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  • Renewables

PEA and KBank develop app, provide funding, to install rooftop solar

31 January 2019

 – 

  • Thailand

The user-friendly mobile application is expected to be introduced in four pilot provinces in April 2019 with the hope of attracting 1.5 million adopters within the first five years.

Saranyphong Atchvsunthon, deputy governor of planning and power system development, said the app walks people through the steps needed to install their own solar-powered generator. The comprehensive guide, begins with an analysis of basic electric power consumption, recommendations on the appropriate installed capacity, selection of investment models, investment funds from banks, breakeven point calculation, and products and installers that meet PEA standards.

“Application users can also keep track of their own power consumption anywhere, anytime,” he said.

The authority has been mandated to transform into a digital utility by promoting energy R&D and steadily introducing new energy service businesses and innovations in order to stay competitive in the global market, Saranyphong said.

KBank’s role is as an exclusive partner to provide finances for those interested in installing solar.

The PEA Solar Hero Application will offer a complete service, starting with four pilot provinces in April 2019.

In a press release on Thursday, PEA said it is aiming for approximately 1.5 million rooftop PV system adopters or 20 per cent of power users in the business and household sectors within the first five years of the introduction of this service. It is expected investment in the rooftop PV system will reach Bt180 billion nationwide.

The Thai government has encouraged communities to join an effort to produce and use clean and renewable energy such as solar power by installing solar rooftops at their residences, shops, factories and buildings, said Silawat Santivisat, KBank senior executive vice president.

The campaign has met with a lukewarm response until now due to certain limitations, including the high cost of solar panel installation and consumers’ concerns over safety and standard of equipment and quality of installation, said Silawat.

“KBank, as a partner with PEA, is proud and honoured to take part in the campaign to promote the installation of solar rooftops via the PEA Solar Hero application by being the first and only financial service provider which has participated in the project from the beginning, Silawat continued.

“KBank will provide a payment transaction service for those interested. Customers can choose to make payment for goods and services via credit cards with a 10-month installment plan. KBank also serves as a funding provider by offering loans for installing solar panels because a solar rooftop installation is still expensive. The loan service will ease the financial burden for customers, because they can budget their payments into monthly installments with special interest rates for up to 60 months at the discretion of KBank.”

  • Energy Cooperation , 
  • Energy Economy , 
  • Oil & Gas

Indonesia oil giant mulls $1-billion LNG project in Philippines

31 January 2019

 – 

  • Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines — Indonesia’s second biggest crude oil producer, PT Pertamina, is looking to invest $1 billion for the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Philippines through a regasification hub project, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said yesterday.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said PT Pertamina has expressed interest to do business in the Philippines by being involved in LNG development.

Lopez met with PT Pertamina officials last Tuesday.

“The Philippines is very much open for LNG investors. We will assist and work with them in looking for trusted partners until they begin their operations,” he said.

PT Pertamina corporate marketing director Basuki Trikora Putra said the firm is ready to offer integrated LNG solutions by investing in FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit) or land-based LNG regasification and provide competitive LNG supply.

“Having a long experience as one of the world leading LNG global players, we would like to share the same experience in the Philippines. We are really keen to invest in the Philippines,” Putra said.

After the DTI, PT Pertamina is also set to hold a meeting with officials of the Board of Investments, Department of Energy and Energy Regulatory Commission to learn about the country’s plans and policies on energy and investment.

Lopez said the government remains committed to attracting more investments to the country.

In particular, the government wants to accelerate investments in the areas of energy, manufacturing, transport, technology and infrastructure to develop more robust industry and service sectors.

PT Pertamina is a state-owned national energy company of Indonesia.

The firm has six refineries with a combined production capacity of one million barrels of oil per day.

  • Renewables

International consortium pushing geothermal development on Flores Island, Indonesia

31 January 2019

 – 

  • Indonesia

A new consortium is partnering with Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to accelerate geothermal development on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia utilising a slim hole approach with wellhead power plants.

Having followed the efforts by this international consortium from the sidelines, I am so glad for all involved that this is now official.

During a press conference yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced a collaboration with an Eastern Indonesia Geothermal Consortium to accelerate geothermal development on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT).

The Eastern Indonesia Geothermal Consortium consists of North Tech Energy, Turboden SpA and SATE Ltd, which are interested in developing a geothermal field on Flores Island to meet electricity in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The consortium’s collaboration with the Public Service Agency (BLU) in the ESDM Research and Development Agency is intended to facilitate the consortium’s investment in geothermal development and exploitation.

“The ESM Research and Development Agency can partner with Business Entities through Operational Cooperation (KSO) or Management Cooperation (KSM) to help accelerate geothermal investment,” said Head of ESDM Research and Development Agency, Sutijastoto, after the signing at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Office in Jakarta.

Currently the biggest economic development in NTT comes from the tourism, mining, marine and geothermal industries. There are 11 mineral mining companies in Manggarai Regency and need a large amount of electricity. One of them is processing manganese smelters, which require 10 MW of energy.

The biggest energy potential that can be utilized in NTT is geothermal energy of 1,276 MWe and 776 MWe of which are found on Flores Island. Therefore Flores Island is designated as a Geothermal Island, through the ESDM Ministerial Decree Number 2268 K / 30 / MEM / 2017. Of the 12 geothermal prospect areas, there are three regions that have obtained WKP (Geothermal Work Area) management permits from the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, namely Ulumbu, Mataloko and Sokoria.

The consortium took the initiative to develop geothermal potential on the island of Flores, using more efficient and inexpensive technology and methodologies, namely the technique of slim hole drilling in exploration and production drilling. For the production phase, the consortium will use turbines with wellhead turbine technology which is directly installed on top of the geothermal well. Turbine can be adjusted to the character of each well, both temperature and pressure.

This technology is right for small-sized geothermal fields and not too large electricity needs.

“We are looking forward pushing this approach of geothermal development forward in Indonesia, which allows for faster development with less environmental impact and the opportunity to expand development beyond large scale development … “, so Geir Hagalin, CEO of North Tech Energy, key driver for this new consortium.
The consortium is divided into two groups, namely the service provider group and the equity provider. Service providers consist of ISOR (Icelandic Geological Agency) and HIVOS. Icelandic ISOR is an experienced partner in mapping the subsurface, 3G data analysis, determination of drilling targets and assistance during drilling.

HIVOS is a Dutch international non-governmental organization whose role is to prepare communities in geothermal development locations.

HIVOS advertises preparation and training at the community level to form a business unit that utilizes electricity supply from geothermal energy and develops electricity-powered households.

The parties who are members of the equity provider are North Tech Energy (NTE) BV, Turboden SpA, EMO and Infunde Capital. NTE BV acts as a service provider and equity provider. Turboden SpA is a turbine producer with organic rankine cycle (ORC) technology, FMO (Dutch Government Development Bank) provides financing for geothermal development.

Infunde Capital acts as a geothermal field developer by coordinating all parties involved and ensuring all processes are in accordance with good business rules. RVO is an institution under the Ministry of Economic Relations of the Netherlands which plays a role in providing incentives to the private sector through Resource Risk Insurance.

  • Oil & Gas , 
  • Renewables

Gas Production In Thailand Drops As Country Experiments With Alternative Sources

31 January 2019

 – 

  • Thailand

In a bid to combat climate change, almost every nation in the world has been quite busy looking for alternative energy sources. One such country is Thailand which, for the past couple of years, have been pushing its effort to diversify its power sector. Despite the good intention behind this strategy, it has caused Thailand’s domestic gas production to decline significantly over the past couple of quarters.

Thailand has been heavily pushing for the adoption of alternative energy sources. This is part of the country’s effort to cut its reliance on gas. Majority of the country’s gas needs are being fulfilled by imports as domestic production have significantly slowed down due to government regulations.

These figures have been acknowledged by the Thai government. As such, the state-owned PTT oil and gas company has placed a massive bid in order to gain rights to two of the country’s biggest gas blocks. These are a location in the regions of Erawan and Bongkot. PTT was able to outbid notable oil companies like Mitsui and Chevron.

In a report submitted by Fitch Solutions, the firm noted, “PTT will be expected to maintain a minimum production of 15.5 bcm per annum from the two blocks, some way lower than their current production of 21.7 bcm.”

Aside from oil, PTT is also set to improve its liquefied natural gas production from these two new regions. Many analysts have noted that PTT’s improved production should be enough to offset its imports of liquefied natural gas.

A significant portion of Thailand’s liquefied natural gas import comes from Qatar. This is part of PTT’s 20-year deal with the Middle East country which was signed in 2015. The deal states that Qatar will provide PTT with 20 metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas per annum.

With its venture in the Erawan and Bongkot regions, PTT should be able to fulfill all of its demands. Some are even speculating that the company can cut some of its imports now that its domestic production is slated to improve.

Based on Thailand’s power development plan, the government is planning to reach higher generation targets for clean coal technology. There is also a significant interest levied towards alternative energy sources like hydropower and renewable energy.

As Thailand slowly transitions to an alternative future, the government predicts that it should be able to cut its gas consumption and reliance by 1 percent on a year-to-year basis.

  • Renewables

Egat to float solar panels at dams

30 January 2019

 – 

  • Thailand

Ratchaprapha dam in Surat Thani is one of five dams to install the floating solar panels. Karnjana Ayuwatanachai

The state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) will start installation of floating solar panels in April at five hydropower plants in five provinces.

The project was approved by the National Energy Policy Council last Thursday.

Chatchai Mawong, Egat’s director of hydro and renewable power development, said the authority plans to install floating solar panels at the Sirindhorn hydropower plant in Ubon Ratchathani province as the first location.

Egat will install 45 megawatts at Sirindhorn dam at a development cost of US$1 million (31.5 million baht) per MW.

The floating solar panels at the dam will begin commercial operation in 2020.

The full plan includes eight hydropower plants nationwide with a combined capacity of 1,000MW over the next two decades, but the five pilot dams are Sirindhorn (Ubon Ratchathani), Srinakarin (Kanchanaburi), Ratchaprapha (Surat Thani), Bhumibol (Tak) and Ubol Ratana (Khon Kaen).

“Egat plans to do both hydro and solar at eight dams as hybrid renewable power projects,” Mr Chatchai said. “The construction and installation will include an energy management system for smart power supply management.”

He said both systems of power generation are unstable because of limited resources, so Egat plans to combine and manage both systems to ensure stability and lower generating cost.

In addition, power transmission lines can utilise only 40% of capacity because each dam has a duty to provide water for agricultural areas and natural resources for communities as a first priority, so each hydropower plant cannot generate power 24 hours a day.

“As a result, the floating solar panels are designed for use during idle periods in which dams cannot generate power, using the leftover capacity,” Mr Chatchai said.

He said an energy storage system using lithium-ion batteries can be included in hybrid renewable power projects in the future, once Egat’s generating cost becomes competitive enough against fossil-based power.

The business model for the next step of hybrid renewable power projects will take the form of joint ventures with private investors, said Mr Chatchai.

Egat teamed up with Siam Cement Group (SCG) to conduct R&D for materials to build floating solar panels. The R&D site for floating panels is at Tha Thung Na dam in Kanchanaburi province, with a capacity of 250 kilowatts.

Both Egat and SCG will run their R&D activities until 2020.

  • Oil & Gas

Thailand’s domestic gas production declines amidst changes in energy mix

30 January 2019

 – 

  • Thailand

Thailand’s increasing gas demand will likely be met via imports as domestic production slows and the government ramps up its efforts to diversify its power sector and move away from an over reliance on gas production, according to a report by Fitch Solutions.

The government’s oil and gas arm PTT outbid the likes of Chevron and Mitsui for the rights to operate the Erawan and Bongkot which are the country’s two biggest gas blocks in an effort to boost its output levels. “PTT will be expected to maintain a minimum production of 15.5 bcm per annum from the two blocks, some way lower than their current production of 21.7 bcm,” Fitch Solutions revealed.

Likewise, PTT’s alternative to offset declining productions will lean towards liquified natural gas (LNG) imports on the back of its competitive prices, flexible delivery and wider availability, the report added. “The state-owned enterprise’s (SOE) commitment to gas remains strong wit up to 23% of its $9.3b 2019-2023 capex reportedly ready to be allocated to its natural gas business, focusing on expanding LNG import capacity and construction of new gas pipelines nationwide,” Fitch Solutions noted.

Thailand’s LNG imports mostly come from Qatar as part of PTT’s 20-year deal with the country in 2015 for the delivery to 20 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa). However, with plenty of new spare capacity coming onstream over the coming years and ample supply flooding the market, Thailand is said to have sufficient room to scout for new contracting opportunities in the Asian LNG market.

That being said, declining domestic gas production, coupled with a slowing upstream investment and the prospect of growing more heavily reliant on gas imports has pushed the government and PTT to maneuver away from gas, the report highlighted. According to Thailand’s latest power development plan, authorities are setting out higher generation targets for clean coal technology, hydropower and renewables energy for the period between 2015-2036.

“Similarly, the Thailand alternative energy development plan of 2015 calls for the share of renewable energy to be expanded from the current 12% to 30% by 2036, whilst calling for significant new investments in the non-hydro renewables segment, notably biomass,” Fitch Solutions added.

As a result of these transitions, government data indicated that Thailand’s gas consumption is on course to decline 1% YoY with the power sector outweighing the relatively solid growth in gas utilisation in the industrial and petrochemical industries.

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  • Renewables

Vietnam issues updated guidelines for wind energy projects

30 January 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Vietnam has issued updated guidelines for onshore and offshore wind power projects in the country.

Effective from 28 February 2019, Circular No 02 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (MOIT) provided updated guidelines on developing onshore and offshore wind power projects in Vietnam.

Law firm Baker McKenzie said that following the Prime Minister’s recently issued Decision No 39, approving the new feed-in tariff for onshore and offshore wind power projects in Vietnam, the new guidelines will replace previous regulations.

Compared to previous draft versions released in October and November 2018 as well as earlier circulars, substantial revisions have been made, including improvements on some aspects and stricter requirements on others.

The law firm said Circular No 02 provides updated guidelines for developing wind power projects in Vietnam, including: power development plans and the procedure for including a new wind project in the power development plans; requirements for wind measurement and met masts; feasibility study reports; conditions for commencing construction of projects; the process for testing, acceptance and commissioning of windfarms; and requirements for windfarm turbines and equipment.

Also included in the latest circular are new requirements for safety corridor; land use limitations for windfarms; and tariffs for projects involving both onshore and offshore wind turbines.

  • Oil & Gas

January’s oil & gas exploitation exceeds plan

30 January 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s oil and gas output hit an estimated 2.05 million equivalent tonnes in January, surpassing the monthly target by 5.8 percent.

According to the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), of the sum, oil exploitation volume was 1.13 million tonnes and gas output reached 0.92 billion cubic metres, 3.7 and 8.6 percent higher than planned, respectively.

In addition, the group’s urea fertiliser production came to 142,940 tonnes, up 4.4 percent compared to the planned figure.

Petrol and oil production also increased to more than 1.12 million tonnes, exceeding the monthly quota by 6.7 percent.

As a result, the group earned about 56.8 trillion VND (2.44 billion USD) in revenue and contributed 8.2 trillion VND (353.68 million USD) to the State budget.

Also in January, PetroVietnam spent more than 3 billion VND (129,385 USD) on social welfare, like building houses or presenting gifts to disadvantaged groups.-VNA

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