HANOI — Vietnam’s state-controlled Petrolimex, the top distributor of gasoline to the country’s more than 40 million motorbikes, aims to diversify operations ahead of a projected long-term slowdown in demand for the fuel.
Formally called Vietnam National Petroleum Group, the company operates about 5,000 gas stations nationwide and has added locations at a pace of 70 per year, supported by Vietnam’s high economic growth of nearly 7%.
But the fuel importer is taking steps to branch out, such as building a liquefied natural gas terminal and adding electric vehicle chargers and convenience stores, Petrolimex Chairman Pham Van Thanh told Nikkei in a recent interview.
Edited excerpts from the interview follow.
Q: Tell us about Petrolimex’s decision to retreat from a plan to break into the oil industry’s midstream by building what would have been Vietnam’s third refinery.
A: State-owned PetroVietnam group operates one refinery in Vietnam, and another run partly by Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan began operating in 2018. Their refineries can meet about 90% of domestic demand for gasoline.
It has become difficult to receive tax and other incentives equivalent to those for the two refineries from the Vietnamese government.
We have yet to abandon the plan but are considering building an LNG import terminal as an alternative. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Electricity, which is building a [gas-fired] power plant. As our terminal to import petroleum products can be used, we consider the accord compatible with the LNG business.
Q: With demand for gasoline forecast to slow, how is Petrolimex preparing itself?
A: Demand for gasoline is expected to increase 5% or so annually, though slower than Vietnam’s economic growth [of 6% to 7%]. We don’t expect major changes in the business environment in the coming five years. On a longer-term basis, however, we will need to prepare for widespread use of electric vehicles and motorcycles.
We have joined hands with [Vietnamese conglomerate] Vingroup, planning to release EVs starting in 2019. We have already begun installing chargers at our gas stations, hoping to have them at all our stations.
Q: How does Petrolimex plan to make its gas stations more competitive?
A: We want to make use of management know-how of JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy [a Japanese company holding an 8% stake in Petrolimex]. We will increase combination gas stations and convenience stores. We plan to open them on a trial basis in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2019.
As gas stations combined with convenience and other retail stores require land lots bigger than before, we will promote the scrap-and-build of gas stations. We will pursue how to make our gas stations friendlier to users by developing good relations with convenience store operators.
Q: Self-service stations are increasing.
A: We have some 30 self-service stations and will expand the network in earnest. But Vietnam is a cash-based society, and the credit card use has yet to become common.
We cannot simply introduce other countries’ practices as-is, and so will operate them in a manner matching the Vietnamese market while analyzing customers’ reaction.
Q: Would you comment on a proposal under which the JXTG group will spin off its Marifu Refinery in Japan and sell a stake in it to Petrolimex?
A: I cannot say anything specific now, but we are holding talks with the JXTG group on a 50-50 joint venture.
We have already told the Vietnamese government of our intention. As the Vietnamese government has the final say, I don’t know if we can establish a joint venture in April [as planned].
HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam saved 492,000kWh of electricity, equivalent to VNĐ917 million (US$39,700), for one hour on Saturday night, according to the National Power Dispatch Centre.
During Earth Hour, people across the country switched off unnecessary electrical devices from 8.30-9.30pm.
This year’s figure represented a slight rise against the 485,000kWh of electricity saved during Earth Hour 2018.
Speaking at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in response to Earth Hour in Hà Nội the same day, Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh said the event showed the determination and efforts of Vietnamese people to protect the environment and respond to climate change.
Earth Hour is the largest social event in the world, which has been observed in 7,000 cities in 172 countries and territories.
Việt Nam first joined the Earth Hour campaign, which is an initiative of World Wide Fund for Nature, in 2009 to cut greenhouse emissions by 8 per cent.
Together with the symbolic action of turning off unnecessary electrical devices for an hour on Saturday, many other power-saving activities were launched by businesses, households and schools during March to raise public awareness about saving electricity and protecting the environment. — VNS
KUANTAN, MALAYSIA—Companies and governments around the world are anxiously watching the fate of a sprawling industrial facility 30 kilometers north of this city on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.
The 100-hectare Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) produces 10% of the world’s output of rare earth oxides (REOs), minerals needed in technologies including mobile phones, hard drives, fiber optic cables, surgical lasers, and cruise missiles. Lynas, an Australian company, imports concentrated ores from mines on Mount Weld in Australia and refines them here in Malaysia, where costs are lower; it sells REOs—which include cerium compounds, used in catalytic converters, and neodymium, critical to permanent magnets—to Japan, the United States, and other countries. The plant produced almost 18,000 tons of REOs in 2018.
Now, the LAMP faces closure, barely 7 years after it opened. Environmental groups have long opposed the storage on the site of slightly radioactive waste from the extraction process, and they found a sympathetic ear in a new government elected in May 2018. In December 2018, the government demanded that the facility ship its radioactive waste back to Australia if it wants to renew its operating license, which expires on 2 September. On 12 March, a government task force to help organize the shipments was announced. But the company says exporting the more than 451,000 tons of residue by the deadline is “unachievable.”
The standoff has caused Lynas’s stock to lose almost half its value since May 2018 and has worried many countries hungry for REOs. A shutdown would be “a significant event with a ripple effect,” says Ryan Castilloux, a metals and minerals analyst at Adamas Intelligence in Amsterdam. For one thing, the shutdown would strengthen China’s position as the dominant supplier of REOs, which many countries deem a strategic risk. Japan’s electric vehicle industry, for instance, would lose its main supplier of REOs for permanent magnets; “it would have to reestablish a relationship with China after almost a decade of friction” in the REO trade, Castilloux says.
Rare earth elements (REEs) occupy atomic numbers 57 to 71, the “lanthanide series” of the periodic table, and also include scandium and yttrium. Their exceptional magnetic and conductive traits make them critical to clean energy technology, such as hybrid fuel cells, solar panels, and wind turbine magnets. “Although rare earth oxides production worldwide is only worth several billions of dollars, it is essential for industries worth trillions,” Castilloux says.
Rare earth deposits themselves are not scarce—more than 800 are known on land. Refining them takes lots of corrosive chemicals and generates huge amounts of residue. China was long the sole supplier; when it reduced exports in 2010, citing environmental concerns, prices jumped as much as 26-fold and major consumers scrambled for alternate sources. Lynas has become a “flagship” of REO production outside China, Castilloux says. The United States and Myanmar mine REEs as well, but they are processed in China, which today produces about 89% of the global REO output.
But in Malaysia, the waste has raised red flags. At the LAMP, concentrated ores are roasted with sulfuric acid to dissolve the rare earths and then diluted with water in a process called water leach purification, leaving a moist, pastelike residue. By September 2018, the LAMP had already produced 1.5 million tons of residue; because the ores contain thorium and uranium, almost 30% of it is slightly radioactive.
Some REO facilities elsewhere have built permanent, secure facilities to store such waste, says Julie Klinger, a geographer and expert in REO mining at Boston University; others are secretive about what they do with it. In a plan approved by the previous government, Lynas agreed to try to recycle its residues. The company has sponsored Malaysian researchers to find new uses, including products that can improve soil properties.
These efforts have not yielded commercial products, however. And in December 2018, a new executive committee, appointed by Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change to evaluate the LAMP, cautioned against using the waste in agriculture because radioactive nuclides might accumulate in the environment. Radiochemist Amran Majid, a retired radiation protection officer at the National University of Malaysia in Bangi, and others have suggested a different strategy—extract the thorium, which accounts for the vast majority of the radioactivity, for use as fuel for nuclear reactors.
So far, the LAMP has been storing residues on site instead, in rapidly growing hills. The imagery of piled up radioactive waste has sparked public fears, which experts say are exaggerated. Workers at the site are exposed to less than 1.05 millisieverts (mSv) per year, Lynas reports, far below the 20-mSv threshold advised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for workers exposed to radiation. The health effects of such low doses are “negligible,” says Kwan Hoong Ng, a medical physicist at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. People outside the facility are at an even lower risk, Amran adds.
Still, in 2011 and 2014 IAEA found that Lynas lacked adequate plans for a permanent facility if recycling fails. The executive committee has suggested Lynas build one immediately, citing the potential for natural disasters to disperse the residues. (Monsoon storms and floods hit the area 4 months of the year.) Radioactivity isn’t the only risk, says Bun Teet Tan, chair of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas, a nongovernmental organization here. A 2013 review by the Öko-Institute in Darmstadt, Germany, commissioned by Tan’s group, found that heavy metals such as nickel, chromium, lead, and mercury could contaminate groundwater. Despite the new government’s tough language, Tan worries whether “real action would ever be taken,” saying the government has been lax about enforcing regulations at the LAMP in the past.
Neither the ministry nor Lynas responded to interview requests from Science. In a financial report issued in late February, Lynas directors said it has lived up to the terms of its operating license, and that it will build permanent storage if necessary. Exporting the residue should be the last resort, the report says. But the government hasn’t budged.
About 30% of the 1.5 million tons of residue stored on Lynas’s facility in Malaysia is slightly radioactive and covered with a black lining.
Save Malaysia Stop Lynas
Radioactive waste standoff could slash high tech’s supply of rare earth elements
KUANTAN, MALAYSIA—Companies and governments around the world are anxiously watching the fate of a sprawling industrial facility 30 kilometers north of this city on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.
The 100-hectare Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) produces 10% of the world’s output of rare earth oxides (REOs), minerals needed in technologies including mobile phones, hard drives, fiber optic cables, surgical lasers, and cruise missiles. Lynas, an Australian company, imports concentrated ores from mines on Mount Weld in Australia and refines them here in Malaysia, where costs are lower; it sells REOs—which include cerium compounds, used in catalytic converters, and neodymium, critical to permanent magnets—to Japan, the United States, and other countries. The plant produced almost 18,000 tons of REOs in 2018.
Now, the LAMP faces closure, barely 7 years after it opened. Environmental groups have long opposed the storage on the site of slightly radioactive waste from the extraction process, and they found a sympathetic ear in a new government elected in May 2018. In December 2018, the government demanded that the facility ship its radioactive waste back to Australia if it wants to renew its operating license, which expires on 2 September. On 12 March, a government task force to help organize the shipments was announced. But the company says exporting the more than 451,000 tons of residue by the deadline is “unachievable.”
The standoff has caused Lynas’s stock to lose almost half its value since May 2018 and has worried many countries hungry for REOs. A shutdown would be “a significant event with a ripple effect,” says Ryan Castilloux, a metals and minerals analyst at Adamas Intelligence in Amsterdam. For one thing, the shutdown would strengthen China’s position as the dominant supplier of REOs, which many countries deem a strategic risk. Japan’s electric vehicle industry, for instance, would lose its main supplier of REOs for permanent magnets; “it would have to reestablish a relationship with China after almost a decade of friction” in the REO trade, Castilloux says.
Rare earth elements (REEs) occupy atomic numbers 57 to 71, the “lanthanide series” of the periodic table, and also include scandium and yttrium. Their exceptional magnetic and conductive traits make them critical to clean energy technology, such as hybrid fuel cells, solar panels, and wind turbine magnets. “Although rare earth oxides production worldwide is only worth several billions of dollars, it is essential for industries worth trillions,” Castilloux says.
Rare earth deposits themselves are not scarce—more than 800 are known on land. Refining them takes lots of corrosive chemicals and generates huge amounts of residue. China was long the sole supplier; when it reduced exports in 2010, citing environmental concerns, prices jumped as much as 26-fold and major consumers scrambled for alternate sources. Lynas has become a “flagship” of REO production outside China, Castilloux says. The United States and Myanmar mine REEs as well, but they are processed in China, which today produces about 89% of the global REO output.
Chinese dominance
Rare earths are mined worldwide but are mostly processed in China. Lynas is the only notable rare earth oxide supplier outside of China.
But in Malaysia, the waste has raised red flags. At the LAMP, concentrated ores are roasted with sulfuric acid to dissolve the rare earths and then diluted with water in a process called water leach purification, leaving a moist, pastelike residue. By September 2018, the LAMP had already produced 1.5 million tons of residue; because the ores contain thorium and uranium, almost 30% of it is slightly radioactive.
Some REO facilities elsewhere have built permanent, secure facilities to store such waste, says Julie Klinger, a geographer and expert in REO mining at Boston University; others are secretive about what they do with it. In a plan approved by the previous government, Lynas agreed to try to recycle its residues. The company has sponsored Malaysian researchers to find new uses, including products that can improve soil properties.
These efforts have not yielded commercial products, however. And in December 2018, a new executive committee, appointed by Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change to evaluate the LAMP, cautioned against using the waste in agriculture because radioactive nuclides might accumulate in the environment. Radiochemist Amran Majid, a retired radiation protection officer at the National University of Malaysia in Bangi, and others have suggested a different strategy—extract the thorium, which accounts for the vast majority of the radioactivity, for use as fuel for nuclear reactors.
So far, the LAMP has been storing residues on site instead, in rapidly growing hills. The imagery of piled up radioactive waste has sparked public fears, which experts say are exaggerated. Workers at the site are exposed to less than 1.05 millisieverts (mSv) per year, Lynas reports, far below the 20-mSv threshold advised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for workers exposed to radiation. The health effects of such low doses are “negligible,” says Kwan Hoong Ng, a medical physicist at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. People outside the facility are at an even lower risk, Amran adds.
Still, in 2011 and 2014 IAEA found that Lynas lacked adequate plans for a permanent facility if recycling fails. The executive committee has suggested Lynas build one immediately, citing the potential for natural disasters to disperse the residues. (Monsoon storms and floods hit the area 4 months of the year.) Radioactivity isn’t the only risk, says Bun Teet Tan, chair of Save Malaysia Stop Lynas, a nongovernmental organization here. A 2013 review by the Öko-Institute in Darmstadt, Germany, commissioned by Tan’s group, found that heavy metals such as nickel, chromium, lead, and mercury could contaminate groundwater. Despite the new government’s tough language, Tan worries whether “real action would ever be taken,” saying the government has been lax about enforcing regulations at the LAMP in the past.
Neither the ministry nor Lynas responded to interview requests from Science. In a financial report issued in late February, Lynas directors said it has lived up to the terms of its operating license, and that it will build permanent storage if necessary. Exporting the residue should be the last resort, the report says. But the government hasn’t budged.
Saleem Ali, an expert in energy and the environment at University of Delaware in Newark who visited the LAMP in 2014, says the anti-Lynas fervor in Malaysia is “unfortunately a classic case of the not-in-my-backyard syndrome.” He says recycling is a commendable option but worries activists are now “stigmatizing the waste.” Given the importance of REOs for green technology, “The industry needs to make the case more effectively that [it] benefits not just the local, but also the global community,” Ali says.
While the dispute in Malaysia has intensified, REO producers from developed countries are establishing new footholds around the world—in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, and South America. A Lynas shutdown “might reduce global investment,” says Castilloux, as other investors might fear similar problems, “or it could fast-track other players to fill the gap.” But Klinger says the conflict could yet become an “exciting opportunity” for Lynas to come up with more innovative solutions that could save the plant and become a model for clean REO production. “Lynas could assume a leadership role globally and show other companies how to do the same thing,” she says.
Turkey-based 232MW rental power ship ‘Kaya Bey’ docked at Karachi Port Trust (KPT) in 2010. RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP
Cambodia succeeded in negotiations to lease a 200MW Turkish power ship to meet electricity demands in Phnom Penh, amid a nearly 400MW electricity shortage nationwide, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday.
Speaking at the 18th Government-Private Sector Forum on Friday at the Peace Palace, the prime minister said the Kingdom reached a deal with Turkey for a three-year supply of electricity.
“Negotiations were successful for the lease of the power ship to supply Phnom Penh’s [electricity] needs. We will use the [power ship] for no less than three years,” he said.
He expressed his thanks to Turkish Ambassador Ayda Unlu for facilitating the deal with Karpowership, the owner and operator of the power ship and subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding.
This agreement comes after Keo Rattanak, the director-general of Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) under the Electricity Authority of Cambodia (EAC), flew to Turkey for negotiations.
Hun Sen previously said that importing the power ship would not impact the cost of electricity supply.
Despite the Turkish power ship’s electricity being more expensive – at $0.14 per kWh, a $0.03 mark-up from local hydropower plants – the state has said that it will subsidise the extra cost, he said.
Early this month, the prime minister called on business owners and the public to temporarily use their own electric generators as EAC cannot generate enough electricity to meet demands due to low water levels in hydropower station reservoirs.
He said demand has been increasing due to a boom in the construction sector.
The Kingdom plans to increase electric power supply to 2,870.65MW next year – up from 2,650.26MW this year, according to EAC’s 2018 annual report.
Keo Rattanak told Fresh News on Sunday that the EDC has deployed solar-powered electricity to more than 106,640 rural houses with more than $27 million of its funds.
Surrounded by bigger international players from neighbouring countries, Cambodia’s potential to import LNG has always been overlooked till recently. Announcements of interests by Russia and Indonesia to develop Cambodia’s LNG infrastructure in Cambodia depicts the immense opportunity for gas to power in Cambodia.
As one of the fastest growing economy amongst other ASEAN countries, with growth of more than than 7% annually for the past decade, Cambodia is a high potential country for investment. According to the latest ranking by Market Potential Index, Cambodia is ranked 37th in the world for investment.
Such high economic growth comes with strong demand for power generation. According to an estimate by Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and EAST Asia (ERIA), electricity demand in Cambodia will increase 8.7 folds from nearly 5TWh in 2015 to nearly 40TWh by 2040. The report by ERIA also indicates the percentage of power generation by gas to be at 18% in 2040, clearly implying the major role that LNG can take up in Cambodia.
Given positive outlook and strong support from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Oil and gas Cambodia will take place on the 7- 8 May 2019 at the Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh. This event will also engage high levels of participation from major oil and gas players in Cambodia including Tela kampuchea, PTT Cambodia, Total Cambodge, PetroVietnam Cambodia etc.
Do not miss this exciting opportunity to network with all the major players in Cambodia whilst charting your business strategies for this up and coming LNG market in the ASEAN region!
Contact our dedicated sales representatives at [email protected] or call us at +65 6742 2155 to see how this event can help position your brand in this exciting new oil and gas market.
We have downwardly revised our short-term hydropower generation forecasts in Cambodia, from 4.46 TWh to 3.06TWh in 2019 as recent droughts have threatened Cambodia’s hydropower output reliability.
In the immediate term, we expect Cambodia to import more electricity from neighbouring states to meet the power shortage.
Despite current drought challenges, we maintain a positive long-term growth outlook for Cambodia’s hydropower sector as we expect the country to continue ramping up their hydropower capacity and generation to meet rising power demand and consumption.
MANILA, Philippines — Earth Hour this year should be more than just turning lights off to save on electricity and more about adopting alternative power sources, a party-list group said on Saturday.
The Murang Kuryente Partylist (MKP), which is seeking a House seat for the first time, made the call as Malacañang announced it would also join Earth Hour and urged Filipinos to also reduce their use of plastic.
“In this year’s Earth Hour, we will turn on lights, powered by solar energy, to show that there is an alternative to fossil fuels,” said Gerry Arances, the group’s first nominee.
MKP joined Piglas Kababaihan, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and the Koalisyon Pabahay ng Pilipinas in promoting the use of solar-powered lights.
Arances said MKP would push for lower electricity costs by reducing charges and surcharges stemming from the use of fossil fuels and curbing corruption.
Technological innovations and favourable government policies are among the four trends expected to drive Southeast Asia’s transition to renewable energy in the coming years.
A report published by global auditing firm KPMG on Tuesday titled ‘The Renewable Energy Transition’ noted that while there are still 70 million ASEAN citizens without access to reliable electricity, the potential for renewable energy is huge in those markets and governments are increasingly turning to solar and wind energy to address the issue.
Consumers driving the green agenda forward and the entry of new funds into the ASEAN renewable energy market are two other trends identified in the report.
Each of ASEAN’s 10 members have set targets for renewable energy, and technological innovations such as better solar power efficiency and floating solar panels means that renewable energy is now more accessible than ever before.
The establishment of RE100 in 2014 – a collaborative, global initiative uniting more than 100 influential businesses committed to 100 percent renewable energy – is a prime example of how consumers are helping to boost demand for renewable energy, especially since commerce and industry use up two thirds of the world’s electricity. Among the companies in the group include Google, Microsoft, Coca Cola and IKEA – all of which have a strong presence in ASEAN.
The World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation are leading the way in renewable energy investment in the region, which has helped to bring prices down. While prices have often been a key concern, falling costs and rising demand are now helping to push the industry forward.
“The price of renewable energy has dropped sharply over the past five years and is expected to reach the price of electrical energy within the next five years,” said Sharad Somani, Executive Director and Asia Pacific Head of Power & Utilities at KPMG. “Once that happens, there will be more investors.”
Cheap energy, good government policies
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) released a report last August which showed that the Philippines – where an estimated 20 million people lack constant electricity supply and 12 million have none at all – can reduce its electricity costs to just 2.50 Philippine pesos (US$0.05) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by installing rooftop solar. By comparison, diesel costs 15 Philippine pesos (US$0.28) per kWh and coal costs 3.8 Philippine pesos (US$0.07) per kWh.
Source: KPMG
The report titled ‘Philippines can lower electricity costs, improve energy security by developing rooftop solar potential’ also pointed out that rapidly-declining costs and technological advances in renewable energy, energy efficiency and distributed storage is helping push the sector forward.
With the Philippine Board of Investments approving eight solar projects worth US$1.6 billion last year, continued government support is helping to replace coal and diesel models with indigenous alternatives.
“Solar, wind, run-of-river hydro, geothermal, biogas, and storage are competitive, viable domestic options that can be combined to create a cheaper, more diverse and secure energy system,” said Sara Jane Ahmed, an IEEFA energy finance analyst and the author of the report.
Hybrid renewable energy systems are becoming commonplace in rural and remote areas; the system usually consisting of two or more renewable energy sources used together to provide increased efficiency and better energy supply balance.
Energy demand to surge
With ASEAN’s strong economic growth exceeding four percent annually, the region’s energy consumption has doubled since 1995 – and demand is expected to continue growing at 4.7 percent per year through 2034, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its ‘Renewable Energy Market Analysis: Southeast Asia’ report published last year.
With that in mind, ASEAN has set a target of 23 percent renewables in the region’s energy mix by 2025 – a 250% increase from 2014. To do that, though, Southeast Asian countries will have to substantially scale-up their deployment of renewables in the power sector, as well as in heating, cooling and transport.
According to Jonathan Goh, Director for External Relations at the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, ASEAN also has to focus on energy storage as one of the solutions to overcome the energy intermittency affecting renewable energy such as solar.
Singapore’s flourishing renewable energy eco-system offers technical experience, established financial institutions and interested investors which can help the country, and ASEAN, position itself as renewable energy deployment leaders.
With its huge potential in renewable energy, ASEAN can be the new hub for renewable energy deployment, innovation and investments.
