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  • Renewables
10 December 2018

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  • Philippines

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) inaugurated its 1-megawatt (MW) Solar Array at its assembly plant in Laguna.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said this was one of TMP’s major initiatives to minimize its carbon footprint and help mitigate the effects of climate change, based on the global Toyota Environmental Challenge (TEC) 2050.

TMP president Satoru Suzuki said the project was conceptualized in 2016, noting that the inauguration capped the company’s 30th anniversary milestone.

“I am proud to say that, so far, this renewable energy installation is the biggest among all car manufacturers in the Philippines,” he said.

TMP’s 1-MW Solar Array project is among the first batch of projects implemented after the Philippine government signed the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) partnership with the Japanese government last year.

The JCM is one of Japanese government’s ways to effectively address climate change by funding leading low-carbon technologies and systems in developing countries and purchasing the carbon credit from the project.

Under the JCM, the Japanese government will provide a subsidy to TMP, which will cover 30 percent of the total cost of solar panels, inverters and monitoring device.

TMP also partnered with Spectrum, a Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) subsidiary, which provided technical expertise and carried out the solar array installation on a 10,000-square-meter area at the roof of TMP’s Material Handling Operations (MHO) building.

TMP’s 1-MW facility consists of 2,640 pieces of 385Wp photovoltaic (PV) panels and 22 units of 42kW Huawei inverters. TMP did not provide any investment cost.

With the solar array supplying 4 percent of the company’s yearly electricity requirements, TMP said it would be able to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 12 kilograms for every vehicle produced or around 790 tons per year.

It is also estimated to generate energy savings of about P10 million yearly.
Toyota is the country’s auto industry leader with a manufacturing plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna. —ROY C. CANIVEL

  • Renewables
10 December 2018

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  • Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is subscribing to a compulsorily convertible debenture (CCD) for 2.256 billion rupees (RM133.17 million) to facilitate its direct investment in the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in India.

The CCD is issued by GMR Bajoli Holi Hydropower Pvt Ltd (GBHH), which is constructing the 180MW run-of-river plant within the Himalaya Range in the State of Himachal Pradesh, said TNB.

“Overall project progress stands at 78% and the plant is expected to commence commercial operations by October 2019,” the utility giant said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

“This investment is in line with TNB’s strategy to grow its portfolio of energy assets in India as well as reinforcing its commitment to increase its renewable energy (RE) portfolio,” it added.

TNB said its wholly-owned subsidiary, TNB Topaz Energy Sdn Bhd, signed the agreement with GBHH, GMR Energy Ltd and GMR Infrastructure Ltd today.

GBHH is a majority-owned entity of GMR Energy which is 51.73% owned by GMR Infrastructure. TNB has a 30% stake in GMR Infrastructure.

TNB said GBHH’s CCD has a tenure of 30 years and will be converted into an equity stake of 30% before the end of the tenure.

The group said the subscription was funded through a combination of internally-generated funds and borrowings.

TNB said acquiring a stake in the power plant is in line with TNB’s strategy on RE expansion under the Reimagining Tenaga strategy to position TNB as one of the top global utility players by 2025.

“TNB intends to grow its RE portfolio to an optimal size via greenfield development or acquiring other RE portfolio of similar or complementary technology.

“Once fully operational, the proposed investment will raise TNB’s total international RE portfolio to circa 370MW,” TNB said.

TNB’s shares price fell 14 sen or 1.02% to close at RM13.56, valuing the group at RM77.91 billion.

  • Bioenergy
10 December 2018

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  • Malaysia

SHAH ALAM: Worldwide Holdings Bhd, a Selangor state government unit, has set aside RM1 billion for two phase development of waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities on a 15 acre of land in Jeram Sanitary Landfill in the state.

The WTE plant will be part of the group’s integrated solid waste management centre (ISWMC), a holistic waste management methodology in waste treatment.

Worldwide Holdings group chief executive officer Datin Paduka Norazlina Zakaria said the WTE currently being developed by the group addresses all aspects of environmental issues through a modern and high-tech treatment facilities following strict compliance with EU standards.

“The technology we are adopting has proven track record using similar waste characteristics in Malaysia.

“The first phase of our WTE plant at Jeram ISWMC will be ready for commercial operation by 2022, while completion of the second phase is targeted by 2024.

“We have plans to open similar facility in other parts of Selangor,” she said at the signing a joint development agreement with Western Power Clean Energy Sdn Bhd (WPCE) here today.

Norazlina said the company is currently managing 5,000 tonne of domestic waste per day at its six sanitary landfills in Selangor.

She said the next potential landfill that could be used to develop as WTE plant is Tanjung Dua Belas landfill in Kuala Langat, which the company is allocating RM500 million for the development.

WPCE is joint venture company of China Western Power Engineering and Construction Co Ltd (CWPEC) and China Western Power International (CWPI).

Norazlina said the agreement with WPCE it to build the RM500 million first phase WTE facility in Jeram, Selangor.

The plan to build the WTE facility — to convert solid waste to heat, steam and electricity — was first announced by Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari during the tabling of the state’s 2019 Budget in November.

With waste capacity of 1,200 tonne per day, the first phase of the facility will produce between 20 to 24 megawatt of green energy, enough to power 25,000 household within the vicinity of the plant.

Set to be the largest and most modern WTE facility in Malaysia, it is expected to reduce land use for landfill while supporting the government’s aspiration of increasing renewable energy generation to 20 per cent by year 2025.

The agreement was signed by Worldwide Holdings chairman Datuk Nor Azmie Diron, Norazlina, CWPEC managing director and vice president Wu Bin, and CWPI executive director Jiang Shuhong.

CWPEC and CWPI have over 30 years pf expertise in the fields of new energy and environmental protection industry, design and manufacturing of clean power plants.

  • Renewables
10 December 2018

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  • Singapore

South Australia’s 212MW Lincoln Gap Wind Farm – which is set to host the state’s third big battery, and possibly solar, too – is moving ahead with stage two of construction, adding the final 24 turbines and 86MW of generating capacity to the project.

Singapore-based project developer Nexif Energy said this week that the second stage of the $480 million wind farm near Port Augusta had been given the green light, after the close of a $160 million debt deal with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and infrastructure investment company Westbourne Capital.

Stage two will add to the 126MW currently under construction by wind turbine manufacturer Senvion, and will support more than 110 construction jobs for an additional 18 months at the site.

Once completed – it is expected to be operational by mid-2019 – the wind farm will have 59 Senvion 3.6M140 turbines and a total generating capacity of over 212 MW, producing enough energy to power 155,000 households in South Australia.

As we reported last month, plans to add storage to Lincoln Gap are also underway, with Siemens/AES joint venture Fluence signed up to deliver a 10MW/10MWh battery based energy storage system, targeted for completion in May 2019.

At the time, Nexif said it had partnered with Fluence after a “rigorous evaluation process,” to deliver an energy storage system to “reliably integrate” the wind farm’s output to the National Electricity Market.

All up, the project is being noted as one of the first hybrid renewable and storage projects to secure non-subsidised financing.

“This is a continuation of our investment in South Australia where we are incredibly excited to be investing, and to be at the forefront with the first unsubsidised battery storage project for the state,’’ said Nexif co-chief executive Matthew Bartley.

“There remains potential to further expand Lincoln Gap and we are now working on feasibility studies to determine how large that could be, as well as trying to bring technologies together to add solar to the wind energy and battery storage at Lincoln Gap to create a genuine hybrid energy hub.”

Nexif has also secured an off-take deal for the output of Lincoln Gap, via two long-term contracts with retailer ERM Power, that were locked in in April 2017, just a month after the company bought the wind farm from OneWind Australia.

“Through this path-breaking integration of renewable wind power generation with battery storage system, Nexif Energy and its financiers have a committed investment of over $480 million, making it among the largest investors in South Australia.” said Surender Singh, also a co-chief executive.

“We also look forward to working closely with construction partners Senvion and Fluence for on time completion.”

David Hardy, the executive director and CSO of Senvion, said his company was pleased to have secured the official go-ahead to deliver Lincoln Gap’s second stage.

“This is a great affirmation of the performance of our local team and we are very pleased about the ongoing cooperation with Nexif Energy,” he said.

“We are also committed to continue to work closely with the local community to provide opportunities for businesses and individuals to benefit from this important project.”

For Fluence, the contract to supply battery storage for Lincoln Gap follows up on its success with the recent installation and commissioning of the Ballarat Energy Storage System (BESS).

As noted above, Lincoln Gap will be the third big battery in South Australia, after the so-called Tesla big battery at the Hornsdale wind farm, and the Dalrymple North battery at the Wattle Point wind farm.

Large-scale battery storage is also planned for the Snowtown wind farm, along with a co-located solar farm, and for the Whyalla steelworks.

  • Energy Efficiency
10 December 2018

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  • Singapore

It lagged behind Beijing and Sydney with only around 13 million sqft of certified green space.

Singapore came in fifth place across the six major gateway cities in Asia Pacific (APAC) analysed in terms of the largest volume of green office space with approximately 13 million sqft, according to a report by CBRE Research.

Shanghai topped the list with more than 20 million sqft or around 80% of new office buildings certified as green spaces, followed by Hong Kong (19 million sqft) and Beijing (16.5 million sqft). Tokyo rounded up the lot with an estimated 4.9 million sqft of certified green space.

“In Tokyo, the language barrier has inhibited the certification of office buildings as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is only available in English, although many properties in this market have installed energy efficiency and low-carbon features,” CBRE Research said in its report. LEED is the most common and mature rating system from US and is used as a framework in developing local green building standards.

Government policy plays a key role in promoting the growth of green buildings across the APAC region, with authorities implementing measures such as mandatory regulations requiring compliance with building construction codes and operation on top off incentives to encourage green building development.

According to the report, gross floor area (GFA) concession schemes can provide considerable benefits to property owners by allowing additional floor area for properties certified under green building rating schemes for climate and urban environment such as Singapore’s Green Mark. Under the Green Mark GFA incentive scheme, developers are provided with 2% of additional GFA if the property achieves a Green Mark Platinum rating.

In Singapore, the government’s third green building masterplan was published in 2014 and it includes a target of achieving the local Green Mark standard for 80% of all buildings by 2030. It’s adoption rate stands at 27% as of 2018.

“New buildings in selected areas including Marina Bay are required to achieve a mandatory level on the Green Mark standard,” CBRE Research highlighted. “For existing properties, authorities provide up to 50% of the cost to retrofit buildings with energy efficient features, capped at $3m (US$2.2m) for property owners and $20,000 (US$14,600) for office tenants.”

The report noted how some larger developments have reported savings on facilities management costs on the back of implementing various environmental and sustainability measures.

For instance, the 741,000 sqft Galaxis property at 1 Fusionopolis Place reported savings of $1.68m (US$1.23m) per year thanks to measures implemented by the landlord which includes extensive greenery, high efficiency air-conditioning, intelligent light controls and eco-friendly interior fitting and materials.

Likewise, 12-storey commercial building Visioncrest Commercial along Penang Road reported $246,553.20 (US$180,000) in savings from energy efficiency improvements through low cost energy conservation measures and enhancements to building management policies and processes.

“Utilities account for around 10-20% of total facilities management costs and hence are an obvious target for cost savings,” CBRE Research said. “However, energy and sustainability measures can keep utilities costs steady and, in some cases, even reduce them.”

Meanwhile, the report noted how investors must formulate strategies to presence and enhance their portfolios to stay relevant in the new sustainable built environment paradigm.

One such measure is to explore the development of net zero buildings which the World Green Building Council (WGBC) defines as a building that is highly energy efficient and fully powered by either or a combination of on-site and off-site renewable sources.

“In September 2018, the first global net zero carbon buildings commitment was officially launched in San Francisco as part of the Global Climate Action Summit,” CBRE Research added. “22 cities including Sydney and Tokyo from APAC signed up to the commitment.” Real estate conglomerate Frasers Property was also one of the corporate signees.

Government regulations and incentives, coupled with greater awareness of potential cost-savings and a shift towards corporate social responsibility will continue to drive the growth of green buildings across APAC, CBRE highlighted.

  • Oil & Gas
10 December 2018

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  • Vietnam
A PV Oil technician in Thừa Thiên-Huế pumps fuel into petrol tanks for distribution. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng
Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), the second-largest petrol dealer in the country, will sell the State’s stake in a package deal instead of splitting it into different small sales, news site ndh.vn reported.

According to PV Oil General Director Cao Hoài Dương, the company has submitted a plan to the firm’s parent company – the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam or PVN).

The company is trading more than 200.4 million shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) as OIL. Its shares gained 0.7 per cent to close Friday at VNĐ15,400 (US$0.67) per share.

It has a total of 1.09 billion outstanding shares on the Vietnamese equity market.

PVN will represent the State to hold 35.1 per cent of PV Oil’s charter capital after the latter firm completes its equitisation plan.

Under its plan, PV Oil must sell 20 per cent of its charter capital via initial public offering (IPO). The company had done so in January 2018, raising around $184 million.

PV Oil will also have to sell nearly 45 per cent of its capital to a strategic investor. A number of foreign companies had shown interest including budget carrier Vietjet, HDBank, SK Energy from South Korea and Idemitsu from Japan.

However, due to a shortage of time and the complication of administrative procedures, PV Oil was unable to fulfill all required documents, Dương said, adding that no strategic investors were able to buy the shares.

In mid-November, SK Energy bought more than 3.55 million PV Oil shares for VNĐ56 billion ($2.46 million) to become a major shareholder with 54.12 million shares or 5.23 per cent of PV Oil’s charter capital.

Shell wants a bite

At a recent meeting with PVN Deputy General Director Lê Mạnh Hùng, Dutch royal petrol group Shell’s Vice Chairman Douglas Buckley said the firm was willing to purchase a part of PVN’s ownership in PV Oil and learn the requirements that a strategic investor must meet.

The offer was considered a move to help Shell make deeper inroads into the Vietnamese petrol market.

Shell was among a number of global firms that filed to become a strategic investor in PV Oil after the Vietnamese firm completed its IPO in January 2018.

Hùng said at the meeting that the requirements of a strategic investor for PV Oil were being developed and Shell could make direct contact with PV Oil for updates.

Shell was also willing to work with Vietnamese companies to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) for upcoming projects of PVN and its sub-unit PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas).

According to Hùng, PVN has two LNG terminal projects: the Thị Vải LNG Terminal and Sơn Mỹ LNG Terminal.

PVN and PV Gas were seeking short-term and long-term LNG suppliers via contract bidding for the Thị Vải LNG Terminal, while waiting for the Government’s approval on the Sơn Mỹ LNG Terminal. — VNS

  • Oil & Gas
10 December 2018

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  • Indonesia

JAKARTA: Indonesia‘s Pertamina on Monday said it had appointed South Korea’s SK Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering & Construction as engineering and construction contractors for its Balikpapan refinery upgrade.

The $4 billion project will be jointly undertaken by Indonesia’s PT Pembangunan Perumahan Tbk and Rekayasa Industri, Ignatius Tallulembang, director of large projects at the state-owned energy company, said at a media briefing.

At the same event, Pertamina signed a framework agreement with Oman’s Overseas Oil and Gas LLC (OOG) to develop a new $10 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Bontang, also on the island of Borneo.

Once completed, OOG is expected to supply 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the refinery, Tallulembang said.

  • Others
  • Renewables
10 December 2018

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  • Thailand

ENVIRONMENTAL watchdog Greenpeace has called Thailand’s Power Development Plan 2018 (PDP) “sugar-coated” despite its embrace of more renewable energy, saying it still hinders efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), which drafted the PDP, affirmed at public hearings last week that it had removed plans for the Krabi and Thepa coal-fired power plants from the document. It said natural gas would remain the primary fuel for power generation, renewable energy would play a 20-per-cent larger role, and more electricity would be derived from private solar-panel rooftops.

Nevertheless, environmentalists remain sceptical, musing about “hidden agendas” within the PDP.

Tara Buakamsri, Thailand director for Greenpeace, said yesterday fossil fuels and other harmful sources of energy – such as waste and hydropower – still dominated the PDP. The approach would not only hinder progress on achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal for stabilising climate change, he said, it would jeopardise sustainable-energy development and “environmental justice”.

“The energy sector is by far the largest greenhouse-gas producer, so the PDP has very strong influence over the country’s efforts to reduce emissions and prevent severe global warming beyond two degrees Celsius,” Tara said.

“But it is now clear that the Thai authorities are not really serious about pursuing Paris Agreement goals, because the PDP contains many serious flaws that will backfire and hurt the global struggle to minimise the impacts of climate change.”

EPPO said the PDP was revised to reflect shifting conditions, in which renewable energy, especially solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, has become much cheaper and more widely accessible to all. Thus, renewable energy’s share of total power sources will be increased to 18 per cent, or 20,757 megawatts, by 2037.

And 10,000 megawatts from renewable energy will be earmarked for the private sector’s solar PV, the agency said.

EPPO deputy secretary-general Wattanapong Kurovat stressed that the PDP’s main objective was to ensure that each region has enough power and stable sources. It was thus important for every region to have its own base-load power plants as reliable sources, he said.

However, because proposals for new coal-fired plants have drawn strong opposition and two such plants listed in the 2015 PDP were shelved, Wattanapong said, natural gas remains the primary fuel for generating electricity. It has a 53-per-cent share of overall power generation in the new PDP, up from 30 per cent previously, while coal’s share has dropped from 23 per cent in 2015 to 12 per cent.

To fill the electricity gap left by cancelling the Krabi and Thepa coal plants, which were expected to generate 870 and 2,200 megawatts respectively by burning imported coal, two 700-megawatt gas-power plants will be built in Surat Thani, he said. These will ensure energy stability for the South.

“With many improvements made in electricity-generation plans for the next 20 years, we are delighted to report that PDP2018 will lower greenhouse-gas emissions compared to the previous plan,” Wattanapong said.

“If this revised PDP is fully implemented, Thailand’s electricity generation sector will only release 103.248 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2036, which is lower than the estimated greenhouse-gas emission under PDP2015 for the same period, of 104.075 million tonnes.”

Tara said that, despite the reduction in coal dependency, Thailand remains overly reliant on natural gas, which also emits significant amounts of greenhouse gases when it’s burned, contributing further to climate change.

“And many people are also suspicious as to whether the Krabi and Thepa plants are truly off the table, because Strategic Environmental Assessments on those projects are still continuing and those findings could be used to revive proposals for the two plants,” he said.

Tara also claimed that some of the renewable energy sources and electricity that the PDP envisions being purchased from neighbouring countries are not actually clean or environmentally friendly.

The document includes waste-to-energy plants producing 400 megawatts, for example, which are neither clean nor safe for either the environment or public health. The waste burned to produce energy releases massive amounts of greenhouse gases, Tara said.

“Even buying hydropower from neighbouring countries is not clean or cheap, as the authorities say,” he added, pointing out how dams outside Thailand still cause severe suffering for Thais and the environment here.

“This is why the authorities must make sure that the PDP is consistent with global climate-change-mitigation goals and include genuine public participation.”

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