News Clipping Archive - Page 1190 of 1226

Renewables

16 November 2018

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Philippines ,
Singapore

AC ENERGY, Inc. through its international unit has invested in Singapore-based renewable energy company The Blue Circle Pte. Ltd. through a 25% ownership acquisition as well as co-investment rights in the latter’s projects.

“It’s a platform partnership. The Blue Circle, TBC, is a regional development and operations company focused on wind.”

AC Energy Chief Executive Officer Eric T. Francia told reporters on Tuesday.

AC Energy, the energy arm of diversified conglomerate Ayala Corp., and TBC are to jointly develop, construct, own and operate the latter’s pipeline of around 1,500 megawatts (MW) of wind projects across Southeast Asia, including about 700 MW in Vietnam. TBC developed and constructed one of the first wind farms in Vietnam.

Next year, the partnership plans to develop around 100 to 200 MW of wind energy projects in Vietnam out of TBC’s project pipeline in that country, he said.

AC Energy subsidiary AC Energy International Holdings Pte. Ltd. signed the deal with TBC.

“What we like about this platform and partnership is that number one, they have the capabilities and the track record for wind, and number two, they have a very good pipeline of development projects across the region,” Mr. Francia said.

He said TBC’s principal markets are Thailand and Indonesia, although it has some developmental assets in Indonesia and Cambodia, and at a lesser magnitude, in the Philippines.

“We’re gonna begin this relationship by focusing first on Vietnam because that’s where most of the action is,” Mr. Francia said, adding that the regional neighbor has an installation deadline for renewable energy projects aiming for a feed-in tariff.

He said AC Energy has set aside $100 million of equity for these projects.

Mr. Francia said funding for the projects would come from corporate debt and the funds raised from the sell down of AC Energy’s thermal assets. He also said that the company was working with several lenders to put together the loan component to fund the projects.

He placed the cost of putting up each megawatt of wind project at $1.5-$1.6 million dollars.

AC Energy previously said it had more than $1 billion of invested and committed equity in renewable and thermal energy in the Philippines and around the region. It aims to develop five gigawatts of attributable capacity and generate at least half of energy from renewables by 2025.

Electricity/Power Grid ,
Renewables

Electric surge to require flexible power systems: IEA

16 November 2018

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Vietnam

PARIS — Demand for electricity is set to explode in the next two decades, which could be good news for the environment but a challenge for governments and power companies, the IEA said Tuesday.

“The electricity sector is experiencing its most dramatic transformation since its creation more than a century ago,” said the International Energy Agency in an annual energy outlook that focused on electricity.

The IEA forecast that energy demand would be more than 25 per cent greater by 2040, owing in large part to expanding activity in India.

Global demand for electricity is expected to surge by around 60 per cent, at which point it would account for about one quarter of the total, from 19 per cent at present, while coal and oil diminish in importance.

Developing economies will need 90 per cent more electricity, for vehicles in China and air conditioning in hotter climates, said the report. Rich countries were also tipped to require more power for electrically based transit systems.

To provide the extra power, the use of wind turbines and solar panels would grow substantially, said the report.

All renewable sources including hydro-electric are to account for 70 per cent of the increased output.

Political support and advances in technology meant that the cost of electricity produced by renewable sources had fallen, and that of solar energy was expected to decline further by more than 40 per cent over the 20-year period.

Meanwhile, the share of electricity produced by coal should drop to about one quarter of the total from roughly 40 per cent today.

Renewables are thus tipped to follow an inverse curve and take coal’s place.

Natural gas at 20 per cent and nuclear energy at 10 per cent are to remain essentially stable.

Flexibility

While the increase in renewable energy should benefit the environment, it will nonetheless also pose a challenge, not least because such sources depend on the availability of sun or wind.

“With higher variability in supplies, power systems will need to make flexibility the cornerstone of future electricity markets in order to keep the lights on,” the IEA said.

“Many countries in Europe, as well as Mexico, India and China, are set to require a degree of flexibility that has never been seen before at such large scale,” it added.

Governments and power companies will have to invest more than US$2 trillion a year in new supplies, reform energy markets, improve connections between grids, and pursue technology such as “smart meters” and improved batteries, the report said.

The IEA also imagined a scenario under which an even bigger push towards electricity occurs, with demand leaping by 90 per cent instead of 60 per cent by 2040.

That would be an increase roughly equivalent to twice the current demand for electricity in the United States.

With half of all vehicles operating on electricity, local air quality should improve noticeably, it noted. — AFP

Oil & Gas

Vietnam’s Ca Tam oil field to start production Jan 15 – sources

16 November 2018

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Vietnam

HANOI, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Vietsovpetro, a Vietnam-Russia oil joint venture, will start crude oil production at the Ca Tam field offshore southern Vietnam from Jan. 15, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Ca Tam is the first new field to be brought into production in Vietnam in years after a 2014 plunge in oil prices slashed exploration. The start-up is significant as declining production from the country’s key fields has left it struggling to maintain oil and gas output.

Production from Ca Tam, jointly developed by Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp (PVEP) and Bitexco Group, is forecast to be between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels per day, one of the sources told Reuters.

The field in block 09-3/12, 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Vietnam, will be hooked up to the facilities in the nearby block 09-1, which houses the country’s largest oil field Bach Ho, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) said last month.

“The project will benefit its developers and create jobs for other firms in the local oil and gas industry, especially at the current difficult time,” PetroVietnam said.

Readul Islam, a research analyst at Rystad Energy in Singapore said: “We could expect an initial few months of peak production, before production stabilizes to plateau rates between 15,000-20,000 bpd perhaps throughout 2020, at which point it could be making up an estimated 15-20 percent of the Bach Ho heavy grade.”

“Being a relatively small field, volumes from Ca Tam could already start declining from 2021,” Islam said.

Vietnam’s crude oil output is expected to fall by 10 percent a year through to 2025, PetroVietnam said last month. . Output in 2018 was expected to fall 14.7 percent to 11.3 million metric tonnes, the government said in March.

The quality of the new crude from Ca Tam could be heavier than the current Bach Ho heavy grade as PetroVietnam’s trading arm PV Oil has offered a heavier grade of Bach Ho in term tenders, traders said.

PV Oil offered 30,000 barrels per day of a heavier Bach Ho crude, with an API gravity of 28-35 degrees, for loading between April and June versus 20,000 bpd of Bach Ho heavy, with an API of 33-35, in the first three months of 2019.

The company has also offered 10,000 bpd of light Bach Ho crude with an API of 38-40 for loading in the first half of 2019. (Reporting by Khanh Vu and Florence Tan; editing by Richard Pullin).

Coal

Indonesia expects trend of higher coal prices to extend until end-2018

16 November 2018

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Indonesia

Coal production has already hit 48.5 million tonnes or 9% of national production in 2018.

Indonesia is expecting the upward trend of coal prices to continue until the end of the year on the back of increased global demand for the commodity, Antara News reports.

According to Rendra Prasetya Kiswono of the Coordination Function Analysis and Policy Commission of Bank Indonesia for South Sumatra, high demand for coal in the world market is in line with the onset of the winter season in mainland China. China needs adequate coal supply to generate six power plants in the face of the temperature below zero Celsius degrees.

“The price of coal is good at this time, so we recommend that this moment be used to increase the volume of exports,” he told reporters.

Since the increase of coal prices in April 2018, the mining and quarrying sector in South Sumatra hit 19.90% of GDP, marking the highest contribution to the GDP. In 2018, South Sumatra’s total coal production is estimated to be at around 48.5 million tonnes or 9% of national production.

Coal

Steady coal demand buoys Banpu sales, profit

16 November 2018

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Vietnam

BANPU PUBLIC Company Limited recently announced total sales revenue of US$965 million (approximately Bt31.81 billion) for the year’s third quarter, a big jump from the $245 million for the same period last year.

A leading integrated energy solution company in Asia-Pacific, Banpu saw $310 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), an increase of 18 per cent compared to the same period last year

It reported net profit of $76 million. The operating profit, excluding foreign-exchange loss, was $100 million, a 15-per-cent bump from the previous quarter. This is due to consistent demand for coal in the market given the tight supply in the last quarter, which resulted in a significant increase in the company’s average selling price of coal.

Banpu is also moving forward, applying a “greener and smarter” strategy and diversifying the company portfolio to ensure that it will be able to provide an integrated energy solution for all

Somruedee Chaimongkol, chief executive officer of Banpu Public Co Ltd, said: “Banpu has reported a strong operating result for the third quarter. We have seen growth in all key business units. The coal business delivered higher sales volume, which enabled the business unit to capitalise on the robust coal prices. The power business demonstrated high power-plant efficiency at Hongsa and BLCP. Lastly the gas business reported a strong rise in earnings due to higher gas prices in the US market.”

He said Banpu would continue its mission to be a leading integrated energy solutions company in the region by showcasing its presence in Vietnam and the company’s integration covering upstream, midstream and downstream.

That approach will create maximum benefits for the company throughout the value chain, so as to respond to the continuous increase in energy demands in Vietnam, said Somruedee.

Banpu was recently awarded a contract with Vietnam Electricity (EVN), to supply 1.3 million tonnes of coal. It also established the first crossed-BU office in Ho Chi Minh City to help in future business development.

The company is able to meet various types of demand in Vietnam’s market, said Somruedee, due to its strengths in providing and transporting high quality and customised coal to customers via strong business partnerships and network.

Banpu’s power business is moving its 200MW wind-power plant project forward in Soc Trang, Vietnam. The project is targeted to begin commercial operations by 2021. Banpu’s power business is also exploring further opportunities in conventional power plant and renewable businesses in Vietnam, following the company’s “greener and smarter” core strategy.

“As a leading energy company in the Asia-Pacific, Banpu is committed to sustainable energy management by balancing conventional and renewable energy businesses,” he said.

That balance “will empower Banpu to deliver energy that is affordable, reliable and environmentally friendly to continuously meet the energy demands of consumers, communities and societies, while also creating sustainable value to all stakeholders. This is in line with our brand promise ‘Our Way in Energy’,” Somruedee said.

Electricity/Power Grid

Vietnam to open domestic wholesale power market in 2019

16 November 2018

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Vietnam

It is now training companies and preparing hydropower plants to enter the market.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade will launch the full opening of the domestic electricity wholesale market to competition in 2019, following the establishment of a successful year-long pilot period. The Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) will use the remaining time of the trial period to complete training companies in market operations, to improve information technology infrastructure, and to prepare the integration of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)’s hydropower plants into the market. Renewable energy producers will also be allowed to connect to the national grid.

This wholesale market opening decision fits in the country’s long term plan for the electricity sector as mandated in the 2004 Electricity Law. The liberalisation of the Vietnamese power market is moving forward and is taking place in three stages. The power generation market was opened to competition in 2012 and 87 power plants totalling nearly 23 GW have entered the power generation market over the past five years. The second stage of the liberalisation process is the opening of the wholesale market, slated for opening in 2019. The opening of the retail market will be the final stage of the process and will take place later.

Oil & Gas

Singapore Marine Fuel Sales at 5-month High

16 November 2018

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Singapore

Singapore marine fuel sales in October climbed 3 percent on year to a five-month high of 4.125 million tonnes, according to data released by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Tuesday.

The latest sales volumes were 0.3 percent higher compared to September, it showed. The higher October sales volumes reflect a slight increase in the number of ships coming to Singapore for refuelling, or bunkering, amid buoyant freight trade and easing concerns of contaminated fuels, trade sources said.

The number of ships that called for bunkers in Singapore, the world’s largest marine refuelling hub, rose to a six-month high of 3,340 ships in October, compared with 3,310 ships in September, MPA data showed.

However, vessels calling at Singapore for bunkers loaded slightly lower quantities of fuel in October, with each ship taking on an average 1,235 tonnes, a three-month low and below the monthly average of 1,270 tonnes so far this year.

However despite the higher October sales volumes, expectations of achieving record bunker fuel sales for a fourth straight year in 2018 have been scaled back as year-to-date sales volumes lagged the record quantities seen in the year before.

Singapore marine fuel sales in the first 10 months of 2018 totalled 41.585 million tonnes, down 1 percent from the record 42.024 million tonnes sold in the same period last year, MPA data showed.

On average, Singapore would have to report sales volumes of 4.526 million tonnes in the last two months of this year to match the record 50.636 million tonnes sold in 2017. Singapore’s monthly sales volumes have averaged 4.158 million tonnes since the start of the year.

FUEL TYPES

Sales of emission control areas-compliant low-sulphur marine gas oil climbed to a record 143,000 tonnes in October, up 47 percent from a year ago and 8 percent higher from September.
Sales of the 380-centistoke (cst) high-sulphur fuel oil climbed to a six-month high of 2.992 million tonnes in October, 2 percent lower than a year earlier but 0.4 percent higher than the previous month.
Sales of the less costly high-viscosity 500-cst marine fuel slipped to a seven-month low of 835,000 tonne in October, up 20 percent from a year ago but 1 percent lower than the previous month.

Sales of the lower-viscosity 180-cst fuel were down to a two-month low of 24,000 tonnes in October.

Renewables

Seraphim Solar Secures 80 MW Supply Agreement in Vietnam

16 November 2018

–

Philippines ,
Vietnam

CHANGZHOU, China, Nov. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Jiangsu Seraphim Solar System Co., Ltd. (“Seraphim“) recently signed new landmark supply agreements for two separate PV projects totaling 80MW in Vietnam. The Solar farms are a joint venture project of AMI Renewables of Vietnam and AC Energy of the Philippines. Seraphim agreed to deliver the PV modules for a targeted commission date in late April 2019.

The first project, 30MW BMT Solar Farm Project will be constructed at the Ea Phe and Krong Puk Commune, Krong Pac District, Dak Lak Province; and the second one, 50MW KH Solar Farm Project, will be constructed at Cam An Nam Commune, Cam Lam District, Khanh Hoa Province. Both projects will be constructed by ERS Energy Sdn Bhd, which is one of the leading regional EPC contractors in South East Asia headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“We are honored to be the sole module supplier for these flagship projects”, said Polaris Li, General Manager of Seraphim, “This is Seraphim‘s first project in Vietnam — more are forthcoming. Vietnam is currently the largest PV market in Southeast Asia, and Seraphim’s performance here will be the benchmark by which future projects measure their success.”

“We are delighted to work with Seraphim,” said Jonathan Kan, Managing Director of ERS Energy Sdn Bhd. “We were impressed by their professionalism and willingness to communicate critical milestones in advance. Seraphim has over six gigawatts installed around the world — we believe this cooperation is the formula for success in Vietnam”, he continued.

About Seraphim

Founded in 2011, Seraphim has racked up impressive achievements in a short time. Seraphim has earned Tier-1 distinction from BNEF, Top Performer status from DNV GL, and loyalty from demanding customers around the world. With a total capacity of 3GW, Seraphim serves global customers with high-quality products and professional services. So far more than six gigawatts of Seraphim products installed in over thirty countries.

About ERS Energy

ERS Energy is an award-winning solar energy company known primarily for solar photovoltaics (PV) EPCC and system integrations capable from large scale solar deployment to small retail systems with their professional workforce and installed solar capacity experience fast approaching the 300MW mark. Established in 2009, ERS Energy has constructed Malaysia’s biggest solar farm; further expanding and contributing to the solar renewable development among the ASEAN countries.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seraphim-solar-secures-80-mw-supply-agreement-in-vietnam-300748363.html

News Clipping

BANPU PUBLIC Company Limited recently announced total sales revenue of US$965 million (approximately Bt31.81 billion) for the year’s third quarter, a big jump from the $245 million for the same period last year.

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