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  • Others

Energy comes clean at Singapore’s only landfill Semakau

10 May 2019

 – 

  • Singapore

SINGAPORE – Semakau Island might be known for being Singapore’s only landfill site, but it is also producing 100 per cent energy.

More than 9,500 sq m of solar panels located there, coupled with a wind turbine, can power up to 350 four-room Housing Board units for a year, with a total output of 1.5 megawatt at peak capacity.

Since the end of February, the deep-sea fish farm owned by Barramundi Asia on the island has been running on 100 per cent clean energy harnessed from different renewable sources with an energy integration system.

The Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator-Singapore (REIDS) – a project initiated by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) – is the largest system of interconnected micro-grids in South-east Asia.

Micro-grids are used to generate power in remote areas where it might be difficult to build transmission lines and wires.

The central hub of the REIDS system draws energy from the micro-grids which are powered by various sources such as wind turbines and solar panels, and redistributes any excess energy unused by one micro-grid to another.

By integrating multiple energy sources – which are heavily dependent on conditions of nature- the system is able to generate power more consistently.

The first of its kind in South-east Asia, the micro-grid system serves as a platform for companies to test research projects that are powered by renewable sources of energy in real world conditions.

To date, the university has set up partnerships with 30 local and international companies on the REIDS project, including British turbine supplier Rolls Royce, and French corporations Engie and Schneider Electric.

Four out of the eight micro-grids are currently up and running.

Mr Romain Migne, project manager at French electric utility company EDF, which opened its lab on the island five years ago, said that Singapore is a suitable location for the company to test its technologies for electric-powered cars in hot and humid conditions – which could be tough for electrical equipment.

“What is really interesting for us here in Singapore is the tropical environment,” he said. “If the batteries work in Singapore, basically it will work everywhere in the world.”

“The main driver (for us coming here) was really to have a tough environment to play with, and to toughen our technologies.”

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry, Dr Tan Wu Meng, who toured the REIDS site on Friday (May 10), said that Semakau Island was a “tough environment” for technology because of its remoteness.

But it had been turned into an opportunity in the case of the REIDS project, as companies can test their solutions away from built-up areas.

Mr Lim Horng Leong, programme manager at the Energy Research Institute at NTU, said that several new wind turbines will be added by the end of the year to the existing one on the island.

He added that two tidal generators currently undergoing test runs offshore near St John’s Island and Sentosa Island will also be used at the REIDS site in future.

  • Others

PLN to Develop Charging Stations for Electric Buses in Jakarta

10 May 2019

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  • Indonesia

The vehicle charging stations will cater to the charging needs of electric buses, which are currently undergoing operational testing by Transjakarta.

“We have communicated the matter with PT. Transjakarta, and are currently waiting for their latest report,” said PLN’s communication manager, Dita Artsana.

Both the city administration and PT. Transjakarta are determined to conduct a trial test of the electric buses, bought from China’s BYD company and Indonesia’s PT. Mobil Anak Bangsa (MAB). The test is scheduled for July.

The city administration aims to operate ten electric buses along the National Monument – Senayan and Ragunan – Dukuh Atas route. However, the operation of electric-powered buses is still waiting for proper infrastructure, permits, and regulation.

Dita added that PLN Jakarta will establish an electrical connection to the charging machine in accordance with their needs. This will further add the number of regular SPLUs in the city to 1,918.

Both fast and superfast SPLUs will be set up in several locations. “The charging time at a regular SPLU takes 4-6 hours. As for the fast SPLU, it takes 2 hours, while superfast SPLU only takes 15-45 minutes,” Dita explained.

  • Others

Fighting climate change with bamboo

9 May 2019

 – 

  • ASEAN

The world has 11 years left, as reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to beef up its efforts to reduce global temperatures before it crosses the threshold leading to climate catastrophe. While ASEAN countries have expressed their joint commitment through national pledges to take action and fight climate change, they are also focusing on developing their nations as well. GlobalData’s lead economist for Construction Industry, Danny Richards, said that construction output among ASEAN member states will grow six percent annually over the next five years.

However, the building sector accounts for 39 percent of global carbon emissions, where 28 percent is from building operations (heating, cooling, lighting, etc.) and 11 percent is attributed to embodied-carbon emission which refers to carbon that is released during the construction process and material manufacturing. Cement and steel emit eight percent and nine percent, respectively of the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world.

Director of the World Green Building Council (World GBC), James Drinkwater, says that once a building of high-embodied-carbon emission is constructed, those emissions add to the total amount of carbon in the air. The construction sector can reduce carbon emission by using materials with low or no embodied carbon.

Architects too can play a part in this process with their creative designs. They can limit the environmental impact of the buildings they design by reducing GHG emissions. This can be done by innovating with technology and influencing the choice of materials used.

Bamboo as a mitigation strategy

The International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR) suggests that bamboo can play a significant role in helping countries meet the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals or SDGs and help combat the effects of climate change. Across Southeast Asia, bamboo architecture is growing in popularity and bamboo is fast becoming the material of choice for architects. Vo Trong Nghia, a Vietnamese architect has pledged to bring nature back into the urban environment through the use of sustainable materials, notably bamboo. Architecture is defining a new regional and local identity through projects using bamboo to demonstrate a sensitivity to the land, environment and culture.

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Source: Various

The preference for bamboo is perhaps due to its availability and inherent strength. Bamboo comes from the botanical family of grasses that is resistant to tensile stress. The culm, a term for its thin and hollow stem and the tension resistant fibre within makes it easy to bend in extreme ways without breaking; making the material superior to timber and even comparable to steel. It grows faster than wood and under favourable conditions can have healthier, stronger and flexible culm. Though bamboo is designated as a material for low load bearing structures, it has the potential to replace steel in construction as evidenced by the construction of big span, multi-purpose halls and schools. In Chiang Mai, the Panyaden Bamboo Sports Hall has won multiple awards for the use of bamboo as a modern structural material.

The bamboo market strengthens local value chains in countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. It also costs less than steel by weight and can provide affordable, resilient infrastructure to communities in the region.

However, bamboo does have a few weaknesses including vulnerability to attacks by fungus, swelling and shrinking behaviour, all of which can be overcome with coating and treatments. Bamboo fibre can be extracted and combined with other materials to create a composite. It can also be used in residential and commercial buildings, as either an accenting material or main structural component. Unfortunately, in some countries like Malaysia, its usage in urban areas still proves to be a challenge as local building codes and standards do not recognise bamboo as a proper building material, especially with regards to fire safety.

Bamboo’s capacity to absorb carbon emission from the atmosphere makes it a viable material of choice to reduce global warming. Unfortunately, the construction industry currently prefers using glass, steel and stone for materials instead. In the few years left for mankind to slow down global warming, choosing sustainable alternatives for construction materials could be critical.

  • Oil & Gas

First Gen nears EPC deal for planned LNG project

9 May 2019

 – 

  • Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — First Gen Corp. expects to finalize a deal with its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors and additional partners for its planned $1-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal “in the next few months.”

The EPC contract for the LNG terminal is a toss up between two international firms, Texas-based Fluor Corp. and JGC Corp. of Japan, said First Gen executive vice president and chief commercial officer Jon Russell.

“Front-end engineering design (FEED) is already finished…We’re just finalizing the terms. We hope to make the decision in the next couple of months,” he said.

At the same time, First Gen is also in talks with several foreign and local potential investors as it eyes more partners for the massive project.

The project is currently being jointly pursued by First Gen with Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., Japan’s largest natural gas utility.

“We’re in discussions with a number of entities…within the next few months, we may have an announcement,” Russell said.

“Hopefully leading to a final investment decision (FID) either late this year or early this year. That still allows us to meet the deadline to have the terminal ready  by 2024 when the Malampaya contract expires,” he said.

Construction of an LNG terminal usually takes four years to complete.

Even without the FID, First Gen and Tokyo Gas will proceed with the groundbreaking of the LNG facility on May 28, First Gen president and chief operating officer Giles Puno said.

“The way it works is we anticipate that we will bring in more partners. In the meantime, between ourselves and Tokyo Gas, we want to proceed already so the formal FID will have a complete group of owners,” he said.

FGEN LNG Corp., a subsidiary of First Gen, signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with Tokyo Gas in December last year to build the project.

Currently, First Gen owns 80 percent of the project while Tokyo Gas owns the remaining 20 percent. The Lopez firm is willing to sell down its stake and retain a good majority in the project, Puno said.

“We don’t intend to own the entire 80 percent, we can go down to 50 or 51 percent,” he said.

In terms of capital expenditure, bulk of the project’s spending will be made next year although initial ground work has already been prepared.

For this year, First Gen is spending up to $250 million this year, mostly going to its renewable energy arm Energy Development Corp., its chief financial officer Emmanuel Singson said.

The FGEN Batangas LNG terminal project is intended to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates within the Batangas Clean Energy Complex.

The onshore storage and regasification terminal will have a capacity to supply three to five million tons of natural gas equivalent to 5,000 megawatts (MW) and is expected to cost more than $1 billion.

The Batangas Clean Energy Complex also houses approximately 2,000 MW composed of four gas-fired power plants – the 1,000 MW Santa Rita Power Plant, the 500 MW San Lorenzo Power Plant, the 414 MW San Gabriel Power Plant and the 97 MW Avion Power Plant.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/05/09/1916176/first-gen-nears-epc-deal-planned-lng-project#2Y5yQe0McATgTbmx.99

  • Energy Efficiency

Signing of Energy Efficiency Act ‘a win for ordinary consumers’ – Gatchalian

9 May 2019

 – 

  • Philippines

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate energy committee, issued this statement as he expressed his gratitude to President Duterte for signing Republic Act 11285 or the Energy Efficiency Act which he authored in the Senate.

‘’The signing of this landmark law is very timely, especially now that our growing economy needs more power supply in the next few years. With this law, the additional power supply will not come in the form of new power plants, but in savings from energy efficiency and conservation,’’ Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian also said that the statute was also a win, not only for the government but also for ordinary consumers who stand to have more money in their pockets through energy efficiency and conservation measures.

‘’A 10 percent increase in energy efficiency will give an average Meralco (Manila Electric Company) household a P140 reduction in their monthly electricity bill, equivalent to an additional 5 kilograms of rice every month,’’ he explained.

  • Others

New catalytic system helps firms turn CO2 emissions into fuel

9 May 2019

 – 

  • Singapore

FIRMS will be able to cut emissions by efficiently converting unwanted carbon dioxide into a potential money-spinner, using a new system developed by Japanese engineering firm IHI Corporation and the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), a unit of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

The reactor system, powered by a specially-developed catalyst, allows for more efficient conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane. Methane is the main component of liquefied natural gas, which is used for most of Singapore’s electricity generation.

A small demonstration unit is being launched on Friday (May 10) at ICES on Jurong Island to show the process to potential customers. IHI is now scaling up the technology, which might hit the market as soon as next year.

IHI Corporation senior researcher Hiroyuki Kamata said the company is in talks with potential customers in both Singapore and Japan, with a larger demonstration unit to be set up in Japan. IHI has its own well-established technology to capture waste carbon dioxide from flue gas. Now, instead of storing the captured carbon dioxide to keep it from harming the environment, firms can efficiently convert it to a useful fuel.

This makes both environmental and economic sense for Jurong Island’s energy-intensive industries, with Singapore having introduced a carbon tax that applies to emissions starting this year, said IHI Asia Pacific general manager for regional marketing and business development Tang Shuquan: “These are producers of carbon dioxide and they are looking for solutions.” The tax applies to greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tonnes or more, at S$5 a tonne till 2023, going up to S$10-S$15 a tonne by 2030.

It would be particularly useful for power utilities companies, which generate large amounts of carbon dioxide, he added. Some of the power-generating firms on Jurong Island are existing IHI customers for other solutions.

More broadly, an effective catalyst cuts waste and reduces energy needs. “At the end of the day, catalyst development is a part of driving sustainability,” ICES executive director Peter Nagler told The Business Times. “We should develop catalysts that enable the reaction we want to have with the least chemical input and ideally the highest yield.”

The collaboration began at the end of 2011, when IHI approached A*Star for help in developing catalysts. Though IHI has been in Singapore since the 1960s, this was its first collaboration with a Singapore research institute. Said Dr Kamata: “At the time, we thought: If we want to deliver some technology solution to future clients, we need to do something more, which is not our traditional business.”

Nickel is the best catalyst for this process, but there are challenges in using it: The build-up of carbon deposits which eventually “choke the reaction”, impurities such as sulphur which “poison” the catalyst, and temperature increases resulting from the reaction.

“It’s a relatively simple process but the reaction conditions are very demanding,” said ICES principal scientist Armando Borgna.

To tackle these issues, ICES developed a catalyst comprising nano-nickel particles within the shell of a porous silica matrix. This prevents the particles from becoming less efficient due to sintering or clumping together, and allows the catalyst to stay stable and effective for longer, said ICES senior scientist Chen Luwei.

Compared to industry benchmarks, the new catalyst can last twice as long without being affected by impurities. It can also perform for at least 3,000 hours without any deactivation, which is not possible with usual catalysts, said Dr Borgna.

The collaboration combines each partner’s respective competencies, said Dr Nagler: ICES’s chemical know-how and IHI’s engineering expertise which allows it to build an ideal reactor. It is also in line with A*Star’s aim: “We want to translate scientific expertise, scientific knowledge, to something applicable to industry.”

The partnership has paved the way for IHI to explore collaborations with other A*Star units in the firm’s other business areas such as aerospace and transportation, noted Mr Tang.

Last year, IHI and ICES also began work on a different, higher-value catalyst which will help the conversion of carbon dioxide to olefins, chemical compounds that are used as feedstock in polymer production. The target is to achieve a good yield for commercialisation by around 2020 or 2022, said ICES scientist Poh Chee Kok, who is working on the project.

  • Energy Cooperation

Vietnam To Receive Clean Energy Development Assistance From Sweden

9 May 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

Vietnam has gained yet another ally for its energy sector in the form of Sweden as the European country pledged assistance in clean energy development and energy-saving strategies.

According to Nhan Dan News, Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade Ann Linde said during a conference on Wednesday that her country will offer assistance to Vietnam’s energy sector in a bid to promote renewable energy and enhanced energy-saving methods.

Aside from helping boost Vietnam’s energy sector, Sweden also pledged to provide assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The goal is to help emerging businesses have a more solid foundation that should make it easier to adapt to the local market.

Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, for his country’s part, said Vietnam pledged to promote business ties between both sides to ensure that mutual developments will be achieved.

Aside from energy and business cooperation, Sweden said it will help the Asian country develop policies that will help bolster the Vietnamese economy. In line with economic growth, the Swedish government will provide assistance in infrastructure improvements and workforce training.

To be more specific, staff training will be provided to help the Vietnamese workforce develop the necessary skills that the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) will require.

Earlier this week, the Vietnam – Sweden Business Summit took place in Hanoi as part of Crown Princess of Sweden, Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree’s state visit to the Asian country.

Vietnam Plus reported that over 1,000 delegates from various business sectors and ministries attended the event. Both Swedish and Vietnamese businesspeople took part in the summit that centered on sustainable strategies for the business realm.

During her speech, Crown Princess Victoria reaffirmed her country’s partnership with the Vietnamese government and its people. She said the strong bilateral ties were bolstered by five decades of exchange and cooperation.

Vietnamese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the country is looking to obtain knowledge and experiential advice from one of the world’s most current countries as it aims to join the race towards Industry 4.0.

The Swedish Crown Princess’ Vietnam visit was made possible through the invitation of Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh as part of the celebrations that mark the two countries’ 50th year in bilateral cooperation.

According to Scand Asia, Sweden was the first country to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1969 and since then, both parties have tried to enhance relations and business exchange.

The bilateral cooperation helped spur Swedish tourism to Vietnam and the entry of Sweden’s top companies helped provide over 120,000 jobs for Vietnamese workers. Analysts are expecting to see more developments following the pledges on energy.

  • Others

Vingroup launches bus company, will use 3,000 electric buses in Vietnam

9 May 2019

 – 

  • Vietnam

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup has announced the establishment of VinBus Transport Service Co., Ltd., as it officially branches into passenger transportation. VinBus will operate completely under the non-profit model in order to contribute to the construction of a civilised and modern public transport system, reducing air and noise pollution for Vietnam’s major cities.

It is expected that VinBus will provide transport services from March 2020, starting in five big cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

In order to meet the mobility needs of people, contribute to the construction of public transport networks and especially to reduce emissions and noise, VinBus will use 100 per cent electric buses. In the short term, the company will operate 3,000 electric buses produced by VinFast.

At present, the VinFast bus factory is in the process of building and installing its factory system. The establishment of VinBus is the next concrete step in Vingroup’s strategy to develop environmentally-friendly electric vehicles in general, and electric buses in particular.

Regarding business orientation, VinBus will operate under a non-profit model. Accordingly, 100 per cent of the profits will be reinvested by the company to improve service quality, develop the system and expand operations to bring civilised and modern public transport services to a large number of people.

Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice President and General Director of Vingroup, said: “From the start of joining the automobile-motorcycle manufacturing industry, we have determined to develop and disseminate environmentally-friendly electric cars, gradually replacing gasoline vehicles. Vingroup wants to join hands to solve the [sic] air and noise pollution in big cities, contributing to forming civilised habits, creating a fresh and modern living environment for people.”

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