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  • Oil & Gas

Philippines says 2 energy exploration deals with China ready for signing

12 November 2018

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  • Philippines

MANILA, Nov 7 (Reuters) – The Philippines is ready with two joint oil and gas exploration agreements to be signed with China, its energy minister said on Wednesday, and reiterated his position calling for the lifting of the ban on drilling works in a disputed area in South China Sea.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi made the statement ahead of the scheduled visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Philippines later this month as the two countries seek to strengthen economic ties.

One of the deals involves an exploration project between state-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) and Chinese state-owned CNOOC Ltd, located off Calamian in southwestern Palawan province, Cusi said in a news briefing.

Cusi was referring to Service Contract 57 covering an oil and gas prospect awarded to PNOC’s exploration unit, which picked CNOOC as a partner.

He did not give details about the other agreement, but said Service Contract 72, an exploration permit held by the Philippines’ PXP Energy Corp for Reed Bank, a disputed South China Sea area, is not one of the two.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich in energy reserves and marine resources. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims.

“Definitely not SC 72,” Cusi said.

PXP has had talks with CNOOC for joint exploration and development for the Sampaguita natural gas prospect at Reed Bank, before the DOE suspended drilling works there in late 2014 due to the territorial dispute.

Although he refrained from giving details about issues to be discussed with Xi during the visit, Cusi reiterated his call for the lifting of the Reed Bank exploration ban.

“The issue of the lifting is being taken care of by the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) because of the diplomatic issue,” Cusi said. “As far as the DOE is concerned, so that we can resume exploration, we need to lift that moratorium.” (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

  • Renewables

Cambodia to boost clean energy use – but coal plants planned too

12 November 2018

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  • Cambodia

PHNOM PENH (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Cambodia will push ahead with plans to use hydropower and coal to electrify the entire country by 2020, but solar energy will play some role, especially in remote areas, an energy ministry official said on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian nation has electrified rapidly since 2000, when only 16 percent of the population had access to power, according to the World Bank.

Today, 87 percent of villages and 73 percent of households are connected to the grid, said Victor Jona, a spokesman for the department of energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Hydropower accounts for 40 percent of the mix, while coal makes up 36 percent, with more plants being built, he said.

Power imports from neighboring countries contribute almost the entire remainder, with renewables such as solar accounting for less than 1 percent, he said.

But Jona said the government has plans to develop more clean energy, especially in hard-to-reach communities.

“We hope that solar home systems will do the role for the very remote areas, in case the grid cannot expand to them,” he said on the sidelines of a clean energy conference in the capital, Phnom Penh.

Some larger-scale solar is also being added to the mix. Jona said construction of a 60 megawatt solar plant in Kampong Speu province, west of the capital, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.

A 10MW solar plant came online this year, he said,

But hydropower and coal are still projected to make up 80 percent of Cambodia’s energy needs once the country achieves full electrification, Jona said.

Coal-fired plants are under construction, and will contribute another 150MW by next year, he said.

CHEAPER SOLAR

Bridget McIntosh, the Cambodia director for Energy Lab, which works to promote clean electricity, said the country should consider adding more renewable energy to its mix, especially as the cost of solar power falls.

“It takes five years to build a coal-fired station or a dam, and in those five years, the cost of solar will continue to decline,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“So it makes more sense to now connect solar to the grid” to meet the country’s electrification goals, she said.

Moving away from coal can also help countries meet their Paris Agreement goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help curb worsening climate impacts, including more extreme floods, droughts and sea level rise.

Cambodia has committed to a 27 percent reduction in its climate-changing emissions by 2030, 16 percent of which will be achieved by promoting clean and more efficient energy.

However, to scale up solar and other power, Cambodia must create a more welcoming regulatory environment for investment in it, said Pheakdey Heng, a founder of the Enrich Institute, a Phnom Penh-based think tank.

That might include everything from providing greater transparency in issuing and revoking energy licenses to removing barriers to adopting solar energy, adopting energy efficiency standards and providing tax incentives for clean energy use, he said.

Cambodia’s electrification so far has been largely driven by dams, and more are under consideration, including a controversial Sambor dam across the Mekong River, which is still in the “preliminary study” stage, according to Jona.

But the benefits of dams have been highly overestimated, according to a study published this week by scientists from Michigan State University.

Dams, the study said, often uproot people from their homes and damage biodiversity, while also releasing “large amounts” of climate-changing gases from rotting vegetation when water is released through spillways or passes through turbines.

  • Energy Cooperation , 
  • Renewables

Germany to cooperate & support Vietnam in development of wind energy

12 November 2018

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  • Vietnam

At the event, German Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Mr. Andreas Siegel highlighted the potential for renewable energy including wind energy of Vietnam.

According to participants, Vietnam boasts favourable conditions to develop renewable energy, including wind energy. Under a draft national renewable energy development plan of the Energy Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country’s wind power output is expected to reach over 1,600MW by 2020 and 11,000MW by 2030.

The consul general affirmed the German enterprises would be willing to cooperate and support Vietnam in developing the industry.

Almost speakers at the seminar said that environmental pollution was caused by impact of severe climate change and exhaust emissions from greenhouse effect which has been threatening to lives of people around the globe. Therefore, the development of renewable energy, a source of clean energy is extremely important, contributing to sustainable economic and social development.

According to Mr. Berthold Breid, founder and director of Renewables Academy AG (Renac), after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster occurred in Japan in 2011, the German government released policy about removing nuclear power including developing of renewable energy. Currently, Germany’s renewable energy accounts for 36 percent of all energy sources.

Vietnam has favorable conditions for the development of renewable energy, including wind energy. With the advantage of a long coastline, the S-line country could develop offshore wind power or big wind energy farms.

According to the draft plan about national renewable energy development of the Institute for Energy of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country’s wind power capacity will be expected to reach more than 1,600 MW by 2020 and this figure could be more than 11,000 MW in 2030.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Renewable Energy Center under the Institute of Energy also shared challenges in wind power development in Vietnam as the policy has many obstacles, the regulations on technology are inadequate, land fund for wind farms is limited or transmission lines do not meet requirement, etc etc…

Ms. Vu Chi Mai, a specialist from the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) said that both Vietnam and Germany identified the renewable energy as one of strategical cooperation. Therefore, GIZ is ready to support Vietnam, help improvement for legal framework conditions and develop capacity and cooperation in technology so that Vietnam could strongly develop in the field of wind power in the coming time.

  • Renewables

Blockchain tech is taking on renewable energy trading in Singapore

12 November 2018

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  • Singapore
Key Points
  • Companies in Singapore can now engage in renewable energy certificates trading on a blockchain-powered system from utilities provider SP Group.
  • The idea behind the asset is that firms seeking to offset their non-green energy production can purchase RECs from a company producing excess green power.
  • The use of a blockchain is more than a gimmick, SP Group says, because it will allow for better transparency and lower costs in power trading.

Blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin, has been recommended and theorized for uses across a broad spectrum of sectors and countries. Now, one Southeast Asian city-state is putting the tech to work in reshaping its energy industry.

In Singapore, companies can buy and sell so-called renewable energy certificates (RECs) that represent a unit of green energy production from the likes of wind or solar power. The idea is that firms seeking to offset their non-green energy production can purchase RECs from a company producing excess green power.

It’s a system similar to carbon trading that takes place in many localities, and, as of last week, companies can now engage in their REC trading on a blockchain-powered system.

That’s more than just a gimmick, according to utilities provider SP Group, which launched the new platform: It will allow for better transparency and lower costs in power trading because it reduces the need for a centralized entity to verify transactions. It could eventually even facilitate cross-border energy credit trading, the utility company has said.

“A consumer in Singapore who wishes to buy green energy can now, through blockchain-powered REC trading, purchase a REC from a hydro-producer based in Laos,” SP Group CEO Wong Kim Yin told CNBC at the Singapore International Energy Week conference last week. “This reduces the cost, reduces the friction in the market.”

High costs in verifying certificates as well as the difficulties in tracking RECs have led to relatively low trading volumes in Singapore, and even so, a majority of the transactions occur directly between one originator and buyer — not on a marketplace.

Adding blockchain to the equation may change that: The distributed ledger system effectively eliminates the need for verification processes at a centralized entity, reducing costs and allowing small energy consumers and producers to participate.

Wong spoke of a future in which energy trading is more decentralized, driven by technology and where consumers are empowered to make sustainable energy choices.

“In the past, you have big power stations in the centralized model and you would transmit power to the households. In the future you would have solar panels and you would have batteries. In that model the power system would be a lot more robust,” Wong said.

Green energy options are limited with land constraints in the city-state, meaning large-scale construction of wind farms isn’t an option. Solar panels, which are installed on surfaces, are also a function of land area, as well as the residential and commercial build-up.

Innovations like floating solar energy panels on reservoirs, which are currently being tested in Singapore, could help alleviate the spatial constraints of land, but the potential extent of such technology remains a question.

As a result, experts expect that demand will continue to outstrip supply in Singapore in the near future. Lars Kvale, managing director at APX, which is an issuer of RECs globally, told CNBC that “there is significant demand for renewable energy in Singapore but a limited amount of renewable energy capacity to meet all of the demand.”

Blockchain could unlock some of that potential through matching cross-border demand and supply.

“The true promise of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in the context of environmental commodity platforms is allowing these platforms to establish trusted relationships with upstream information sources without having to revalidate it,” Kvale added.

SP Group owns and operates electricity and gas transmission and distribution businesses in Singapore and Australia, as well as district cooling businesses in Singapore and China.

  • Electricity/Power Grid

Myanmar still weak in enforcing contracts, protecting minority investors

12 November 2018

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  • Myanmar

Myanmar has done undertaken two reforms to improve access to power supply and the ease of starting a local business, according to the latest report from the World Bank. However, pace of reform on most regulations affecting the private sector remain stagnant.

In the newly-released World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business rankings, Myanmar ranks 171th out of 190 economies in the overall ease of doing business, unchanged from last year’s position. It is the third consecutive year where the country fails to advance its ranking, remaining as the worst place in ASEAN to conduct business.

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1-190, based on the average of each economy’s ease of doing business scores for the 10 topics, which capture several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. The analysis provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. An economy’s ease of doing business score is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest and 100 represents the best performance. Myanmar scores an average of 44.72, which is the lowest in ASEAN, compared to the second lowest-scored Laos with 51.26 and the regional average for East Asia and the Pacific with 63.41.

Key weaknesses

Aspects with the lowest scores (out of 100) for Myanmar include getting credit (10.00), resolving insolvency (20.39), enforcing contracts (24.53) and protecting minority investors (25.00). Meanwhile, areas which perform the most poorly compared to other economies (out of 190 countries, with 1st being the best) are enforcing contracts (188th), protecting minority investors (185th), getting credit (178th) and trading across borders (168th) as well as resolving insolvency (164th). These are key aspects which the government needs to work hard on.

For example, Myanmar businesses need an average of 1160 days to enforce a contract, which is almost double of the East Asia and Pacific average of 581.1 days.

Last year’s index reported that Myanmar made registering property less costly by reducing the stamp duty and improved access to credit information by adopting a regulation allowing the establishment of credit bureaus.

Many economies in the region have undertaken more reforms. China has the second highest number of reforms per economy, with seven reforms. For example, Beijing made dealing with construction permits less cumbersome by streamlining the process of obtaining a building permit, and also made getting electricity easier in Beijing and Shanghai by expanding network capacity so that all connections of power loads of 160kW or less are now made directly to the low voltage network and free of charge.

Within ASEAN, Malaysia implemented six reforms and made starting a business easier by introducing an online registration system for the goods and service tax. It also made property transfer simpler by implementing an online single window platform to carry out property searches. Thailand made paying taxes easier by enhancing its online platform for calculating and filing corporate income tax. Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam each carried out three reforms.

Myanmar’s lack of improvement in this regard will be widely seen as a major policy failure by the incumbent government, which has repeatedly committed to elevating the country into the top 100 economies in the index by 2020. It is clear that the target will not be met.

Improvements made

Nevertheless, Myanmar managed to make progress in other areas of business. Among the ten barometers, Myanmar made improvements on starting a business (score 77.33) and power supply in Yangon (55.67).

Nay Pyi Taw made starting a business less expensive by reducing the registration fee, and improved the monitoring and regulation of power outages by beginning to record data for the annual system average interruption duration index (SAIDI) and system average interruption frequency index (SAIFI). The country also made getting electricity more transparent by publishing electricity tariffs online.

Still, there is a long way to go for the reform efforts in this frontier economy. For example, starting a new business takes 1.5 days in Singapore, compared to 14 days in Myanmar. It is also difficult for businesses in Yangon to secure electricity, taking 77 days, compared to 24 days in Kuala Lumpur.

  • Oil & Gas

Crude palm oil for power considered

12 November 2018

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  • Thailand

The Energy Ministry is considering using a surplus of crude palm oil this year to replace fossil fuels for power generation at two state-run plants in Chachoengsao and Ratchaburi.

The tentative plan is to be implemented at Bang Pakong power plant, owned by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), and Ratchaburi power plant, owned by Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc, Egat’s subsidiary.

Energy minister Siri Jirapongan said this plan would absorb 160,000 tonnes of crude palm oil.

Theoffice of Agricultural Economics reported the stock of crude palm oil as of September stood at 375,591 tonnes, higher than the normal level of 250,000 tonnes.

Thailand has produced 2.5 million tonnes of crude palm oil, with 900,000 tonnes going to vegetable oil for consumption and 1.3 million tonnes serving biodiesel for vehicles.

Mr Siri said the two powerplants can shift from diesel and bunker oil to crude palm oil.

“Both state-run agencies have recieved the ministry’s order to use crude palm oil for power generation for three months,” he said. “But the two power plants have yet to announce when they will start using crude palm oil.”

Mr Siri said power generation cost is expected to double to 6-7 baht per kilowatt-hour (unit) from an average tariff at 3-3.2 baht per unit, but the ministry plans to effer a 1-billion-baht subsidy to maintain people’s power bills.

“The government will allocate 500 million baht and Egat will provide another 500 million baht,’ he said.

This latest plan is a rehash of a move during the last surplus in 2016, when Egat was facing financial troubles.

Earlier, the ministry tied down oil traders with the announcement it was increasing the content of crude palm oil in biodiesel from 6.6% to 6.8% in a bid to curb slumping palm oil prices, effective from last Thursday.

Retail biodiesel, called B7, is blended with 6.6-7% methyl ester (ME). The move is expected to absorb around 62,000-80,000 tonnes of crude palm oil.

Furthermore, the ministry has encouraged truck operators to use B20, blended with 20% ME, since July, projecting B20 consumption of 3 million litres a month.

The Energy Business Department reported B20 consumption in old trucks is undergoing a trial project with a volume of 7.7 million litres.

The Transport Ministry has already used B20 in a trial test for five public buses operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority and three long-haul buses operated by Transport Co.

Transport Co plans to run the test for a month to forecast B20 consumption in the future.

“We expect to absorb a large volume of crude palm oil, up to 1.7 million tonnes a year once we can use B20 in public transport,” Mr Siri said.

The ministry set the B20 retail price below that of B7 by three baht a litre, and it is exempt from levies for the State Oil Fund.

Nonetheless, Whichai Phochanakij, director-general of Internal Trade Department, said the Commerce Ministry has measures to encourage palm oil exports of 525 million baht to subsidise transport costs at 1.75 baht per kilogramme.

“The ministry aims to export 300,000 tonnes of palm oil within five months, but it has to find new export markets to support this huge volume,” said Mr Whichai.

“The price of palm oil has dropped to 16 baht per kg, while Thai prices stand at 17-18 baht. The measures suggested are the best solution for the surplus.”

  • Electricity/Power Grid

Thai power authorities investigate smart grids for renewables integration in remote region

12 November 2018

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  • Thailand
Patana Sangsriroujana, deputy governor of strategy at EGAT and Sompong Preeprem, governor of PEA. Image: EGAT/PEA.

A smart grid pilot will be put into action in the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, to integrate and balance growing shares of renewable energy using battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and the country’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) have signed an agreement to investigate the use of batteries under the country’s Smart Grid Master Plan, a five-year development plan signed off in 2016.

An expert team from Chulalongkorn University found in a recent study that Mae Hong Son, a remote and mountainous province in northern Thailand lacking in existing large-scale power plants is a suitable area for using smart grid technology to enhance local generation and distribution of electricity.

At present, the region gets its power through PEA transmission lines, through hydro and solar power and a diesel power plant. Outages are frequent and the two partners will investigate how the reliability of local energy supply can be improved, in a project aimed at sharing information and studying the management of power supply.

Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by EGAT and PEA shortly before the end of October, a working study group will be set up to study four aspects of battery and renewables integration:

  • BESS will be connected to PEA’s Mae Hong Son distribution system according to engineering standards and grid codes. It will also be operated and evaluated in ‘islanded’ mode, running independently of the local grid.
  • Protocols will be implemented on the Mae Hong Son network to support that latter transition from grid-connected to islanded modes.
  • The exchange of relevant data which is likely to include communications and connection point protocols as well as the application of data to improve working processes.
  • Testing and controlling the smart grid system, including in grid-connected and islanded modes and from there figuring out and mapping how such systems could be suitable for deployment in the local area.

The smart grid will be controlled by an EGAT-designed controls system. The announcement comes just under a year after EGAT announced battery energy storage to be a “new dimension” for the management of electricity. Thailand has around 1,031MW of pumped hydro storage already, and is apparently planning to deploy a further 2,100MW. EGAT identified however that batteries can be deployed more quickly and taking up far less space, while offering fast response times and other advantages in the way it can be controlled and used for a variety of applications.

In a November 2017 release, EGAT referred to three battery storage systems either already deployed or planned for its networks, mostly in areas where generation and transmission equipment is located, including one 3MW project in Mae Hong Son with 15 minutes duration of storage. At that time, EGAT said the 3MW system. EGAT also said last year that it is proposing that the majority of its BESS deployments will be in southeastern Thailand where there are large amounts of renewable energy generation assets.

Autotrop eyes battery exports to Cambodia

12 November 2018

 – 

  • Cambodia

Malaysia-based Autotrop Sdn Bhd plans to penetrate the competitive Cambodian auto sector to promote its – Fujiya and Challenger – batteries and even plans to set up a local warehouse.

Speaking to The Post in the capital last Thursday, Autotrop’s director Gary Lim T.H. said the company sees Cambodia as a potential market for its products, which are used worldwide.

“Cambodia is growing very fast and we are targetting to sell automotive batteries, mainly the three categories – maintenance free, deep cycle battery and the conventional type,” said Lim

The deep cycle batteries caters for electrical appliances on boats, golf buggies, light industrial scissor lifts and caravans as well as commercial and recreational vehicles, said Lim.

The batteries met the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS), Deutsches Institut fur Normung (DIN) standard and have qualified export packaging for the export markets.

The company participated in the CamAuto Expo 2018 where some 40 companies involved in auto parts, accessories and service equipment took part in the three- day event held at the Diamond Island Exhibition and Convention Centre in Koh Pich in the capital last week.

“We are looking for new markets and shifting from the domestic market (Malaysia).

Content image - Phnom Penh Post

Lim (right) displays the Fujiya battery at the CamAuto Expo. Post Staff

“We are looking for dealers here and opening a warehouse is an option. This will shorten logistics time and we can deliver to customers within a short period.

“There is a good demand for batteries in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, as the number of vehicles continues to rise.”

“I am confident our products can sell in this market, it is built with Japanese technology and the brand has existed in the market since the 70s.”

“Our prices are competitive and we promote quality products,” said Lim

In Cambodia, lead acid batteries have dual usage. Besides being used in vehicles, batteries are also used in rural areas, where there is no electricity, for lighting purposes.

According to a 2014 report by Research and Markets, a research agency, Cambodia’s lead acid batteries market is projected to be worth $239.4 million by 2019, at a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent.

“Most of the households in Cambodia use automotive batteries for lighting purposes leading to high replacement rates for automotive or mid capacity batteries in the region.”

“Investments in automotive parts factories in Cambodia have opened the market for automotive batteries in the region,” said the report.

The Fujiya and Challenger batteries are manufactured by ABM, a subsidiary of ABM Fujiya Berhad and the batteries cater for a wide range of Malaysian, Japanese, Korean and European made vehicles, ranging from small passenger cars to buses and trucks.

At present, the company is operating four plants with a total production capacity of approximately 1.6 million units of batteries per annum, and targets foreign markets.

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ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) is an intergovernmental organisation within ASEAN structure that represents the 10 ASEAN Member States’ (AMS) interests in the energy sector.

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