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Renewables

Deputy PM attends inauguration of solar power plant cluster in Dak Lak

9 March 2019

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Vietnam

Addressing the event, the deputy PM emphasised Dak Lak’s extremely important strategic position in terms of economic development, security and defence in the Central Highlands region.

The development of renewable energy is a trend of the world and Vietnam, especially Dak Lak province which possesses huge potential for solar power development, with an annual average solar irradiance of roughly 1,900 kW per square kilometres, he said.

In addition to the Srepek 1 and Quang Minh solar power plant cluster, the future inauguration of many other solar power projects in the province will contribute significantly to local socio-economic development and ensuring national energy security, Deputy PM Binh added.

He asked the investors and businesses, who are engaging in solar power development in Dak Lak and other localities, to implement the projects in line with sequence and procedures, operate the plants in accordance with the relevant processes, and especially pay attention to the issue of environmental protection during the process of handling and replacing batteries.

The official urged agencies and localities to continue creating favourable conditions for investors to explore and establish solar power projects, aiming to effectively tap into local potential and advantages, create jobs, improve the people’s income and contribute to socio-economic development.

The cluster of Srepek 1 and Quang Minh solar power plants has a combined capacity of 100MWP. It covers 120 hectares in Ea Wer commune, Buon Don district, with an investment capital of more than VND2.2 trillion (US$94.6 million).

The project started its construction work on October 19, 2018 and was put into commercial operations on January 31, 2019. It is currently the largest solar power plant project in Vietnam to have begun power generation.

Earlier, Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh visited and presented gifts to Nong Thi Ham, a revolutionary veteran in village 7, Tan Hoa commune, Buon Don district.

Oil & Gas

Vietnam’s state energy companies gear up for LNG imports

9 March 2019

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Vietnam

HANOI/TOKYO — Vietnam’s Petrolimex has unveiled plans to open its first liquefied natural gas import terminal, following in the footsteps of fellow state-run energy group PetroVietnam, as the pair work to diversify energy supplies to fend off a chronic power shortage in the Southeast Asian country.

Oil & Gas

Oil import bill rises 31% in 2018

8 March 2019

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Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Higher volume and import cost pushed the Philippine net oil import up by nearly a third last year.

The net import bill or the difference between oil imports and exports amounted to $12.12 billion in 2018, 30.9 percent higher than the year ago, data from the Department of Energy showed.

According to the DOE, the country’s total oil import bill reached $13.48 billion, a 31.8 percent jump from the previous year.

“This was attributed to the combined effects of higher import cost and increased import volume of crude oil vis-à-vis last year,” the DOE said.

Of the total imports, 54.5 percent consists of finished products and 45.5 percent crude oil.

The country imported 85,753 million barrels (MB) of crude oil last year, an increase of 10.4 percent.

In terms of cost, the 2018 figure amounted to $6.14 billion or 41.8 percent more than the year earlier due to higher cost insurance freight (CIF) price.

The average CIF price of crude oil was at $71.59 per barrel last year compared with $55.77 per barrels year ago.

Bulk of the imported crude oil, or 86.9 percent, was sourced from the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia was the top supplier, accounting for 33.7 percent, followed by Kuwait with 26.3 percent and the UAE with 20.9 percent.

The country also imported 7.4 percent from Russia and 4.5 percent from the ASEAN region.

Meanwhile, there was 0.1 percent of crude oil from local production.

In terms of petroleum products, the country imported a total of 97.57 MB.

The top imported product for the period was diesel oil, which declined by 3.3 percent. Fuel oil imports also decreased by 24.2 percent.

On the other hand, the import of gasoline went up by 10.7 percent, LPG by 9.4 percent, and kerosene/avturbo by 3.8 percent.

In terms of exports, the country’s petroleum exports earnings grew 40 percent to $1.36 million.

This as the country exported 17.04 MB of petroleum products exports, which rose 16.7 percent.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/03/08/1899540/oil-import-bill-rises-31-2018#aHb5xTwfhVGd6PDF.99

Electricity/Power Grid

Electricity bills higher this month — Meralco

8 March 2019

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Philippines

Meralco, which earlier reported a 4.6% rise in its customer base to 6.61 million, said the increase translates in an P18 rise in the total monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh. Those using 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh can expect increases of P26.82, P35.76 and P44.70, respectively.

The increase in power rates this month comes despite the lower cost of electricity under power supply agreements (PSA), which brought down the generation charge. The decline failed to offset the higher electricity cost at the spot market and the rise in other charges, including transmission cost and government taxes.

“From P5.8939/kWh last month, generation charge for March went down to P5.5973/kWh, a decrease of P0.2966/kWh,” the country’s biggest distribution utility said.

It said the P1.0768/kWh decrease in PSA charges was because of the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar, lower fuel prices and higher average plant dispatch.

Meralco said unit one of the First Gen Corp.’s 414-megawatt San Gabriel power plant returned to normal operations in February after the scheduled maintenance outage in January.

“The share of PSAs to Meralco’s total requirement this month was at 48%,” the listed company said, referring to the February supply month whose charges are carried in March bills.

In contrast, charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rose by P0.5178/kWh because of the tighter supply conditions in Luzon “with higher demand for power and more frequent plant outages this month,” Meralco said.

The cost of power from the independent power producers (IPPs) was higher by P0.0549/kWh due to the lower average plant dispatch. Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. was on scheduled maintenance outage from Jan. 18 to Feb. 8.

WESM and IPPs provided 12% and 40% of Meralco’s supply requirement, respectively.

Meanwhile, the transmission charge for residential customers rose by P0.0288/kWh after the higher ancillary service charge imposed by privately owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Taxes and other charges also went up by P0.3572 after the completion of the refund last month on the universal charge-stranded contract costs.

“Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 44 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015,” the company said, reiterating that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.

Generation charge payments go to power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the universal charge and feed-in tariff allowance are remitted to the government.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — VVS

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Coal

EVNGENCO1 ensures coal supply for thermal power plants

8 March 2019

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Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam Electricity (EVN)’s Power Generation Corporation 1 (EVNGENCO1) said on March 8 that it has built a coordination plan to ensure coal supply for thermal power production.

Accordingly, the company will sign a contract to import this year’s first batch of 1 million tonnes of coal to serve the operation of Duyen Hai 3 Thermal Power Plant.

In March, EVNGENCO1 will work with subsidiaries of the Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited and the Ministry of National Defence’s Dong Bac coal corporation to ensure coal supply for its thermal electricity plants.

It will also sign a series of mid- and long-term contracts to make sure the operation runs smoothly in 2019 and the years following.

The plan looks to prepare for the peak months of dry season this year. Currently, the amount of domestic coal still meets production demand, however a stock shortage has been noticed.

EVNGENCO1 reported its electricity output at 2.53 billion kWh in February, up 27 percent year-on-year. Of the total figure, thermal power generated over 2.05 billion kWh, while hydropower produced 487 million kWh.

As thermal power accounts for the largest proportion of Vietnam’s energy production, the country is facing challenges to ensure a sufficient supply of coal for its plants in the coming years.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, by 2020, Vietnam is expected to produce about 26,000 MW of coal-fired thermal power, accounting for 49.3 percent of the total electricity generation and consuming about 63 million tonnes of coal.–VNA

Renewables

Solar Philippines secures ERC go signal to raise rates by 2% annually

7 March 2019

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Philippines

SOLAR Philippines Tarlac Corp. has secured the regulator’s approval to raise by 2% annually the P2.999 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) electricity rate it signed with distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

In an order promulgated on March 4, 2019, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has reversed its initial ruling that disallowed the annual price escalation after Solar Philippines presented evidence proving that even on the 20^th year of the power supply agreement (PSA), the rate at P4.4577/kWh will still be the lowest among the previously approved applications for solar power plants.

“The Commission likewise took note that under [Solar Philippines’] proposal, the rate of return over the project’s 20-year term is only 0.05% which is much lower than the rate of return allowed by [it] in other applications,” the ERC said.

The regulator also noted that the project is not foreseen to earn any profit until several years from the start of operation. Denying the 2% annual escalation, which is part of the rate agreed by the contracting parties will deny Solar Philippines the opportunity to recover its investments in the project, the ERC said.

The ERC said a denial is deemed inconsistent with Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), which mandates the commission to “fix rates that will allow the recovery of just and reasonable costs and a reasonable return on rate base” for investors to operate viably.

The commission also said that its current policy in evaluating PSA applications is to arrive at the generation rate after employing the cost-based methodology. It said Solar Philippines’ proposed rate of P2.999/kWh “was found to be significantly lower” than the calculated generation rate computed by the ERC using the said methodology.

The ERC ruling comes after the regulator issued an order on Feb. 20, 2018 provisionally authorizing Meralco and Solar Philippines to implement their PSA at the agreed rate but without the annual adjustment or escalation.

Solar Philippines is the price challenger to an offer made by Citicore Power, Inc. to Meralco for solar power at a price of P3.7144/kWh and a 2% annual price escalation. Citicore did not match Solar Philippines’ offer of P2.999/kWh.

On June 29, 2018 Meralco filed a manifestation wherein it informed the ERC of Solar Philippines’ refusal to accept the February order because of the disallowed 2% annual escalation rate.

On July 3, 2018, Solar Philippines filed a motion for partial reconsideration wherein it said, among others, that even with the application of the annual escalation, the PSA rate is still significantly lower than the prevailing feed-in-tariff rate for solar energy at P8.69/kWh and the approved rates for other solar power plants.

Solar Philippines had said should the price escalation still be rejected, the company should instead be allowed to charge the levelized average rate of P3.7144/kWh, a price Meralco objected because it was not the one agreed during the price challenge process.

Solar Philippines also sought to move the timeline for the performance of its obligation under the PSA from December 2017 to February 2018. It also said that for the first 10 years of the PSA, and based on the ERC’s simulation, the rates range from P2.999/kWh to P3.6569/kWh — all of which are lower than the 20-year average of the PSA amounting to P3.7144/kWh.

The company said without the escalation, the agreement will be financially unviable to the prejudice of Solar Philippines and the consuming public.

Oil & Gas

Cusi signs permit for First Gen LNG terminal project

7 March 2019

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Philippines

Lopez firm First Gen Corporation can finally proceed with its long-planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal project that will be sited close to its gas-fed power generating facilities in Batangas.

“I’m happy to say that we have signed the NTP (notice to proceed), I signed it today (March 7) – this morning,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has announced to the media.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi

He noted that First Gen’s partner – Tokyo Gas Ltd. Co. – in the proposed venture has also been closely watching the anticipated issuance of NTP to the LNG project.

“Tokyo Gas and also the Japanese government have been watching – pursuing this in any economic, ministerial meetings here and in Japan – that is always part of the subject matter,” Cusi said.

The energy chief expounded “last month, we were in Japan – together with Undersecretary (Donato) Marcos and other Cabinet secretaries, that again was taken up,” – referencing on the LNG venture of the Philippines.

As indicated, the Lopez firm and its Japanese partner are intending to spend more than US$1.0 billion in the LNG project; which was originally targeted for a capacity of 5.0 mtpa annually. Tokyo Gas has 20 percent equity in FGen LNG Corp which will be the project’s corporate vehicle.

Cusi explained the LNG import facility of First Gen will not have any “overlap of market” with the Tanglawan Philippine LNG that is now being advanced by Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. of businessman Dennis Uy; China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and state-run Philippine National Oil Company.

“There will be no overlap of market, otherwise, we would not have approved it. That was approved because they have a different business model and they can stand and live up to their business model,” the energy chief stressed.

First Gen has four power plants being fed with gas as fuel – including the 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita; 500MW San Lorenzo; 414MW San Gabriel and 97MW Avion plants.

The timing of the gas import facility’s completion is also year 2023 or prior to the lapse of the service contract of the Malampaya consortium – the same timeframe when gas production at the field is also anticipated to be on declining pace.

Renewables

Jetion wins 50MW order for Vietnam solar project

7 March 2019

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Vietnam

Jetion has won a 50MW order from Helio Power for the Thuan Minh 2 Solar Farm in Vietnam.

The firm’s subsidiary, CNBM New Energy, will serve as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. CNBM and Helio Power signed a 500MW cooperation agreement, of which this deal represents the first portion.

“We are proud to build a project that will showcase the huge potential of utility-scale solar in Vietnam. The region’s booming population, strong economic growth, and abundant sunlight represent an exciting opportunity for solar,” said Phan Thanh Dat, general manager at Helio Power.

The project will use the firm’s 72-cell poly modules. Grid connection is targeted for June 2019, ahead of a decline in the country’s feed-in tariff (FiT).

“Jetion Solar has worked tirelessly to build and maintain its reputation as a reliable module supplier in the utility market,” said Honglei Zhao, SVP of Jetion Solar. “It is another demonstration of our world-class capabilities and service to our international customers.”

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