national power transmission system has 25,203 km of 500 kV and 220 kV lines, ranking third in ASEAN and eighth in Asia; alongside 153 transformer stations 500kV and 220kV with a total capacity of 91.256 MVA, placing fourth in ASEAN and 11th in Asia.
EVNNPT has set the goal of becoming one of the top four power transmission utilities in ASEAN by 2020, top 10 in Asia by 2025 and meeting global standards by 2030.
To that end, it has adopted synchronous measures in construction and operation, finance and capital raising, corporate governance, technological adoption, human resources development, environment protection, climate change response, communications, and external relations.
US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink said the event affords EVNNPT and US firms a chance to discuss cooperation activities in the future.
He suggested that EVNNPT expand ties with financial organisations and suppliers of equipment, technology, and services in power transmission from the US.–VNA
, a Jakarta-based corporate and commercial lawyer with Norton Rose Fulbright and a partner in TNB & Partners, pointed out in an interview.
