EQ Asia Pacific Magazine Launch Edition Nov 2021 by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

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EQ ASIA & PACIFIC Issue: November

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AUSTRALIA ARE SOLAR AND WIND THE CHEAPEST FORMS OF ENERGY? AND OTHER FAQS ABOUT RENEWABLES

15 PHILIPPINES

SUNASIA, BLUELEAF ENERGY TO BUILD 1,250 MW IN SOLAR PROJECTS IN LUZON

35 VIETNAM

EDIFY GRANTED DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL FOR GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FACILITY AT LANSDOWN ECO-INDUSTRIAL PRECINCT

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MALAYSIA

RISEN ENERGY TO SET UP US $10.2 BN SOLAR MANUFACTURING PLANT IN MALAYSIA

JAPAN

MALAYSIA

JAPANESE COAL AND OIL GIANTS TO BUILD BIG SOLAR FARM IN QUEENSLAND

RESERVOIR LINK EXPANDS FOOTPRINT INTO SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESS

20 31

MYANMAR

MYANMAR COUP THREATENS CHINESE POWER PROJECTS

CHINA CHINA: GREEN POWER TRADING GETS AN ELECTRIC START

TAIWAN

TOTAL MAKES BIG CLEAN ENERGY MOVES IN TAIWAN AND EUROPE

55 INDONASIA

IMPROVING INVESTMENT CONDITIONS COULD MAKE INDONESIA A WORLD LEADER IN CLEAN ENERGY

SINGAPORE

HOPE FOR GREEN FUTURE ALSO RESTS ON HARNESSING HYDROGEN, TRAPPING CARBON DIOXIDE

INDONASIA

SOLAR CANALS COULD SAVE WATER, CREATE RENEWABLE ENERGY, FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

MALAYSIA

ASEAN POWER GRID — OPTION FOR S’PORE TO SOURCE GREEN ENERGY

SOUTH KOREA

SOUTH KOREA TO SPEND $40 BILLION ON WORLD’S BIGGEST FLOATING WIND FARM

Australia Pg. 04-12

Malaysia Pg. 36-42

Philippines Pg. 12-17

Singapore Pg. 43-47

Myanmar Pg. 18-21

Taiwan Pg. 48-51

Japan Pg. 22-27

Thailand Pg. 52-53

Vietnam Pg. 28-29

South Korea Pg. 54-55

China Pg. 30-32

Indonasia Pg. 56-57

AUSTRALIA

THE POWER OF POSSIBILITY: RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSFORMATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA Imagine a future where renewable sources provide all of our energy needs. In South Australia, that possibility isn’t too far from reality. The “Power of Possibility” is the theme behind a new advertising campaign launched by SA Power Networks.

he campaign celebrates South Australia’s global leadership in integrating renewable energy sources into the state’s energy system. Renewable energy is transforming the state, and it’s not just about generating clean energy – it’s about creating better health and social outcomes, more jobs in renewables, smarter cities and cleaner air. South Australia is leading the way in the transition to renewable energy.

AUSTRALIA’S “RENEWABLES STATE”

Having been known as the ‘Festival State’, the ‘Wine State’, and the ‘City of Churches’, South Australia can now proudly add the title of Australia’s “Renewables State” to the list. What some may consider the future of energy is actually already happening in South Australia. Sometime in the next few months, South Australia is expected to become the first gigawatt-scale grid in the world to meet all its demand just from rooftop solar. About a third of homes and businesses – some 300,000 – have installed rooftop solar, plus the state is starting to see an uptick in the sale of batteries, accelerated due to generous state government incentives and falling prices.

THE POWER OF POSSIBILITY Paul Roberts, head of corporate affairs at SA Power Networks, said the new advertising campaign is to celebrate the state’s global leadership in renewables. “South Australians may not know, so we’re sharing and celebrating the fact that we are leading the world in powering our lives on renewable energy,” Roberts said. The “Power of Possibility” campaign asks South Australians to imagine what could happen if their energy transition was “powered by possibility”. By imagining, SA residents are able to ask themselves questions about how this transformation in energy could improve health and social outcomes in their community. Better health means healthier people, which leads to higher levels of education, better workforce participation rates and improved mental wellbeing. Roberts said that to a large degree the state’s energy transition has been driven by South Australian energy customers investing in solar and supporting a renewables-based system. The state is also home to the world’s largest lithium-ion battery, the 100MW/129MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve. “The days of us just managing a one-way electricity distribution network are over,” Roberts said. “Today we manage more than 1,100kW of energy coming into the energy system from people’s solar panels – collectively the biggest generator in South Australia. “With the massive investment in large-scale solar and wind farms and rooftop solar, at times we can already supply the entire system from renewable energy sources.” Roberts said there is no other system in the world of our size doing that or able to do that.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

“With this campaign, we want to acknowledge and celebrate this amazing transition that we’re all a part of – both in helping make it happen and sharing in the benefits,” he said.

WHY IS SOUTH AUSTRALIA SUCH A RENEWABLE ENERGY POWERHOUSE? Less than two decades ago, South Australia generated all its electricity from fossil fuels. Last year, renewables provided an incredible 60% of the state’s electricity supply. How is the state making such significant inroads while other states and territories limp behind?Firstly, South Australia had both the motivation and means to transition to renewables. The state is hot and flat with abundant wind and solar resources, while its dry climate also makes it extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. At the end of the day, however, South Australia’s rare renewable transition success is largely owed to thoughtful and ambitious Government planning and policy, backed by private investment, distribution network innovation and an environmentally-conscious population ready to embrace renewables. South Australia is now expected to achieve its net 100% renewable energy target by 2025, five years ahead of schedule. The South Australian government is also aiming to reach 500% renewables by 2050, becoming a renewable energy superpower that exports surplus energy to other states and nations. This plan is driving new investment, jobs and economic growth in the state. As energy markets the world over grapple with making the clean energy transition, South Australia proves it can be done. Looking at going solar? Source: energymatters

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AUSTRALIA

INDONESIA OKAYS ROUTE FOR USD-21.8BN AUSTRALIAASIA SOLAR POWER LINK The Indonesian government has cleared the subsea survey permit and the proposed route of a subsea power link that will allow importing electricity into Singapore from an up to 20-GWp solar complex in Australia.

he Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project was put forward by Singapore’s Sun Cable Pty Ltd and calls for an investment of over AUD 30 billion (USD 21.8bn/EUR 18.6bn). Under the plan, power will be harnessed from a solar photovoltaic (PV) park with a capacity of between 17 GWp and 20 GWp that will be built in Australia’s Northern Territory and a 36 GWh-42 GWh energy storage facility. The electricity will be exported via a 4,200-km (2,610-mile) undersea High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission cable system from Darwin to Singapore. The project developer announced the Indonesian government’s decision to recommend the route of the power link’s transmission cables through Indonesian waters and its approval of the subsea survey permit for the project. “This is a significant milestone for the AAPowerLink and brings us closer to generating and transmitting

affordable, dispatchable renewable energy to Darwin and Singapore, via the world’s largest renewable energy transmission network,” said David Griffin, Sun Cable’s CEO. The complex is due to become operational after 2028. The produced power will be used locally in Darwin and supplied to Singapore to cover up to 15% of the country’s electricity demand. According to Sun Cable, the huge infrastructure project will fetch up to AUD 2 billion from power exports to Australia per year and bring over AUD 8 billion of direct investments in Australia. The scheme was earlier this year given major project status by the Aussie government and was put on the nation’s infrastructure priority list.

Source: renewablesnow

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

AUSTRALIA

TURNING OUR ROOFS INTO A WEAPON TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

Foodstuffs is building the country’s largest solar panel farm to power its new North Island support center. n 2018, Greenpeace imagined a country in which half million homes had solar panels on the roof, and batteries on the walls. The environmental lobby group called for the ‘solarisation’ of the suburbs, hoping to see its vision become reality in just 10 years. “By supporting 500,000New Zealand households to install solar panels and batteries, we can tackle the existential threat of climate change, increase the resilience of our power grid, and lower energy bills for everyone,” Greenpeace said. Three years later, with Government subsidies nowhere to be seen, fewer than one in every 100 homes has solar panels, leaving us dependent on centralised power generation, which too often burns gas and coal to keep the lights on. The rate at which solar panels is going up has hit an all-time high as Covid-hit households ponder ways to improve their homes. The latest data shows a record level of solar systems being connected to the power grid, he says. In the six months to the end of June, 2909solar systems were installed, an average of 485a month, though they are not all home solar arrays, with many businesses opting to cover their roofs in photovoltaic cells to power their money-making enterprises. “Compared to same period last year with seasonal and Covid-adjusted numbers, that’s a 36per cent increase,” Winitana says. He says 1 in 64buildings have solar, but it may not seem that way to the casual observer, as some remote and rural areas, and some especially-sunny parts of the country, like Nelson, have a higher solar hit-rate. But at that rate of installation, with just over 33,700solar systems installed, it could take 80or more years for the country to reach Greenpeace’s half million homes.

ARE MEMORIES OF POOR VALUE HOLDING HOMEOWNERS BACK? Solar installers believe a complicated range of factors, including falling home-ownership rates and wrong-headed myths and deliberate attempts to stymie it, are preventing the acceleration of solar’s rise in residential streets. Phil Harrisonfrom Harrisons, the country’s largest residential solar installer, believes many homeowners were held back by long-payback times. “If you go back even five years, the main reason was the cost of solar,” says Harrison. “It didn’t stack up as an option,” he says. Even just three years ago, Consumer projected decades-long payback times for solar, prompting Winitana to commission a report analysing the solar returns of 21homes scattered throughout the country. “Real performance data from these solar power systems has shown in every scenario the return on investment figure (the lowest being 5.42 per cent return on investment) was higher than the current average bank interest rates of 2.5 per cent,” SEANZ reported. Since then power prices for homeowners have risen, and term deposit rates fallen. ANZ was paying just 1.4per cent for a one-year $10,000term deposit. “Over the last seven years, the price of solar has dropped around 75-80 per cent. It’s a significant price drop,” Winitana says. He thinks many homeowners may still have their heads stuck in the past. People may also not realise that solar has become a better technology with the good panels now guaranteed for 20-25 years.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

BOOSTING CAPITAL VALUES Another thing that may be holding the industry back is that there’s little research into whether solar gives homeowners a capital value boost to their homes. Winitana says the evidence from overseas, including our near-neighbour Australia, points to buyers being willing to pay more for homes with solar. But there has been no convincing study in New Zealand, though last year, based on a sample set of houses using a 3KW Harrison solar power system, Homes.co.nz found that the properties made 4.4 per cent or $35,000 more than other comparable properties nearby. It was a desktop study, and could not control for other factors. It could be that people who take the trouble to instal solar are better, more diligent home-owners, keeping them better maintained, and better insulated. Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the Green Building Council, says international evidence does suggest buyers are willing to pay more for warm, energyefficient homes. Recent data from Nationwide building society in the UK, for example, suggests a 1.7 per cent premium for higher energy efficient homes compared to the average. But, he asks, if solar give such a boost to prices, why isn’t there a solar array on every new Fletcher Building house? Fletcher Building spokeswoman Kate Barlow says: “Solar panels are being trialled on a small number of homes in our Waiata Shores community next year. “However we aren’t currently installing them on new Fletcher Living homes across other sites as our buyers aren’t indicating having them would influence their purchase decision. Artist’s impression of Waiata Shores, a long-held landbank in Conifer Grove being transformed into a new neighbourhood. While solar panels are not shown on any roofs, some homes will come with solar arrays. “That said, we always keep an eye on changes in customer’s preferences as well as improvements in the technology or economic outcomes for customers,” she

says.

THE INSULATION BUGBEAR Some homeowners may have looked at solar, but found a better return for their money on other upgrades to their homes. Eagle says solar wouldn’t be dollar-for-dollar as good an option for many homeowners as just insulating their homes better. “On almost all indicators, New Zealand is significantly behind on just building better homes,” Eagles says. “We have these drafty old homes. So long as people have done that first, then great .”

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AUSTRALIA “If people are going to spend $10-$20,000, we would suggest they might look to do things like improving insulation, and getting the ventilation right.”Otherwise, he said: “They might just be generating energy they go on to waste.”

He also thinks low levels of financial and technical literacy prevent many homeowners looking at solar as an option. But he’s optimistic. “I do think it’s part of a portfolio of things that is going to contribute to people having lower power bills in the future, and more comfortable homes, and better health outcomes,” he says. “Onsite solar generation is going to be a big part of how we do that.” The Zero Energy home is built with Households’ solar potential and power use vary hugely, says very high levels of insulation, and is oriented and designed to Harrison, but with more people doing more work from home, capture heat from the sun passively, and hold onto it, long into power-use by households when the sun is shining is rising. The financial payback of a solar system for a home depends on the evening. “We have never had to heat it,” Brazier says. If all New Zealand’s homes were so well-built, there would be no the system installed, the price paid, the orientation and sunexposure of the home, power prices, and the power-use of the power crisis, he says. homeowner. Online calculators may give people an indication of whether solar could work for them, but to get a home-specific The Zero Energy House does have a battery to store power, estimate, people have to get a professional in. Solar works best but batteries cost a lot of money, so much that the economics when homeowners use the power they generate, as the feed-in of pairing battery with solar are yet to make sense for most tariffs power companies pay to buy power from homeowners homeowners. Batteries one day look likely to help solve the are low, says Harrison. Homes from which businesses are run mismatch between when homeowners want to use power in can have much-reduced payback times, and with more people the evenings, and when the sun shines. “There’s definitely a working more from home, there’s the potential for a stepvery interesting model when the costs get down more,” says change in the home economics of solar, Harrison believes. Brazier. “It’s not going to be 10 years. It’s going to be less than Harrisons installed solar at the Canterbury lifestyle block home that,” Brazier says. “We are at the start of the curve right now.” of former All Blacks’ coach Sir Steve Hansen. “He had really Harrison agrees, but says the company is having no trouble strong financial reasons because he has a small farm with irriselling attractive Tesla Power Walls. “Some people just want gation working, and massive power bills. His house was perfect a Tesla Power Wall,” he says. “A battery isn’t bought for a for solar,” Harrison says. financial benefit.” This is like many things people buy for their homes, like spa pools, to improve their lifestyles, or expensive cars, he says. “Some people aren’t doing it for a financial return. They are buying it for self-reliance,” he says. The recent power black-outs on August 9, which plunged many homes into darkness during one of the coldest nights of the year, haven’t hurt interest in solar and batteries, Harrison says. It could be that when battery prices fall far enough, Greenpeace may see an acceleration towards its dream of 500,000 solaroutfitted homes.

EACH HOUSE’S SOLAR POTENTIAL VARIES

IT’S ABOUT THE BATTERIES

Hansen also had a large shed with a well-oriented roof open to the clear Canterbury skies. In a bid to change perceptions, Harrisons struck a deal with real estate marketing website Homes. co.nz allowing people to get “solar estimates” for the dollar value of solar power their homes could provide each year.

THE ZERO ENERGY HOUSE Engineer Shay Brazier’s Zero Energy house in Auckland’s Point Chevalier may be the most famous solar house in the country. Brazier, who was involved in the building of the Foodstuff’s solar array, believes many homeowners had not been exposed to the possibilities of solar, but he also believes “misinformation” has held some homeowners back.

Source: stuff

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

AUSTRALIA

ARE SOLAR AND WIND THE CHEAPEST FORMS OF ENERGY? AND OTHER FAQS ABOUT RENEWABLES Everything you ever wanted to know about the way we will ultimately derive all our power from renewable sources, and how quickly it will be achieved.

enewable energy sources accounted for 24 per cent of electricity produced in Australia in 2021, but that figure is set to rise sharply in the future.Renewable energy is often hailed as ‘the future’, but some might also wonder why it’s not already here yet. Wind farms, solar arrays, pumped hydro and electric vehicles are not brand new technologies – and yet, across Australia as a whole, fossil fuels still accounted for around 76 per cent of all energy produced in 2021. However,

Professor Alistair Sproul, Head of School of UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE),

says the plummeting cost of producing renewable energy now makes it inevitable that burning coal and gas will soon be consigned to history. Professor Sproul says, basic economics will be the tipping point in the switch to renewables – and that the energy revolution will be completed much quicker than many expect. “We can and will make the transition to 100 per cent clean, green, renewable energy and it won’t cost the earth,” he says. “The dollars and cents are on our side now and the market is changing before everyone’s eyes, so I think it will likely happen faster than most people might think. Companies who are invested in coal were perhaps thinking they were viable for the next 10 to 15 years, but now they are losing money hand over fist – and that becomes the driving force behind some of the changes.

Professor Renate Egan, who leads the UNSW activity in the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, agrees that cheap renewable energy can be the driving force for change. But she also says that people’s personal choices will help accelerate the switch away from fossil fuels. “Solar energy is now incredibly cheap to produce, so if you can use it, you should,” Prof. Egan says. “Ultimately, we need to retire our fossil fuel plants, and people should have optimism that they can make a difference by changing the way they heat and cool their houses, or switching to an electric vehicle. All those choices have an impact.” Here, Prof. Sproul and Prof. Egan help to answer some frequently asked questions about renewable energy both past, present and future.

WHY ARE WE NOT AT 100 PER CENT RENEWABLE ENERGY ALREADY? The major reason is the sunk costs in the existing infrastructure which has been in place for many years. But in the last ten years, the data shows there has been a growing reluctance to invest more money into that old infrastructure, and an increasing awareness that the future will be fuelled by renewable energy. Building an entirely new energy industry takes time and it has indeed taken decades to grow renewable energy from virtually nothing to around 24 per cent of electricity production in Australia in 2021. And while solar and wind are now competitive, there remain some engineering and market challenges before we can be 100 per cent renewable. None of them insurmountable.

WILL WE EVER HAVE 100 PER CENT OF ENERGY IN AUSTRALIA COME FROM RENEWABLES?

Yes, and it is likely to happen much faster than most people expect. Building solar and wind power energy systems is cheaper than any other option in 2021, and they are predicted to ultimately produce far more electricity than is currently demanded. Any extra energy can then be exported or used to produce green hydrogen, which is expected to also play a part in the overall energy market of the future.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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AUSTRALIA There are now many battery technologies being developed for all different types of purposes. Some will be better suited to longer-term storage of commercial renewable energy, while others will be ideal for home usage or to power electric vehicles. As the technology improves, the prices are also expected to fall. Even traditional lithium-ion batteries have fallen in price by 97 per cent since 1991 when comparing cost per kilowatthour capacity.

IS RENEWABLE ENERGY REALLY THE CHEAPEST FORM OF ENERGY? The basic and simple answer is yes. For one, research and development – such as that undertaken at UNSW – has resulted in cheaper and more efficient renewable energy technologies.

Australia is very well placed to deal with the problem of intermittency – which is the term used to describe the fact that renewable energy can often only be produced in certain specific conditions, such as when it is sunny or windy. One major reason is the existence of the National Electricity Market, one of the longest interconnected electricity grids in the world, which links Queensland, New South Wales, ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. That means when it is sunny in Brisbane, the power can reach Melbourne. And when it is windy in Adelaide, the electricity is available in Sydney. Australia’s weather systems also play a big part. Tasmania already produces 98 per cent of its required power from renewables, and South Australia met its entire electricity demand thanks to solar power for a period of one hour in October 2020.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES WHERE IT’S NOT AS SUNNY, OR WINDY? Each region and each nation across the world will use different renewable resources depending on their location and which best suits them. Having enough available land space can be an issue for some countries, but Japan and Singapore are solving this problem by building offshore wind farms. Alternatively, companies such as Sun Cable are building intercontinental power grids which mean that solar energy produced in Australia, for example, can be exported across Southeast Asia.

It is now much more cost-effective to build and run a wind farm or solar array, rather than a new fossil-fuelled power plant. Once a wind or solar farm is in place, the generation of electricity from them costs virtually nothing. That obviously is not the case when coal and gas has to be continually extracted from the ground to provide power, as has been the case historically. A 2021 report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance calculated that electricity from a brand new wind farm would cost $80/MWh to produce. That’s in comparison to $116/MWh from a new gas baseload power plant, and $143/MWh from a coal-fired power station.

IF RENEWABLE ENERGY COSTS MUCH LESS, WON’T WE WHAT ABOUT ENERGY STORAGE? ISN’T THAT A PROBLEM ALL THEN JUST USE MORE ENERGY? Since 2008, electricity consumption across Australia has actuWITH RENEWABLES? ally dropped, due in part to improved efficiency of devices. Ten or even five years ago, traditional lithium-ion batteries were the main technology available for storing energy, but were largely too expensive and too inefficient to be used at any kind of scale. However, technology often moves with markets and developments in batteries have been growing in pace as renewable energy production has increased globally.

There are still lots of improvements that can be made with regards to efficiency of such things as high-efficiency air conditioning units, the heating of swimming pools using solar energy, and building regulations for houses – which will mean even less energy being used. On the other side, world-leading research at UNSW on photovoltaic cells used in solar panels means we can expect much more than the current average of 25 per cent efficiency, ensuring that the same sized panels could produce a lot more energy in the near future. But, in any case, some advocates of renewable energy argue that if it is extremely cheap and extremely green, then why should anyone care if more of it is being consumed?

Source: newsroom

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

AUSTRALIA

THE WORLD IS HUNGRY FOR SOLAR PANELS, THEN WHY DID AUSTRALIA STOP MAKING THEM? Australia allowed its head start in solar manufacturing to dwindle away

very day of the year, Australia installs about 1,000 rooftop solar systems; those black rectangles appearing on rooftops everywhere represent billions of dollars spent on silicon, glass and a little bit of metal. Given we have the highest uptake of solar in the world, you might expect that some of these panels would be made here. But with a few exceptions, that’s never the case. Twenty years ago it was different: Australia appeared set to be a global player in the small but promising industry of manufacturing panels that could extract energy from the sun. And then everything changed.

HERE COMES THE SUN KING “Zhengrong kickstarted it all,” says Martin Green, a UNSW professor who is a legend in the world of solar cell research.“The solar boom in China was largely an Australian initiative.” In 1989, a young engineering graduate named Shi Zhengrong moved to Sydney from Shanghai, as a foreign-exchange scholar. The UNSW research team was breaking records for solar cell efficiency and had just invented a cell design that, some 30 years later, would become the global commercial standard. “I went to knock on Martin Green’s door and he came out and I said, ‘Can I find a job here?’,” Dr Shi recalls, on a WeChat call from China. “That was the way I came into solar.” Dr Shi completed a PhD under Professor Green in record time and then stayed on in Sydney to do more research. He took a gamble in 2000, moving back to China to establish the solar manufacturing company, Suntech. At the time, China produced no solar panels. “I’ve been asked many times, why did I start the business in China, not Australia?” Dr Shi says. “When I was in Australia, I was just a scholar and a student. I really didn’t have much confidence in running a business over there. “Also the cost of labour in Australia is fairly high.”

Australia installed 362,000 rooftop solar systems last year, an increase of 28 per cent on 2019. The world started wanting solar panels and Australia stopped making them. Now, with Australia relying more and more on solar to meet its energy needs, there are calls for that to change. So, how did Australia lose its head start, and can it claw its way back?

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PANEL FACTORY If you go searching for the remains of Australia’s solar manufacturing industry, you’ll eventually find yourself at an investor-focused real estate agency in the Sydney suburb of Homebush. On this site once stood the largest solar factory in the southern hemisphere. Over 20 years ago, the Harbour City was preparing to host the Olympic Games and the BP Solar factory was in full swing, making solar cells that were assembled into panels and then installed at the athletes’ village, promoted as one of the largest solar suburbs in the world. Here was a trumpeted example of Australian ingenuity; the technology had been developed in consultation with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and its photovoltaics research team, which was famous for breaking record after record for solar cell efficiency. “The factory was big on the global scale at the time,” says Nigel Morris, a solar industry veteran who worked for BP Solar in those years. “We were serving the domestic Australian market and exporting to South-East Asia as well.” But less than a decade after the 2000 Olympic Games, the factory closed.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

Solar panels, it turned out, could be made much more cheaply in China. In the years that followed, other UNSW solar graduates followed Dr Shi, starting their own factories in China. In 2005, Suntech listed on the New York Stock Exchange and raised $US420 million, making Dr Shi a billionaire. “When I started Suntech, I didn’t expect it to develop so fast,” Dr Shi says. The listing heralded the start of a Chinese solar boom. In the six years to 2011, American investment flowed and Chinese solar production grew by a factor of 200; the country’s share of global production increased from 14 to 60 per cent. “There were all these little tinpot companies founded on hope and a shoestring,” Professor Green says. “Through US listings, they got hundreds of millions of dollars and grew to major players overnight. “Australia was right in the thick of it. The Australians were the ones who knew how to set up production lines, so they provided technical expertise.” To this day, Australian graduates working in the Chinese solar industry talk shop on a WeChat group with 300 members, Professor Green says.

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AUSTRALIA Many of these graduates are top executives. “Seven of the top 10 Chinese solar manufacturers have Australian graduates at the level of chief technology officers or higher.” To this day, Australian graduates working in the Chinese solar industry talk shop on a WeChat group with 300 members, Professor Green

says.

AUSTRALIA ‘MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY’ China’s solar panel industrial boom has driven the price of solar panels through the floor, reduced household energy bills, and pointed the way to deep emissions cuts through mass electrification. The average cost per watt for a solar panel in 2006 was around $8.50 per watt. By 2019, this cost had fallen to just $0.52 per watt. “The stiff competition between cashedup Chinese companies sort of accelerated everything by decades,” Professor Green says. In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply from China was disrupted, companies concerned about supply chain security looked for panels made closer to home. “We went from 64 companies contacting me to buy panels to over 1,000 in just over a year,” Mr Jaenisch says. “The whole landscape for us has changed.”

Martin Andrew Green Australian engineer and professor at the University of New South Wales But as Chinese production was booming, Australia’s was faltering. Cheap Chinese panels largely wiped out the local solar manufacturing industry. “From 2005-2008, everything went wild,” says Renate Egan, a UNSW solar expert who worked in Australian solar manufacturing in the noughties. “We were running lines of 100 megawatts and the Chinese were installing 1 gigawatt lines.” BP Solar sold the Homebush factory in 2009, unable to compete with the Chinese factories’ economies of scale. Mr Morris remembers the “death knell” of Australian solar manufacturing being largely ignored by government. “BP Solar struggled to get money,” he says. “They struggled to get interest from government at various points in time.” Dr Egan agrees there was little government support; Australia allowed its manufacturing head start to dwindle away. “We did miss an opportunity,” she says. “We were building detention centres when we could have been investing in module manufacturing.”

WHAT IF CHINA STOPS SELLING SOLAR PANELS TO AUSTRALIA?

He says Australia can’t make the cheapest panels, but it can offer better quality customer service, and mitigate “sovereign risk”; the possibility that China will one day stop selling solar panels to Australia. Solar will account for most of Australia’s energy production by the end of decade, Dr Egan estimates. “If we’re going to be that reliant on solar, should we be making the panels here? If half the world’s energy come from solar, the solar panels can’t all come from one nation,” she says. “Sovereign risk” is partly why the US, Europe and India are looking to increase local production; India has introduced a 40 per cent duty on imported solar modules to boost local manufacturing. “It might be worth paying a bit more for the ancillary benefits, including supply chain resilience and security,” Dr Egan says. Australia will need hundreds of millions of solar panels.

Standard solar panels, or modules, consist mostly of an aluminium frame, a glass sheet, about 60 silicon solar cells, and a junction box. BP Solar made the solar cells and assembled them into modules. The only commercial-scale solar module manufacturer in Australia today is a small company in Adelaide named Tindo Solar, which imports all of the components and assembles them into modules. Its new 150MW facility will produce about 350 panels a day. (By comparison, the world’s largest solar module production plant in Hefei, China is 60GW, or roughly 400 times larger than the Adelaide facility). Though it’s hard to compete on price alone, there is demand for an Australian-made product, Tindo chief executive officer Shayne

Jaenisch says.

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AUSTRALIA Then there’s the potential economic benefit: jobs and growth. “The solar industry is big now and it’s going to be a lot bigger,” says Andrew Blakers, a former UNSW colleague of Professor Green who is now director of ANU’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems. “It’s going to be bigger than oil, gas and coal put together.” He’s calculated roughly how big. For Australia to produce enough energy that it won’t need coal or gas and can also meet the extra demand of mass electrification, it will need about 450GW of solar and wind generation, he says. Of that, about 300GW would be solar, he estimates. With about 20GW of installed solar already, it’ll need another 280GW. “We’re going to be importing a lot of glass and a lot of panels with a little bit of silicon attached,” Professor Blakers says. Australia will need hundreds of millions of standard-size solar panels to meet its energy needs in the next couple decades. And that’s just domestic demand; there are also plans for Australia to export renewable energy to Asia from massive solar farms in the Northern Territory and Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The output of these farms alone is roughly equal to the current combined output of all the solar in Australia. That’s a lot of solar panels. Sun Cable, the company that intends to export energy to Asia from solar farms in the NT, plans to build a factory in Darwin to assemble solar modules from imported components. Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals, which plans to build big solar farms in the Pilbara to power its mines and potentially also new refineries, is also considering manufacturing solar panels. “We lost our manufacturing to China in the early part of the century, but there’s no reason we can’t get it back,” Professor Blakers says. “We have seriously skilled people and we have a need for it.”

‘MORE OPPORTUNITY IN USING THE CHEAP ENERGY’ But Professor Green, whose research and teaching helped incubate the Chinese industrial boom in solar manufacturing, is sceptical. There’s not much money in making solar panels, he says, and the sovereign risk issue is overblown. “The solar industry is a mug’s game because the margins are so low,” he says. “India and Europe will be only be too pleased to sell us modules if the Chinese stopped.” He thinks there’s more to be won by focusing on the economic opportunities generated by cheap Chinese solar panels. “Use them to do sensible things like make [zero-emissions] green steel and green aluminium,” he says. And what about royalties for the use of Australian solar inventions? About 90 per cent of solar panels being manufactured around the world today contain the PERC technology developed at UNSW. Just last year, $US130 billion worth of PERC systems were installed. Unfortunately, the solar boom arrived long after the patents for the technology expired, Professor Green says. Australia has benefited from cheap solar panels creating a path to abundant, emissions-free electricity. But we get none of the billions of dollars China earns from solar panel exports. Australia may have missed an opportunity, Dr Shi says, but there is still room aboard the money train, even if you’re not making panels. Installation, for instance, has to be made simpler; he envisions panels being clipped together like blocks of Lego. “When you send a container ship to a site, you press a button and install one megawatt in a week,” he says. Now that’s something no-one imagined 20 years ago. Source: net

PHILIPPINES

VULNERABLE DUMAGAT FOLK FIND LIGHT, LIFT IN SOLAR POWER Up until a decade ago, nights in Sitio Manggahan — an upland settlement of the Dumagat-Remontado, indigenous people (IP) rooted in Tanay, Rizal province, since the Spanish era — limited students like Margie Amuin to doing their homework by the glow of gasoline lamps.

hen slowly, house by house, solar power technology began transforming the Sierra Madre community: tribal leaders bought panels from Manila, then private organizations donated some more. It was as though “a light switch had been turned on across Manggahan,” said Amuin, now a 34-yearold teacher, recalling one particular night in 2014. Almost all of the 150 houses in the sitio have since gone solar, first to banish the darkness and run common household appliances, and later to improve their disaster-preparedness and facilitate the children’s online learning. For environmental advocates, the shift, though small in scale, shows how a grassroots solution can enable people facing common challenges to “chart their own energy future.”

OFF-GRID FOR DECADES The Dumagat-Remontado consider a 24,000-hectare swath of Tanay mountainside their ancestral land. A 2020 census showed some 40,000 of them residing in the villages of Daraitan, Laiban and Sampaloc near Agos River, where they hold on to a semisedentary lifestyle mainly sustained by fishing and farming. (Only a few have ventured into trade; when the pandemic struck last year a number of local women turned to selling potted plants and embroidered face masks.)

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

But for generations the Dumagat households especially in Daraitan and Laiban have remained off-grid, according to Octavio Pranada, a farmer who serves as “papu,” or tribal leader. A fact sheet from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Renewable Energy Management Bureau states that it can be difficult to get power distribution companies interested in extending rural electrification programs to such locations “due to its relative unviability and unprofitability.” It can be difficult, for example, to connect a smattering of households spread across kilometers of mountain roads. For years, residents have depended on gasoline lamps and battery-powered flashlights, recalled Imelda Bandilla, 35. “On windy nights, it was impossible to keep the homes illuminated, and then of course gasoline prices would also go up. And outside you couldn’t make out a single soul,’’ she said.

FEAR OF DISLOCATION Plans to build dams for hydropower plants in the area — like the Laiban Dam proposed and later shelved during the administration of President Benigno Aquino IIII, and now the smaller Kaliwa Dam project that broke ground in June — are seen by the Dumagat as threats that could lead to their dislocation and their lands and livelihood going underwater, said Arturo Tahup of Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC). “It’s why the government has never taken social services there seriously, because the original plan was to submerge those

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PHILIPPINES Manggahan Elementary School, was given solar panels by the private group Jeepney Club in 2019. Harnessing the system’s 1,000-watt capacity, the teachers have since been using it for year that the barangay governments began a survey asking their laptops, electric fans and radios. When in-person classes the residents of three sitios if they wanted grid electricity, said Pranada. Many expressed interest but were still worried about were suspended due to the pandemic, the school basically the installation cost and monthly billings. In 2014, Pranada said, doubled as a communal charging station for the students’ tablets and phones. “[Solar energy] has become even more he learned about solar panels while listening to a radio show. important to us now that the children have to study at home,” He went to Raon, a street in Quiapo, Manila, known for its Amuin, the teacher, said. “Most parents here farm on the electronics supply and appliance stores, and bought a 1,000watt solar panel for P6,000 and a battery for P7,000. The setup mountains during the day, so the only time they can really could power 10 light bulbs, a portable TV set, and a radio for at watch the kids’ learning progress is at night.” In January, two more environmental groups—ICSC and 350.org—came to the least three days before requiring a recharge. villages to provide the residents formal training on the technology, teaching them how to adjust or maintain their installations for optimal use. ICSC and 350.org capped the training with a The farmer learned how to set everything up from the Raon donation of portable solar power generators. Two ‘’tekpaks,’’ as vendors themselves, from the roof installation to the portable the sponsors called them, were stationed at the barangay hall generators. Dumagat families recently interviewed by the Inquirer gratefully named Pranada as the bringer of solar energy and health center, and a third was entrusted to a tribal leader. to their sitios. At his urging, his neighbors began buying their own panels. “Before, our paths leading down to the plains were The donations came with a backstory: the generators were asall pitch black at night. We had to go to the town to recharge sembled by ‘’Solar Scholars,” or people also trained by 350.org our gadgets. That’s P50 for the fare and P30 to 40 for the in areas hit by natural disasters. One of the tekpaks, for examcharging fee,” Bandilla recalled. In just five years, she obple, was put together by survivors of the 2013 Supertyphoon served, a new generation of Dumagat children are growing up without many of the hardships endured by their parents. While “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), said Chuck Baclagon, the upfront cost of installation is still steep for the Dumagat, a regional campaigner for 350.org. With solar power, the “once you have invested in it and can protect it from damage, Dumagat have thus acquired a measure of resiliency generally lacking in other vulnerable communities. As it is, they are conyou can use it for years,” said Shirley Bello, 58, also of Sitio Manggahan. Her 50-watt panel and 58-volt battery, plus an ap- stantly exposed to extreme weather events caused by climate pliance technician’s fee, cost her about P10,000 back in 2016. change, the CCC’s Herrera said, and their situation is compounded by deforestation in the Sierra Madre and the pending construction of Kaliwa Dam in General Nakar, Quezon. These Environmentalists cite the Dumagat experience as an example threats are not lost on the Dumagat, who consider themselves of how, even without government initiative or commercial cost- stewards of nature and are wary of anything that will destroy benefit analysis, gains can be made in the campaign to reduce their ancient ties to the land. “I have always reminded our people about these things because our tribe loves Mother Nadependence on fossil fuels, whose carbon emissions are a ture,” Pranada said. “We, the elders, admit that we lacked the main driver of climate change. Per 2019 DOE data, 67.24 foresight, taking the mountains for granted, because we did not per cent of the country’s energy mix are still drawn from coalthink a day would come when it would come under threat.’’ “So fired power plants, and only 32.76 per cent from renewable we’ve promised to plan ahead from now on,” he said, “so the energy sources (solar, wind and hydro). As a signatory to next generations would not inherit these problems.” the Paris Agreement, or the 2015 pact committing nations to limit global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Philippines is obligated to promote the use of renewable energy, said communities [with the construction of the dam],” said Tahup, the ICSC director for community resilience. It was only this

COSTLY TRIPS TO TOWN

MORE RESILIENT

ENERGY MIX

Commissioner Rachel Herrera of the Climate Change Commission (CCC). “A more sustainable, climate-resilient develop-

ment must necessarily include a pathway through renewable energy,” Herrera said. “This can be achieved through dialogue that is inclusive and leaves no sector behind—considering traditional and indigenous knowledge on crafting policies, empowering indigenous communities, providing support for research and development, and upholding a just transition to a resourceefficient and sustainable source of energy.” The Dumagat serve as a “good model … to inspire the provision of assistance for other off-grid communities in rural areas so that they may access renewable and sustainable energy, while helping improve the government’s electrification targets,” she said.

COMMUNAL USE As word spread about the Dumagat’s renewable energy story among advocacy and donor groups, more solar panels and related equipment arrived in the settlements as donations. Rodel Rotaquio, for example, received a 25-watt panel from the Catholic organization Regina Regis last January, enough for a light bulb and a sound system. “We finally did away with the gas lamps, which were a fire hazard in our nipa-paneled house,” he said. The only school in the community, MagataSource: newsinfo

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PHILIPPINES

ERC IDENTIFIES ERRING POWER GENERATION FIRMS The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has identified the generation companies (gencos) that did not report plant outages or identify their facilities needing immediate technical inspection as part of measures to address the perennial problem of power shortage during summer.

n a statement, the ERC said it has identified gencos that were not compliant with the reporting requirements, especially concerning problems in their generating facilities. The gencos were not named. Out of the 2,083 incidents of unplanned outages between January and April, more than half or 1,288 cases were reported. For the 236 planned outage incidents, 220 were reported. The ERC said, it would be issuing show cause orders to the concerned gencos. The power regulator has directed erring gencos to explain the apparent breach in the maximum allowable unplanned outage days per year. Meanwhile, an ERC-organized task force has already identified the generation plants that would be prioritized in the conduct of technical inspection to verify the outages as well as actions undertaken by the power plants to get back online. The task force was created in April to conduct a study on the power plant outages and resulting high prices in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM). “We have been monitoring the activities of the generation companies, especially those that underwent unplanned outages, that caused the thinning of power supply in the Luzon grid.This was aggravated by the increased demand for electricity due to warmer temperatures. As a consequence, there has been sustained high prices in the WESM,” ERC chair Agnes Devanadera

said.

“The power supply shortage during the summer months has been a perennial problem, and the regulator has been monitoring the situation from day one,”

she said. “There are existing rules and mechanisms in place on how to mitigate the impact to consumers. Thus, the stakeholders must be responsible in managing their operations efficiently and sensitive enough of the implications of planned or unplanned outages,” she added. “The Commission has been undertaking all the necessary efforts to help mitigate, if not totally address, this recurring challenge.” 14

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‘QUICK-TO-DEPLOY’ PLANTS Amid the specter of long blackouts, the Manila-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) said regulators should help speed up approval of quick-to-deploy power plants in preparation for next year’s dry season. The power shortage is seen to get worse next year as the economy begins to reopen with the vaccination of a large number of Filipinos, said ICSC, “It might even be worse. We expect the economy to get better next year. We are vaccinating our people so there will be higher demand. Moreover, many of these coal plants are already ageing,” ICSC senior policy advisor and former National Renew-

able Energy Board (NREB) chairman Pedro Maniego Jr. said at a briefing.

The Luzon grid experienced rotational blackouts due to unplanned shutdowns of power plants, mostly coal-fired.ICSC energy transition advisor and NREB member Alberto Dalusung III said at the same briefing that solar farms may be the answer.“You can’t just replace a coal plant with another coal plant in a year. We need to have the solutions in terms of quick to deploy plants. We think that certainly, solar is quickest to deploy,” Dalusung said. Vietnam, which is aggressively building its renewable energy capacity, was able to roll out 16,000 MW of solar power last year even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. “Definitely, we can install that much solar just by judging from the experience of Vietnam,” he said. In his presentation, Maniego pointed out that the Department of Energy has already issued service contracts for 9,000 MW of solar power in Luzon alone. “The quickest to deploy is still solar and since they have service contracts, they will only need six months to a year in order to be built,” he said.Moreover, solar plants can supply the needed peaking requirements of the grid during the warmest season of the country. “Solar is not available 100 per cent of the time but this deficit in supply is during the peak hours, which is normally from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and solar plants produce higher generation during these times. If you have enough solar, they could be more than enough to augment the supply requirement during these times,” Maniego said. Source: philstar

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PHILIPPINES EXPLANATION Meanwhile, senators have expressed disgust at the looming power crisis and electricity rate hike. “Why should the Filipino consumers pay more for electricity that comes intermittently and is among the highest rates in Southeast Asia,” Sen. Grace Poe asked. “We cannot be literally groping in the dark as we fight the unseen virus and manage to live through the new normal of strict quarantines,” Poe added. Poe pointed out that the heat, humidity and increased demand are straining electrical grids and that this should have been anticipated and continuously addressed with a comprehensive energy program. She noted that the amendments to the Public Service Act now being deliberated at the Senate will lead to improved services and lower cost of basic services which the people badly need in the time of pandemic.Access to reliable and affordable energy is essential not only for addressing the pandemic, but also for accelerating recovery and building back better, she said.Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the Senate committee on energy is set to grill Energy Secretary Alfonso Gusi regarding the rotational blackouts and thin power reserves that he failed to address because he was allegedly busy politicking for the ruling party PDP-Laban.Sen. Risa Hontiveros, for her part, is calling for an investigation on the failure of concerned government agencies in ensuring the affordability of electricity rates 20 years after the enactment of the Electric

Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 746 that seeks to determine the deficiencies and failures of the ERC and DOE in bringing down power rates in the country, on top of other major objectives of the law such as ensuring the quality, reliability and security of the electricity supply. EPIRA was signed into law on June 8, 2001. “With yearly threats and actual rotational blackouts and continuous increase in electricity rates, EPIRA’s promise to provide cheap electricity and good service for every Filipino seems to have been nailed down,” Hontiveros said. She also pointed out that aside from the expensive power cost, the consumers remain saddled with perennial problems of power interruptions due to diminishing supply, system inefficiencies and high dependence on fossil fuel. “Absent substantial rate reduction, EPIRA and its implementing agencies cannot claim any significant milestone 20 years after its enactment. The law was supposed to restructure the country’s power industry but apparently, we’re still confronted with basic cost and supply issues. Walang usad (No progress),” she stated. Hontiveros said a review of the implementation of EPIRA is vital now more than ever, as prices of food, transportation and utilities continue to surge, weighing heavily on Filipino households. Source: philstar

SUNASIA, BLUELEAF ENERGY TO BUILD 1,250 MW IN SOLAR PROJECTS IN LUZON Local solar developer SunAsia Energy has partnered with Singapore-based Blueleaf Energy, a company under Australian investment bank Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, for the development of 1,250 megawatts (MW) of solar projects in Luzon.

he joint venture deal coincides with the Philippines’ forecast growth in solar energy market as it targets to deliver an additional ten gigawatts of solar energy by 2030, which contributes to the country’s renewable energy (RE) goals. The Department of Energy projects solar to make up 35.4% of the country’s energy mix by then, nine times more than the current four percent. “With Blueleaf Energy as our partner, we are in a stronger position today in helping the industry attain the renewable energy targets set by the implementation of the country’s Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS),” SunAsia CEO Techi Capellan said in a statement.

RPS, a mechanism under Republic Act 9513 or the RE Act of 2008, requires distribution utilities, electric cooperatives, and retail electricity suppliers to source a percentage of electricity requirements of RE sources. “This coopera-

tion raises the bar of project development work in the country as the partnership offers the renewable energy market innovative solar solutions that are both viable and appropriate to local conditions,” Capellan further said. The projects are still in co-development stage, with construction scheduled to start next year.

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“We are pleased to partner with SunAsia to drive forward [the] Philippines’ green energy transition. This marks another milestone as we partner with reliable, strategic local developers to expand the solar industry across Asia,” said Blueleaf Energy Interim CEO Sol Proops. Blueleaf Energy has specialization in the development, financing, construction, and operation of both utility-scale solar projects and technology deployments for commercial and industrial installations in the Asia Pacific region. Established in 2013, SunAsia has worked with partners in delivering a total of 112MW of solar projects. It is also engaged in innovative solutions and holds an exclusive license to operate the biggest floating solar pilot project in Laguna. Meanwhile, Blueleaf has built and operated about 250MW of solar capacity in the Philippines and more than 500MW in the Asia Pacific Region. Source: powerphilippines

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PHILIPPINES

PHILIPPINES’ FURTHER SHIFT TO CLEAN ENERGY The country’s energy grid continues to shift away from traditional sources and further to renewable ones. This was highly noticed in the past months as concerns on individual health and environmental welfare heightened amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

earing the louder call to harness cleaner sources of energy, both public and private sectors have strengthened their commitments to energize the country through renewables. On the government’s part, the Department of Energy (DoE), through Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, reaffirmed its commitment last year to develop the country’s renewable resources in fulfillment of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. In line with this commitment, a very notable move made by the DoE in 2020 was its moratorium on endorsements for greenfield coal power plants. Declared by Secretary Cusi last October, the moratorium is driven by the need for the country “to shift to a more flexible power supply mix.” “This would help build a more sustainable power system that will be resilient in the face of structural changes in demand and will be flexible enough to accommodate the entry of new, cleaner, and indigenous technological innovations,” Mr. Cusi said in a statement.

CLEAN ENERGY’S SHARE According to the DoE, renewable energy (RE) accounted for 33% of the country’s Total Primary Energy Supply in 2019. In terms of the country’s power capacity mix, meanwhile, Mr. Cusi shared in a virtual Energy Investment Forum last December that renewable energy’s share as of 2020 stands at 29.2%, with hydro contributing the most at 14.6% and followed by geothermal 7.5%, solar at 4%, wind at 1.7%, and biomass at 1.4%. Contributing to this share are leading energy players, which have taken the initiative to harness the country’s renewable resources.

Department of Energy ,Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi

One of these players is Aboitiz Power Corp. which is regarded as a pioneer in renewables when it started its renewable portfolio with hydropower as early as the 1970s. As it expanded to other resources within the category, AboitizPower, together with its partners, is the Philippines’ largest owner and operator of renewable energy to date, with a total installed capacity of more than 1,500 megawatts (MW) to date. “Our renewables portfolio, called Cleanergy, has a mix of RE technologies such as geothermal, hydro, and solar to address varying energy demands,” AboitizPower further explained. “This allows us to be more flexible and responsive to our customers’ requirements,” it added. First Gen Corp., meanwhile, has an RE portfolio that has a large share of geothermal energy and is coupled with hydro, wind, and solar. Its latest annual report shows that geothermal takes 34% of First Gen’s installed capacity by source, while hydro, wind, and solar combined takes 8%. On the other hand, MERALCO PowerGen Corp. (MGen) — through its RE unit MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen) — has a portfolio led by solar, with its 50-MW solar plant in San Miguel, Bulacan, whose operations have just started this month. Source: bworldonline

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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PHILIPPINES

BIGGER TARGETS... Alongside a stronger commitment to renewables, new targets have been set to further ensure the goal is attained. Earlier in February, the DoE renewed its RE targets in its latest National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). From a 54% target by 2040, announced last December, the updated NREP proposed a target of 55.8% by 2040 and 37.3% by 2030. The current NREP, spanning from 2011 to 2030, targets to bring the share of RE to 35% by the end of that period. Along with this, the Philippines revised its target to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by 75% between 2020 and 2030. Among other gases, GHG covers carbon dioxide and methane, which have been observed to come from using traditional energy sources. The country’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, submitted earlier in April, states that under its 75% target, 2.71% is unconditional, or will be undertaken by the government through domestic resources. The remaining 72.29%, meanwhile, is conditional on the support of climate finance, technologies and capacity development provided by developed countries, as prescribed by the Paris Agreement. Moreover, this portion represents the country’s ambition for GHG mitigation for several sectors, including energy. AboitizPower expressed its support for the government in meeting these targets that aim to significantly reduce the country’s carbon footprint. “With decades of extensive experience and proven track record in RE, AboitizPower is well-positioned to actively participate in the government’s RE programs and significantly contribute to the country’s RE targets,” the firm added. AboitizPower is also constantly innovating and adapting to new RE technologies to ensure that the current and future RE needs of the country will be served, the firm continued. In the next 10 years, AboitizPower is further growing its Cleanergy portfolio as it heavily invests in renewable energy, especially wind, hydro, and solar, as well as other technologies such as battery.

“This is in support of the government’s efforts to build the country’s RE market and also our contribution to the global RE targets,” the firm explained. Also, MGen’s parent firm Meralco, through Chairman Manuel V. Pangilian, said in a BusinessWorld report that the company looks forward “to many more investments in renewables, particularly solar, as we attempt to achieve that balance in fuel sourcing, which will ultimately be biased towards renewables”. AboitizPower also notes certain programs already set in place to build and grow the country’s RE market. These are the Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require power distributors to source a certain portion of their electricity requirements from eligible RE sources; and the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), which provides end-users with the option to choose RE sources. “We are optimistic that these programs will encourage more consumers to switch to RE; and as a pioneer and leader in the RE space, we are ready to serve the growing RE demand,” the firm pointed out. First Gen Vice-President for Power Marketing, Trading and Economics Carlos Lorenzo L. Vega announced early in March that it will make around 690 MW of geothermal power available for the GEOP.

Source: bworldonline

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MYANMAR

MYANMAR JUNTA’S SOLAR POWER BID TESTS POST-COUP INVESTOR SENTIMENT Western money uncommitted while China state companies said to be held back

yanmar’s junta has launched an ambitious scheme to build solar farms that can generate up to 320 megawatts across the heartland regions, areas dominated by the predominantly Buddhist Bamar population, in a major test of investor confidence in the new regime. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy on May 24 issued a tender to build solar power facilities on 12 sites across central Myanmar that would generate between 20MW and 40MW each, on a build-operate-own basis for 20 years, according to tender documents seen by Nikkei Asia. As the first major public tender announced since the military’s Feb. 1 seizure of power, the move will test the regime’s ability to attract local and foreign investment. Given recent sanctions and mounting pressure from democratic governments not to support the junta, as well as heightened market risks, most U.S., European and Japanese investors are expected to stay away from the bidding round. Industry insiders and analysts are closely watching how Chinese companies, which had dominated Myanmar’s energy tenders in recent years, will respond to the offer, though one analyst who monitors Chinese investment in Myanmar suggested that Beijing is discouraging state-owned enterprises from participating in the bid. The announcement follows on from a controversial 1 gigawatt solar farm tender launched by the National League for Democracy government last year. Chinese bidders and their local partners dominated the bidding and swept up 28 out of 29 projects amid widespread complaints by Western governments and foreign chambers of commerce. “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, potential foreign bidders and suppliers are not able to inspect the sites associated with this tender, nor are they in a position to prepare a thorough response to the tender,” said a complaint letter from three business chambers

addressed to the NLD’s energy minister then.

The signatories added that bidders who need financing support found the tender arrangement “impossible to support,” according to the letter seen by Nikkei. So far, no power purchase agreements have been announced. This time, bid winners will have 180 days until the commercial 18

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operational deadline, according to the tender documents. Of the 12 sites, two are located in Sagaing Region, three in Magway Region, five in Mandalay Region, one each in Bago Region and southern Shan State. Evidence of land acquisition for project areas is needed to bid. The proposal security is $500,000, passed through state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. Companies have until Aug. 11 to submit their bids. In the previous solar tender, developers were required to have a minimum annual turnover of $20 million over the last three years. For the new bid, the threshold has been reduced to $5 million. But penalties for missing the operational deadline have also increased from $100 per MW per day in the 2020 tender to $2,000 per MW per day. This could amount to as much as $80,000 per day for a project of 40MW capacity and raises the stakes further for any successful bidder due to the increased likelihood of delays amid the country’s spreading economic chaos. The tender comes even as Myanmar is struggling to attract investments amid political turmoil following the Feb. 1 coup. Since then, the regime has announced 25 foreign direct investment approvals worth billions of dollars, without disclosing the details. One developer who took part in the 2020 solar bid said his company has no plans to get involved this time “given the uncertainty in the economy.” The new bid also carries significant political risks. A cabinet member of the parallel National Unity Government said recently that the NUG would publish a “blacklist” of companies that enter new deals under the junta and would not honor the deals. On top of the political turmoil, industry business executives in Yangon noted that the new tender showed that no lessons had been learned from the 2020 controversy. A Myanmar analyst working for a Yangon-based foreign renewable energy developer described the tender timeline as “very tight and unrealistic,” referring to the six-month deadline.The need to acquire land when bidding, the same requirement as the previous tender, has added to the difficulties, he said. “There are safety issues for bidders traveling to different areas in the country and government departments might not be fully functioning.” Source: asia

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MYANMAR “The first solar tender [in 2020] had its challenges with a limited timeline and now the second one repeats the same problems but with added risks owing to the political crisis,” the analyst told Nikkei. “I anticipate considerably higher tariffs this time because solar panel prices are increasing globally and also because of the heightened risks in the Myanmar market.” Citing unnamed bidders who took part in the last tender, Yangon-based China Myanmar Economic Cooperation and Development Promotion Association, a nongovernment group, said in an online post that the ministry had told those developers the tender no longer required bidders to have any experience in solar energy. However, another local energy developer who decided not to bid said, “The deal structures are still not simple, as bidders need to acquire land.” He also cast doubt on the feasibility of high tariffs, given Myanmar’s economic outlook and

political instability.The junta made the move because contractors failed to pull off the solar projects agreed last year under the NLD administration, the Yangon-based developer added. Before COVID-19, the NLD government estimated that Myanmar’s power demand was growing at 15-19% per year, but a sharp drop in electricity demand due to the pandemic and the coup’s economic disruption has raised fresh questions over the commercial viability of any new energy investments. While more than 850 people have been killed and nearly 6,000 arrested since Feb. 1, the country’s power demand has plummeted amid a deterioration in business activity. Casting doubt on the circumstances of the tenders, a former adviser to the NLD government said: “The solar tender doesn’t address any of Myanmar’s immediate needs, such as food, medication or basic civil liberties. What it does try to do is legitimize the State Administration Council [junta] and could provide foreign exchange to the military, which they need to finance the aircraft, ammunition and other equipment they are using to attack their own people around the country.” Source: asia

PANASONIC DONATES SOLAR LANTERNS TO COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

1500 solar lanterns donated at ceremonies organized through the Nelson Mandela Foundation. ontinuing its efforts to offer a brighter life to the people living in no electricity areas in South Africa, Panasonic, in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, has donated 1500 Panasonic Solar Lanterns to the people living in remote areas with power shortages this year. The community outreach program that strengthens the brand’s commitment to making life better in developing societies is a part of the brand’s 100 Thousand Solar Lanterns Project. Launched in Myanmar in 2013, Panasonic has so far donated more than 100 thousand solar lanterns to 30 countries in Asia and Africa. In line with the brand’s motto ‘A Better Life, A Better World’, Panasonic has been proactively using the company’s core technologies and products to implement the 100 thousand Solar Lanterns Project. The company has continued its activities despite the shipping disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We believe in creating sustainable and healthy societies. These smoke-free solar lanterns that light up utilizing the sun’s energy, we believe, will provide good health, improve living standards, and save the cost of fuel in this pandemic–ridden period, which has left many in a financial and health crisis. COVID-19 pandemic also underscores the importance of reaching out to communities in need to help them weather the difficulties of time,” com-

mented Hiroyuki Shibutani, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing Middle East and Africa FZE. As a brand committed to creating a better life for everyone, we are thankful and pleased to partner with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in providing the solar lanterns to the communities in need,” he added. A country-by-country assessment of the

Sub-Saharan Africa region by the International Energy Agency in 2019 showed that the number of people without electricity access is 770 million, almost 75% of the population. Kerosene lamps are used in these areas for lighting, but their smoke poses a health hazard and exposes people to fire risk.

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With most children learning and spending their time at home during the pandemic, solar lanterns are expected to help them learn safely. Women’s groups engage in activities that create income, improve their lives, in addition to helping create a sustainable society by reducing the economic burden of fuel purchase costs. The donation ceremony, organized by the Nelson Mandela Foundation took place in three provinces – Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and Mpumalanga. “The solar lanterns symbolize the change that brings good by contributing to improving life standards and sustainability in African communities. We are extremely pleased to continue our partnership with Panasonic in continued participation with a great brand in bringing light and improving living conditions in the non-electrified areas of South Africa,” commented Yase Godlo,

Director – Mandela Day & Special Projects, Nelson Mandela Foundation.

PANASONIC 100 THOUSAND SOLAR LANTERNS PROJECT Panasonic firmly believes that companies, as corporate citizens, have an obligation to society to foster human development, new opportunities and eradicate poverty. This is why Panasonic developed its 100 Thousand Solar Lanterns Project, focused on brightening the lives of people around the world. The Panasonic Solar Lantern eliminates health problems caused by black smoke and dim light of Kerosene lamps. It prevents the necessity of giving birth in the dark, providing medical care in dim light, and remove the worry of sudden blackouts during surgery. The lantern can also charge appliances and electrical products, eliminating the need for children or parents to travel several kilometers to charge their phones. A significant benefit to the community from the initiative is that children can better study in bright light – and pursue and advance their dreams of the future. For low-income families, the high cost of kerosene lamps is a heavy burden. If these fuel costs can be saved, they can spend more money on education and use it in other ways to improve life. Source: zawya

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MYANMAR

MYANMAR COUP THREATENS CHINESE POWER PROJECTS Hong Kong-listed VPower under fire for business with military companies

hinese energy companies contracted to build power plants in Myanmar have had their projects put on hold, and some are considering exiting the market, in a sign of how the military coup in the Southeast Asian country may be deterring even thickskinned Chinese investors. Projects taken up by Chinese state-backed liquefied natural gas and solar energy companies would have been difficult to implement even before the Feb. 1 military takeover, insiders say. Now the coup has further complicated matters. The companies, which secured their bids under the ousted government of Aung San Suu Kyi through two contentious tenders, are back in the spotlight. One large contractor has been identified by human rights campaigners as doing business directly with the military. Hong Kong-listed VPower, which won four out of five liquefied natural gas and gas-fired power plant projects in Myanmar’s 2019 emergency tender, has been shown to be leasing militaryowned land. Rights groups have turned up the pressure on foreign businesses that continue to deal with the military, which has killed more 750 civilians since Gen. Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the civilian administration in the coup. Even as Japanese brewer Kirin and Singaporean tycoon Lim Kaling announced plans to cut ties with military entities within days of the coup, VPower and others appear to be moving forward with deals. VPower is leasing land in Yangon’s Thanlyin Township owned by Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), a military-controlled conglomerate, through Myanmar Business Consultant Group (MBCG), according to government investment documents obtained by Nikkei Asia. The company has built a $297 million 350MW LNG plant. Documents also show that the VPower consortium and MBCG formed a joint venture called MCV Terminal on Jan. 21 last year to build the country’s first gas terminal and regasification facilities, which are already online. 20

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A key figure in VPower’s deals with the Myanmar military is Tun Min Latt, son of retired Lt. Col. Khin Maung Latt. He was named in a 2019 United Nations Fact-Finding Mission report on the military’s economic interests as a private shareholder in the Star Sapphire Group of Companies. The report showed the conglomerate was one of 45 companies, together with MEHL and another military-owned conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), that made donations to the military after its “clearance operations” drove over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into exile in Bangladesh from Myanmar’s southwestern state of Rakhine. U.N. investigators found that the donations went to finance development projects in Rakhine that furthered the military’s objective of “re-engineering the region in a way that erases evidence of Rohingya belonging to Myanmar.” Myanmar’s company registry showed Tun Min Latt was made a director of MCV Terminal in January, although he stepped down as an MBCG director after the coup. What is more worrying, according to the activist group Justice For Myanmar, which documents military-linked financial matters in the country, is that the project will be transferred to MEHL after between five and 50 years under a build-owntransfer contract. “As well as lease payments to MEHL, VPower has developed a gas terminal and regasification facilities that will be transferred to MEHL on completion of the investment, providing a long-term source of revenue to MEHL,” said Yadanar Maung, spokeswoman for Justice For

Myanmar.

“We call on HKEX [Hong Kong Stock Exchange] to take regulatory action against VPower to urgently clarify VPower’s material support for the Myanmar military Source: asia

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MYANMAR through MEHL, a sanctioned entity that is in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law,” she added. The U.S. government on March 25 announced sanctions against MEHL and MEC, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken citing the Myanmar military’s refusal “to disavow the coup and [continued] violence against peaceful protesters” as the reason for the move. VPower holds a director’s seat on the Myanmar-Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Its army deals raise fresh questions about the chamber, which has pledged to promote responsible investment. VPower, HKEX, and the chamber declined to comment. A spokesperson for VPower previously publicly denied having dealings with MEHL or MEC in an interview with a Hong Kong media outlet. Justice For Myanmar accused VPower of “misleading its shareholders.” There are larger implications for Myanmar’s power sector: Foreign investors are questioning whether to proceed with projects, concerned over the military’s ability to honor power purchase agreements (PPAs), according to a Yangon-based foreign executive familiar with the industry. Energy companies’ revenue streams in Myanmar come from PPAs with the government. “Ultimately, their commercial considerations depend on their evaluation of the political risk, and whether banks, who are even more sensitive to risks, would continue to finance their projects,” the executive said. He said the key is stability, not who is in power. “As long as the PPA [is] honored, they would commit to the projects.”To meet Myanmar’s growing appetite for energy the National League for Democracy government issued emergency power tenders in 2019. Four out of five were awarded to a VPower-led consortium with Chinese state-owned China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC). The Hong Kong-listed company is partially owned by the Chinese state-owned CITIC and CRRC.Three new power plants in Yangon have been operating since last year, while a fourth in Kyaukphyu meant to operate under the VPower-CNTIC consortium on the western Rakhine coast is on hold, according to a Myanmar-focused energy analyst. These four plants were to add 930MW of generating capacity, or about 20% to 30% to Myanmar’s total. The energy analyst says the VPower-CNTIC consortium is negotiating to scrap the LNG project in Kyaukphyu.Solar power developers who won a controversial solar tender last year under the NLD government face a similar situation. Chinese companies and consortia were awarded 28 of the 29 projects, but only six had been approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission before the coup, making it impossible for the developers to begin generating power by the original 180day deadline. No PPAs have been announced publicly, and negotiations are likely to have stopped, according to Katie Patterson, an energy analyst with FMR Research and Advisory. The outlook for the solar projects is “bleak,” she said. “Unsurprisingly, there have been some reports that the firms involved are considering dropping the projects.” Two senior corporate sources confirmed to Nikkei that junta-appointed officials from the Ministry of Electricity and Energy met solar developers in February and asked them to pause the projects, presumably because of disruptions by the Civil Disobedience Movement, which opposes the coup. The Myanmar Investment Commission announced 10 approvals of foreign investment projects in March, saying some involve Chinese investors, and include the electricity sector, without identifying individual projects. Lin Tun of local solar developer Quasar Resources, which also

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took part in last year’s solar tender but was outbid by the Chinese, said the original investment conditions were difficult, even before the latest political instability. For example, several developers Nikkei spoke to said the 180-day deadline was very tight. The military takeover has triggered upheaval across the country. “Nobody is going to be crazy enough to lend money or start building [these projects],” Lin Tun said. Chinese companies, expecting solar panel costs to drop over time due to technological advances before the coup, “underbid” to win the tender, he added. “They will have to renegotiate the terms with the government … otherwise there will be hardly any return.” Chinese companies and their local partners did not respond to Nikkei’s request for comment. With two nationwide blackouts since the coup, people and businesses in Myanmar have raised concerns about the risks of an imminent power shortage, especially after local media outlet Frontier Myanmar reported that up to 80% of electricity ministry staff are participating in the civil disobedience campaign. Although the earlier blackouts were caused by technical failures that occurred frequently before the coup, strikes have inhibited the electricity ministry’s ability to collect payments for electricity bills, reducing the ministry’s revenue. A person in the industry in Yangon told Nikkei that the decline in revenue would probably cost the ministry “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Meanwhile, a sharp drop in electricity demand due to COVID-19 and the civil disobedience campaign means the power supply is not an immediate concern. But with the monsoon season arriving soon, repairs to power lines needed because of the weather or equipment failures may suffer if employees are not working. Analysts and industry insiders agree that major power outages are unlikely in the short term, due to the decline in demand stemming from COVID-19 and the civil disobedience campaign, but political instability and international sanctions could make it harder for the junta to keep the country running over the longer term. “The generals are putting all their focus on the political situation now and have not turned towards Myanmar’s energy sector,” the person in the energy industry said. Romain Caillaud of Tokyo-based advisory company SIPA Partners said in the longer run, large energy projects are likely to slow down, if not face cancellation, as the risks have “shot through the roof.” “The legal and regulatory framework for the energy sector was already difficult pre-coup, now Myanmar will have to pay a significant risk premium to convince foreign investors,” he said.

Source: asia

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

JAPAN

RENEWABLE ENERGY FIRMS PIN HOPES ON TARO KONO WINNING RACE FOR JAPAN PM Renewable energy companies are betting that a leading contender in the race to become Japan’s next prime minister, Taro Kono, will unleash changes allowing more market access and a fairer playing field after years of neglect.

he 58-year-old has long championed more renewable supplies in Japan’s roughly $150 billion electricity sector, the world’s biggest national power market outside China, and has promised an economic stimulus package focused on renewables if he wins. Investors have been buying renewable energy shares hoping the popular Kono wins the Sept. 29 vote for the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) next leader and — by virtue of its majority in the Diet — Japan’s next prime minister. Japan’s energy mix is already undergoing change, with renewables on the rise, replacing fossil fuels which shored up power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Kono, a former defense minister and scion of a political dynasty, is currently in charge of administrative reform and has clashed with the powerful Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry (METI), which like the steel federation, has supported a revival of the moribund nuclear sector. “Kono has eagerly taken on deregulation over the past year, and a lot has changed. Japan’s energy shift will advance further if Kono is elected,” said Mika Ohbayas-

hi, a director at the Renewable Energy Institute, which was founded by SoftBank Group Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son.

Renewable energy has also received a boost from outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s pledge last year to align Japan with Europe and declare a 2050 carbon neutrality target. “The attitudes of officials at METI have drastically changed. Their attitudes toward renewable energy startups used to be rather cold, but they can’t afford to continue that stance,” said Koki Yoshino, executive officer at Japan Renewable Energy, which operates nearly 50 wind and solar power projects. In 2018 a panel convened by Kono, who was then foreign minister, caused controversy by wading into the energy debate, normally METI’s preserve, supporting a call to get rid of nuclear power and coal while dramatically increasing 22

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renewables. Then last year, Kono set up a task force to take down regulatory hurdles that hinder Japan’s shift to renewables. The world’s third-largest economy and fifth-biggest carbon emitter is heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels 10 years after the Fukushima catastrophe nearly ended its nuclear sector — the source of a third of Japan’s electricity before 2011. Renewable energy is quickly catching up, accounting for 22% of Japan’s energy supplies last year, meeting a recent government target a decade ahead of schedule and even contributing more than coal in one quarter. Despite that growth, critics say METI has introduced rules that make it easy to force solar plants to shut down, known as curtailment, when supplies are abundant. Connections for renewable projects are also being withheld at the whim of entrenched companies, Kono says on his website, where he outlines his policies. Rules governing the use of a major transmission line that connects Japan’s main island to Hokkaido in the north need to be revised to allow more renewables into the mix, Kono says. Electricity transmitted through the line has to be declared a day ahead of the actual transmission, making it difficult for weather-dependent renewables to use the line — which is currently underutilized — to transmit power to Tokyo, he says. METI has increased the target for renewables to produce 36-38% of Japan’s electricity by 2030, up from 22-24%, and has set auction rules for offshore wind, one of the fast growing sectors in other parts of the world. Renewable energy is also popular: Opinion polls show consumers — still wary of nuclear power — want more greener options, while blue-chip companies have lobbied the government to ease regulations so they can use more emissionless sources. Yusuke Kojima, director at Looop Inc., an electricity retail startup that also sells solar power plant and storage battery products, said he hoped Kono would support the industry and said that the recent policy shifts marked a big change for his business. “In the past, we couldn’t prioritize renewable energy because Japan as a whole didn’t think of it as a main source of power. But the carbon neutrality pledge and other policies mean renewables are now on the table,” said Kojima. Source: japantimes

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JAPAN

JAPAN FIRMS EYE FLEXIBLE FUTURE FOR SOLAR POWER Two of Japan’s biggest electronics companies are working on what they hope will be the future of clean energy, and both are betting on a substance called perovskite.

oshiba is using perovskite to make a film that’s just a millimeter thick and can generate solar power. The company says it’s light and flexible enough to install on office windows and low load-bearing roofs.

Todori Kenji, a senior expert at Toshiba’s Corporate Research & Development Center says, “You can install it pretty much

anywhere, and it won’t spoil the view. We plan to keep developing it to make it more durable.” Toshiba says the film is roughly as efficient at converting sunlight as a conventional solar panel, and hopes to have it on the market by the end of 2025.Researchers at rival firm Panasonic are also looking at perovskite film. They envisage using the firm’s printing technology to coat construction materials in it.

Source: nhk

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

JAPAN

JAPANESE COAL AND OIL GIANTS TO BUILD BIG SOLAR FARM IN QUEENSLAND Japanese coal miner Sojitz and its oil company partner Eneos are to build a 204MW solar farm in the Western Downs region of Queensland in a first step to pursue green hydrogen opportunities in Australia.

he Queensland government announced the investment, on the same day it revealed it would create a $2 billion renewables and hydrogen fund to support new projects and jobs, and its target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030.The solar farm will be built at Edenvale, along the Condamine to Kogan Road, about 20 kms south of Cinchilla, and in an area with a number of other solar projects already operating or under construction. See RenewEconomy’s new Large Scale Solar Farm Map of Australia. “This is a show of international confidence in the strength of our economic recovery plan and in Queensland’s renewable energy future,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a

statement.

Sojitz is one of Japan’s major trading companies and operates three coal mines in Queensland, including the nearby Gregory Crinium coking coal mine, which will purchase some of the new solar farm’s output. Eneos is Japan’s largest oil company but

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also has an interest in renewables and hydrogen, and in 2018 successfully exported green hydrogen from the Queensland University of Technology’s Redlands Research Facility, east of Brisbane, to Japan. It was the first export of its kind. Eneos said it was its first solar investment in Australia and was being made principally with an eye to establishing a CO2-free hydrogen supply chain in Australia. It is looking to both green hydrogen and ammonia products and plans to spend more than $1.5 billion on such investments over the next few years. The Edenvale solar farm will sell 70 per cent of its output to the Mojo electricity retailer, while some of the remaining 30 per cent will be supplied to Gregory Crinum mine. Construction starts this month, with completion expected in early 2023. Gransolar has the contract to build the project, its seventh solar farm contract in Australia. It said around 450 employees will be involved during construction and subsequently, with operation and maintenance. It said a group of 16 indigenous workers will be trained to carry out the operations and maintenance work. Source: reneweconomy

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JAPAN

4 NUCLEAR REACTORS’ WORTH OF RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY WASTED IN SOUTHWEST JAPAN

There have been frequent cases in southwestern Japan’s Kyushu region where the electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar power, has gone unused.

n some days, as much as the equivalent of four nuclear reactors-worth of generating capacity is being wasted without being transmitted. Why is this happening when the government is supposed to be aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 and making renewable energy the main power source? To maintain a balance between electricity supply and demand, power companies conduct “output control,” requesting generating firms to temporarily curtail power generation when electricity usage is low. This is the case, for example, in spring and autumn when the use of air conditioning is reduced. If the supply-demand balance is upset by continuing to generate and send out electricity even though demand is low, in the worst-case scenario it could cause a large-scale blackout.For this reason, on days when there is likely to be a surplus of electricity, power companies have a rule of asking generation companies to curtail their output in the following order: (1) thermal, (2) biomass, (3) solar and wind, (4) hydroelectric, nuclear and geothermal. This order was decided based on the cost of power generation and whether the output could be easily adjusted. The installation of solar power generation has been progressing in Kyushu due to the region’s geographical advantage of being blessed with sunlight. Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s service area, which has an output capacity of 10 million kilowatts, has been the only one in Japan to have implemented output control since October 2018. The No. 1 (foreground) and No. 2 reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co’s Sendai nuclear plant are seen in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Jan. 18, 2019. The number of days of output control in fiscal 2018 was 26 days in the six-month period from October, and in fiscal 2019 it jumped to 74 days. In fiscal 2020, the number decreased to 60 days because the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture were halted for about seven to eight months, but it is expected to increase to 95 days in fiscal 2021. That’s roughly one out of every four days that some power plant will have its output curtailed. In particular, from March 19 this year, when the four reactors at the plant returned to full operation (with a total output of 4.14 million kilowatts), to May 11, when the rainy season began in parts of Kyushu, the output of renewable energy was curtailed for a total of 37 days, or about 70% of this period. During this time of the year, air conditioning and heating use decreases, and electricity demand drops to the 6 million- to 8 million-kilowatt range. With the four reactors operating at full capacity, there will be a large surplus of renewable energy during the daytime on sunny days. On April 18, a record 3.82 million kilowatts of renewable energy was curtailed, the equivalent of four nuclear reactors.

An executive of Chopro Co. based in Nagasaki Prefecture, which operates a total of 17 solar power plants in Kyushu, said in a resigned tone, “Almost every day, some of our plants stop being accepted (by the power companies). Even if we halt operations, costs will still be incurred, so our profits will decrease. Above all, it would be like throwing away the electricity we generated, so it’s wasteful.”

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Kazuhiro Ikebe, president of Kyushu Electric Power Co., is seen in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka, on Dec. 22, 2020. In short, the first “barrier” to the utilization of renewable energy was nuclear power plants. Kazuhiro Ikebe, president of Kyushu Electric Power Co., said, “If we can increase the operating rate of existing nuclear power plants, the cost of reducing CO2 emissions will be lower.” If output control continues, the government’s goal of making renewable energy the main source of power will be far from being realized. As for offshore wind power generation, which is expected to be a pillar of renewable energy in Japan along with solar power, the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture in Kyushu are considered the second-best location in the country after Hokkaido, but if the current output control continues, there is a risk that this opportunity will be removed. Output control is also expected to occur in Hokkaido and the Shikoku region, where the introduction of renewable energy is progressing, as early as in fiscal 2021, so it is no longer just a problem for Kyushu. Another “barrier” to preventing the waste of renewable energy is the lack of interconnection lines to transmit electricity to other regions when there is a surplus. If there is sufficient capacity in the interconnection lines, even if there is a surplus in Kyushu, it can be transmitted to Japan’s main island of Honshu, where the demand for electricity is high, thereby reducing waste. For this reason, the national government has also begun to increase the number of interconnection lines. According to a proposal compiled at the end of April by the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, Japan — a government-backed corporation — the state plans to double the transmission capacity of the Kanmon interconnection line connecting Honshu and Kyushu, and to build a new interconnection line between Kyushu and Shikoku. This will as much as triple the transmission capacity between Kyushu and other regions. It also plans to lay additional interconnection lines between Shikoku and Kansai, and Hokkaido and Tokyo. Renewable energy generated in areas blessed with sunlight, wind power and large fields will be transported to urban areas where demand for electricity is high. Reinforcing the interconnection lines is an essential task for making renewable energy a main power source, but the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry doesn’t expect to start operations until the “second half of the 2030s,” according to ministry officials. In addition, the principle of sharing the cost of construction, which will be up to 1 trillion yen (about $9.13 billion) for Kyushu alone, “in proportion to the benefit each power company receives” has been decided, but the details have not yet been finalized. It will be a long time yet before renewable energy is not being wasted. Yukari Takamura, a professor at the University of

Tokyo’s Institute for Future Initiatives and an expert on renewable energy, said, “Now that the entire country is moving

toward ‘decarbonization,’ it is unreasonable to waste large amounts of renewable energy through output control.”In particular, Takamura said, Kyushu “clearly needs to start construction (of interconnection lines) as soon as possible, taking into account the increase in solar power and the addition of more offshore wind power in the future.” Source: mainichi

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

JAPAN

PANDEMIC NOT STOPPING JAPAN-SUBSIDISED GREEN PROJECTS A raging health crisis has failed to stop the implementation of climate-friendly projects subsidised by Japan in Cambodia.

hese programmes are being, or will be, implemented under the expanded Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) Model Project of the Ministry of Environment Japan (MOEJ). The JCM is a programme in which the Japanese government (through the MOEJ) partners with countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases while promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also geared towards helping nations, particularly developing countries, achieve their SDGs and achieve zero emission status within a set period of time. High-quality and effective technology transfers, assistance and subsidy for renewable energy projects in JCM partner-countries are the major components of this initiative. There is a corresponding carbon credit for greenhouse gas reduction, which is shared among governments and other participants. The higher the reduction, the more JCM credits they will receive. Cambodia joined the JCM in 2014, becoming one of 17 countries that agreed to work with Japan to combat harmful levels of greenhouse gas emission and climate change. Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia are the other Southeast Asian countries involved with JCM. The ongoing installation of solar panels at the Canadian International School of Phnom Penh (CIS) is the latest and sixth JCM project to be implemented in Cambodia. It is being facilitated jointly by an international consortium consisting of Asian Gateway Corp, CIS, Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp (OCIC) and Kamworks, a leading solar energy company in Cambodia. “As facilitators of this project, we are promising to deliver this project successfully to the best of our abilities, even in the middle of [a] pandemic,” reported Tomonori Kimura,

founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Asian Gateway and its local subsidiary, AG Asian Gateway (Cambodia). The other five JCM projects in the Kingdom include improvements in the provincial water supply and sanitation. Kimura said the programme is set for expansion in Cambodia, with more JCM projects on the way. “We are proud of our contribution to Cambodia. Our first project together was with the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP), and now CIS. As for other succeeding projects, we [are not ready to] name them for now,

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but there will be more such projects for Cambodia,” he

said.

In the CIS project, a solar power system will be installed on the rooftop of four buildings. The total capacity output is about 1 megawatt. CIS Head of School Jason Caruana pointed out, “With such capacity output, the school will be able to produce almost 40 percent of our electricity requirement.This will provide numerous benefits for the school, as well as providing a solid contribution to the Cambodian government’s commitment to halving carbon emissions by 2030.”

Kimura said the benefits extend to other areas, saying, “The most important thing is that students from CIS and other recipient schools will become more conscious about climate change and of the need to preserve and protect the environment. Nothing makes us prouder than being a part of the fight against climate change.”

This project is also a part of a Smart City that the OCIC is planning to establish and develop in the Koh Pich (Diamond Island) area of Phnom Penh. Hok Chin, OCIC’s CEO in-charge of the CIS project, said. “In partnership with the project members and support from the MOEJ, this second project is finally set and ready to sail within the Smart City that is being developed in Koh Pich,.” The project is ongoing in spite of the ongoing health crisis. “We want to show to the world that we can make it happen despite the difficult situation,” Kimura stressed. The solar panels arrived at CIS two weeks ago and the new solar power system will be operational by the end of July, according to Arjen Luxwolda of Kamworks. Greenhouse gas reduction will be calculated for the credit and a percentage of that will go to the Japanese government towards Japan’s emission-reduction target. After being outpaced by many of its neighbours, Cambodia, in the last few years, has started to hitch onto the renewable energy “bandwagon”. Sweden, Japan and China are among the countries that are helping Cambodia achieve its renewable energy goals. Source: khmertimeskh

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JAPAN

SOLAR POWER GENERATION ON AGRICULTURAL LAND EXPANDS IN JAPAN

he sun is being used on more and more farmland across Japan not only to grow crops, but also to generate power. The combination provides a “two-birds-withone-stone” source of income by allowing the more effective use of farmland. It also fits in with the government’s goal of netzero emissions in 2050. But the securing of sunshine, essential for crop growth, for this purpose is not without its issues.At the Farmdo Group in Gunma Prefecture, solar panels installed on top of greenhouses have been generating electricity since 2014, while mizuna potherb mustard, arugula and lettuce grow inside. Covering a total area of 48 hectares, enough power is produced to supply about 10,000 households. Under the “feed-in tariff” system, power companies purchase electricity generated from renewable energy sources at a price determined by the government over a period of 20 years. The Farmdo Group expects to recoup its solar-related investment in seven to eight years. “The additional revenue from selling electricity helps stabilize agricultural operations, and lower the barriers to starting a farm,” a group official said. To install solar panels, a portion of agricultural land must be converted to non-agricultural use and support poles need to be set up. According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the total number of permits for such conversions grew from 96 in fiscal 2013 to 1,992 in fiscal 2018. Over that span, the amount of agricultural land apportioned for solar power generation increased from 19 hectares to 560 hectares. In Japan, land suitable for solar power generation is limited overall, leading to high expectations for utilizing agricultural land. The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association estimates that by 2050, about 30% of land used for solar power generation will be agriculture-related. Chiba Ecological Energy Inc., which provides consulting services on solar power generation on agricultural land, has started trials for using generated electricity to power mowers and sprayers. In the system, electricity stored in a battery can also be used. As the price of electricity sold to power companies has been falling in recent years, the company will develop a system to provide electricity generation for private use. The aim is also to contribute to local communities by helping them prepare for power outages caused by natural disasters or other events. There are, however, issues to overcome. Solar panels installed above where crops are growing may block sunlight to other parts of the

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land, which may hinder the crop growth. A directive from the agriculture ministry requires farmers who install solar panels to produce 80% or more crops per square meter compared with the regional average. Accordingly, crops needing less sunlight, such as myoga Japanese ginger and fuki Japanese butterbur, are often chosen by farmers. In regard to the 80% requirement, the ministry has eased the standard for abandoned farmland, after criticism arose at a government meeting that it is “unreasonable for the promotion of renewable energy.” Likewise, there is concern that expansion of solar power generation will lead to a decline in agricultural production capacity. “It is important to balance agriculture and power generation,” said Takashi Nozu, an associate professor at Waseda University. “It is also necessary to carefully consider how to increase profitability, given the initial investment and maintenance costs involved.”Speech

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

VIETNAM

VIETNAM’S LATEST POWER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOCUSES ON EXPANDING RENEWABLE SOURCES The government of Vietnam released a draft of the country’s latest national power development plan, Power Development Plan 8 (PDP 8), for 2021 to 2030.

he draft PDP 8 expands wind and solar capacity and increases their shares of the country’s generation mix. The draft PDP 8 also prioritizes enhancing grid infrastructure to ensure stable operation with a higher share of renewables. Vietnam increasingly relies on coal imports because coal-fired power plants have been used to meet rapidly increasing electricity demand; more than half of Vietnam’s electricity generation came from coal in 2020. The country also relies significantly on hydroelectric generation and is home to a number of large rivers, including the Mekong. However, hydro’s reliability is affected by periodic droughts and water shortages. Non-hydro renewable sources such as wind and solar made up 5% of Vietnam’s electricity generation in 2020. Expanding nonhydro renewable capacity will likely help Vietnam rely less on coal, reduce carbon emissions, and increase electricity generating capacity to meet the country’s growing electricity needs. With its strong emphasis on renewables, the draft PDP 8 departs significantly from previous plans, which relied heavily on hydropower, coal, and natural gas sources. As of 2020, solar and wind capacity in Vietnam was 16.6 gigawatts (GW) and 0.6 GW, respectively. Under the draft PDP 8, Vietnam plans to increase solar capacity to 18.6 GW and wind capacity to 18.0 GW by 2030. Vietnam’s underdeveloped grid hampers these capacity additions. The country needs new transmission and distribution infrastructure to accommodate capacity additions and to transmit electricity to where it’s needed.

The government recently adopted new legislation that improves and prioritizes grid development. Grid development is also a priority in the draft PDP 8. Grid priorities include building more high-voltage transmission lines and expanding grid infrastructure, which would help ease grid congestion and integrate renewables. Some of the country’s transmission lines are operating at full load or are overloaded, especially in the region where solar capacity is concentrated. Electricity producers have reduced generation from renewables because of grid limitations. Despite solar capacity in Vietnam increasing significantly in 2020, the country plans to reduce its renewable energy output by 1.3 billion kilowatthours in 2021 because it does not have the transmission capacity needed. Although grid congestion has some short-term solutions, such as battery storage, the long-term solution is to expand Vietnam’s transmission grid. One major grid development underway is a 461-mile transmission line extension with three 500-kilovolt transmission lines. These transmission lines will connect nine cities and provinces across central and southern Vietnam. Source: eia

SEMPER SOLARIS GIFTS SOLAR PANELS TO VIETNAM VETERAN “I never won the lottery but I would think this is pretty close,” deep appreciation for what it was like to be an American and be able to go home after 12 months, whereas these Bob Blumenstock said. “It’s really going to help a lot.”The Memorial Day gift is part of the San Diego-based company’s people had to suffer for a lifetime,” Blumenstock said.

Semper Cares Initiative to give back to veterans.Kelly Shawhan is a But he too, suffered. He was first poisoned in Vietnam by retired Marine and one of the founders, along with John Almond. Agent Orange and later the victim of water contamination “It’s been a win-win,” Shawhan said. “There hasn’t been one of at Camp Lejune, where he was stationed after he returned these that hasn’t been like, I’ll be crying before the end of the from the war. “My exposures were being literally crop dusted,” Blumenstock said. “I think they were C-130 day! This just how it goes.”Blumenstock served in Vietnam in 1968. He was a Navy corpsman who served as a dental technician cargo jets that were outfitted with sprayers. They would behind enemy lines supporting the 3rd Marine Division. fly over the base.” He and many others still struggle with “It was kind of exciting, actually,” Blumenstock said. “It was medical issues, but his has not dampened his spirt or drive to help others. And that, he says, starts with serving your couna little scary, but it was rewarding being able to actually do try. “We really should serve our country in one way or some good for Marines and civilians there.” He was also part of a team that visited villages to treat Vietnamese civilians, which another,” Blumenstock said. “It doesn’t matter what you many have fueled his early desire to give back. “I realize that do or where you do it, but I think that it may give you these people were more or less victims of their situation and more appreciation of what we have here.” Semper Solaris is accepting nominations of other deserving veterans. have a Source: fox5sandiego 28

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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VIETNAM

KERLINK, CLOUD ENERGY TO BUILD IOT SOLUTIONS FOR RURAL VIETNAM Kerlink is teaming up with Vietnamese IoT startup Cloud Energy in building new solutions to meet demand for IoT services in rural areas around Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), expanding on their earlier collaboration on smart-building and energy-management projects in the city of nearly 9 million people.

he two companies recently developed and deployed a fully wireless LoRaWAN network to monitor and manage a 900 kWp solar-power installation on a mushroom farm 80 km from the city. The installation of the wireless solar-power system was chosen by NG Investment for its superior advantages: stability of data reading, ability to connect to different inverter brands and the cost savings on investment and maintenance. The IoT upgrade included Kerlink’s long-range, low-power Wirnet iStation gateways and its Wanesy Management Center to operate and manage the new system, and Cloud Energy’s advanced LoRaWAN-based metre and devices for data management, optimised to meet the rigorous requirements of utility scaling. The system is expected to reduce the owners’ operation and maintenance costs by 30% annually compared to the previous system. New installations are expected to shave 30% off the cost of a new wired monitoring system. “Integrating LoRaWAN technology and solutions brought by Kerlink was a natural choice, as we previously gained significant expertise working with them in our energy-metering projects in Vietnamese cities,” said Tuan Anh Pham, founder of Cloud Energy. Cloud Energy uses advanced technologies and developing tailored Iot solutions for its markets in smart utilities management, smart buildings and smart cities. Based in HCMC, the company provides advanced wireless solutions, including wireless mobile routers and cloud management platforms, optimised to meet the rigorous requirements of utility scaling to provide a best-in-class solar monitoring for energy efficient solutions. “Expanding our focus to potential IoT applications in remote areas allowed us to take advantage of Kerlink’s Wanesy Management Center platform bundled with its secured LoRa Network Server. That ensures that our client’s system and data are monitored 24/7,” Tuan

added.

Wired monitoring systems are expensive to install and challenging and costly to maintain, because employees must be sent to the site for regular inspection and repair throughout the year.A successful deployment of a wireless solar-farm management solution can achieve faster return on investment (ROI) compared to wired solutions using classic data loggers and non-real-time remote access. “Cloud Energy’s success in exceeding objectives set by end-users will pave the way for system integrators and financial institutions to invest in the expansion of smart-farming projects using private network infrastructure,” said Rene Arbefeuille, Kerlink’s vice president for Asia Pacific. He added: “Together, Kerlink and Cloud Energy are helping producers maximise specific and tailored farming production yields, demonstrating

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Tuan Anh Pham, Founder of Cloud Energy

Rene Arbefeuille, Kerlink’s vice president for Asia Pacific

again how LoRaWAN IoT networks are enabling new opportunities in the agriculture sector.”Kerlink Group focuses on end-to-end connectivity solutions for designing, deploying, and operating public & private low power/wide area (LPWA) IoT networks.Its comprehensive product portfolio includes industrial-grade network equipment, best-of-breed network core, operations and management software, value-added applications and expert professional services, backed by strong R&D capabilities. “Smart farming is one of the Internet of Things’ most important vertical markets in Southeast Asia, but it needs the breakthrough innovations that companies like Cloud Energy bring to new fields to reach its potential,” Arbefeuille said. To date, more than 140,000 Kerlink installations have been rolled out with over 350 clients in 70 countries. Based in France, the company has subsidiaries in the US, Singapore, India and Japan. The company specialises in enabling future-proof intelligent IoT connectivity for three major domains: Smart City & Quality of Life – urban operations, utilities & metering, retail & public places, infrastructure & hubs, health; Smart Building & Industry – buildings & real estate, industry & manufacturing, asset monitoring & tracking, and Smart Agriculture & Environment – precision agriculture, cattle monitoring & farming, environment & climate, and wildlife protection. Source: futureiot

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

CHINA

FEDERAL INTERNATIONAL INKS TENTATIVE DEAL WITH CHINA’S SPIC UNIT TO ACQUIRE SOLAR ASSETS FOR REPAIR AND UPGRADE KUALA LUMPUR: Small-cap construction outfit Federal International Holdings Bhd’s joint venture outfit has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SPIC Energy Malaysia Bhd to acquire a stake in some operating solar energy assets.

he MoU was inked between Federal International’s 50%-owned company Warrants RE Assets Sdn Bhd with SPIC Malaysia, “to acquire in part or in whole operating FeedIn Tariff, Net Metering and Large Scale Solar solar farm”, Federal International’s bourse filing read. “The collaboration will focus on the acquisition of solar farm, which would then undergo a process of repair and upgrade under a team led by SPIC. This will help the escalation of the turnaround of the solar farm that has been acquired and help to generate immediate positive cash flow,” it added. SPIC Malaysia is the wholly-owned unit of Chinese utility giant SPIC (State Power Investment Corp), which has 126GW of installed generation capacity through its global presence. Federal International is primarily involved in the construction business, with footprints in furniture manufacturing and interior fit-out businesses as well. Under the MoU, Warrants RE Assets will fund the project, while SPIC Malaysia will provide technical support. Shares of Federal International settled up 4.5 sen or 7.2% at 67 sen, ahead of the announcement on Friday, valuing it at RM82.94 million. Source: theedgemarkets 30

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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CHINA

CHINA: GREEN POWER TRADING GETS AN ELECTRIC START

China Daily via Asia News Network oth corporate consumers and renewable energy generators have welcomed the successful start to China’s pilot scheme for green power trading, which was launched on Sept. 7 by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic regulator. The new system is expected to further boost renewable energy development and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon regime in the country. More than 250 companies from home and abroad took part in green power pilot trading on the first day, purchasing more than 7.9 billion kilowatt hours of green power, which is equivalent to the reduction of standard coal burning by more than 2.43 million tons and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 6.07 million tons. German chemical giant BASF, Hague-based global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell, China General Nuclear Power Group and internet and technology conglomerate Tencent were among the buyers of green power. The regions covered by State Grid Corp. of China saw green power transactions reach 6.9 billion kWh and those covered by China Southern Power Grid, whose business covers China’s Guangdong Province, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Yunnan Province, Guizhou Province and Hainan Province, reached more than 1 billion kWh. As many as 30 companies bought 910 million kWh of green power —300 million kWh from solar energy and 610 kWh from wind power — through the Guangzhou Power Exchange Center alone on Sept. 7.

“To support the sustainable development of new energy, a market mechanism is needed to enhance the cost effiUnder the pilot program, users who have demand for green power will directly trade with wind power and photovoltaic ciency of the low-carbon transition in the country’s power power generation enterprises. Other renewable energy genera- system, and the green power trading system will further tion enterprises will be included in the pilot program gradually, boost renewable energy development.”

the NDRC said. According to Zhang Mianrong, chairman of the Guangzhou Power Exchange Center, the pilot program, which began

According to CGN New Energy Holdings Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Group, the green with wind and solar power, may be extended to hydropowpower trading system will likely generate a reasonable er and other renewable energies in the near future. profit for solar and wind power generators. “The southern parts of China have a solid foundation for developing green power trade, with the solar and wind The company has signed purchase agreements with more utilization rate in 2020 reaching 99.6%,” he said. than 20 companies, including BASF, Shell and Global Data Solutions Ltd. Total trades for green power exceeded 1.97 He said he expects green power trading through the Guangzhou Power Exchange Center will reach 400 to 500 million billion kWh, 25% of the country’s total transactions, the kWh by the end of this year. An analyst said the pilot will tap company said. the potential of market mechanisms and facilitate the country’s efforts to build a power system with new energy as the mainState Grid Chairman Xin Baoan said the company will stay and achieve China’s goals of peaking carbon emissions continue upgrading the trading system by optimizing the by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. power grid dispatching system and adopting advanced technologies like blockchain, so as to record accurate and “The new energy development in China, after progressing rapidly in recent years with installed capacity ranking full information on green power production, transactions, topping the world, is expected to further accelerate in the consumption and other procedures. years to come as the government has been stepping up the construction of a power system dominated by renewable energy,” said Zhu Jianquan, associate professor with the

On the stock markets, shares of companies in wind power and conventional electricity surged in the morning and department of power engineering at the South China University afternoon sessions on Sept. 8. Zhongmin Energy Co. of Technology. Ltd. rose 9.95% to 9.28 yuan ($1.44) and Beijing Jingneng Power Co. Ltd. rose 10.06% to 3.39 yuan.Speech Source: the-japan

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

CHINA

CHINA, PANDEMIC, ENERGY TOP JAPAN’S LEADERSHIP RACE DEBATE

our candidates vying to lead Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party – and replacing outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga – held their first main debate, discussing plans to tackle key issues such as China, the COVID-19 measures, the pandemic-hit economy and climate change and energy. The vote will be held on September 29. The contenders include front-runner Vaccinations Minister Taro Kono, former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, as well as two female candidates — an ultra-conservative former Internal Kono said energy conservation, minimising fossil fuel and Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi and former Gender Equality Minister Seiko Noda, a diversity supporter. Here’s a look at bolstering renewables were his main strategy to achieve some of the candidates’ views on key policy issues debated at carbon neutrality by 2050. If that’s insufficient, safely rethe Japan National Press Club in starting nuclear reactors is unavoidable, he said.

ENERGY

CHINA, TAIWAN

Kono, who has served as foreign and defence ministers, said a possible conflict cannot be ruled out amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region and rising tensions over Taiwan, a self-ruled island China considers as its renegade province to be annexed by force if necessary. He said that Japan wants to use its security alliance with the United States and partnerships with Europe and other democracies to prevent Beijing from taking military action. He said Japan-China ties are also about the economy and people exchanges that require “tough diplomacy.” Kishida said “summits and high-level dialogues are key” for a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue and plans to work with like-minded countries to counter Beijing’s “authoritarian approach.” Takaichi, an anti-China hawk who shares former leader Shinzo Abe’s nationalistic views and historical revisionism, proposed compiling a contingency plan based on a worst-case scenario over a possible China-Taiwan conflict.Noda said Japan is a regional lynchpin for Taiwan’s stability and US-China tensions over trade, technology and human rights. She said Japan should pursue “pacifist” diplomacy based on lessons learned from its World War II defeat.

KOREAS Kishida, as former foreign minister, urged Seoul to take the first step to resolve a row stemming from South Korean court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to Korean wartime labourers.On North Korea, Kishida said he would coordinate with President Joe Biden on steps to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, while seeking other avenues, including talks with the North Korean leader, to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted to the North decades ago. Kono said he would step up missile deterrence and intelligence gathering under the Japan-US security alliance. He too would seek a summit with Kim Jong Un to resolve the abduction issue, a major obstacle between the two countries with no diplomatic ties.

Kono said the nuclear industry doesn’t have much future, and supported phasing out nuclear plants. He opposes Japan’s insistence on nuclear fuel cycles that involve spent fuel reprocessing – the main cause of Japan’s plutonium stockpile.Kishida supported the fuel recycling as a way of delaying a final repository, but Kono said the disposal of massive radioactive waste “is a problem whoever becomes prime minister must tackle.” Takaichi proposed underground compact fusion reactors as a safer and environmental option. Noda believes in geothermal power generation, as well as other renewables such as hydrogen and offshore wind power as part of the ongoing 20 trillion yen ($180 billion) clean energy project over the next decade.

ECONOMY Kono said Abe’s signature “Abenomics” policy only profited major companies but failed to increase income, and that he will address the problem by giving corporate tax incentives to companies that raise salaries. Kishida said he will introduce “new capitalism” of growth and distribution to narrow the disparity caused by Abe’s approach and worsened by the pandemic. Takaichi said she will promote robotics and quantum computer development as Japan’s future growth strategy.

COVID-19 As vaccinations minister, Kono proposed use of digital technology to monitor conditions of COVID-19 patients recuperating at home, while introducing quick test kits for early detection and isolation of patients. Kishida proposed a hefty economic package to stabilise the health care system, while calling for strict social distancing and other measures.Takaichi called for domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines and treatment, and a possible legal change to allow hard lockdowns in case of a future pandemic. Noda proposed a nationwide installment of sub-hospitals that offer supplementary oxygen and antibody cocktail infusions for less serious patients, and financial support for those hit by income or job loss, especially women. Source : AP

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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VIETNAM

GREEN ENERGY: WHAT ASEAN CAN LEARN FROM VIETNAM Like other regions around the world, Southeast Asia is no exception to decarbonising its energy sector, and improving its national energy security – perhaps simply because renewable energy (RE) has become cheaper. The ASEAN Member States (AMS) individually and collectively have set ambitious targets to incorporate RE in their energy system.

n some cases, the deadline to achieve these RE targets is fast approaching. For example, based on the National Energy Plan (RUEN), Indonesia sets a target of 23 percent RE share in their total primary energy supply (TPES) mix by 2025. At the same time, ASEAN as a region, through the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) Phase II also has a 23 percent RE share in TPES target, with a 35 percent target of RE installed power capacity by 2025. Both are still some way off. Indonesia’s RE share in TPES needs to double the rate compared to its level in 2020, while, ASEAN needs a 9 percent increase on 2019 TPES levels and a 1.5 percent rise in Installed Capacity in 2020. In addition to the looming deadlines, other external factors such as major financial institutions’ pledge to drop support for fossil-fuelled power plants will also be likely to accelerate RE penetration. If this energy transition ambition is being followed through – the new variable renewable energy (VRE) power plants such as solar PV and wind will be crucial as the potential sites are generally more widespread and accessible than the more conventional RE such as large-scale hydro or geothermal. However, if large amounts of VRE power plants are built and deployed into the system in a short timeframe without enough preparation in supporting infrastructures such as transmission grid and storage – it risks causing problems to the whole system.

channel due to the striking difference of electricity supplydemand throughout the day and fluctuating power on several complete transmission lines, especially on the 500-kV northsouth transmission line. Furthermore, the sudden uptake of VRE, with the storage that is not dispatchable during flooding season that maximises hydropower output, caused further strain to the grid. The situation was also exacerbated by the plummeted electricity demand due to COVID-19, enlarging the gap between excess supply and actual demand. Natural disaster factor aside, this phenomenon happened partly due to the absence of a rigid indicator of how much storage is needed and grid capacity to balance the intermittency in energy infrastructure. Although the government could turn to coal plants, the lengthy start-up time, rising cost, and environmental issues made this option contradictory to implementing RE. The government ended up planning to curtail about 1.74 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the second half of 2021 as a response to maintain the distribution system.

VRE Solar PV and wind are intermittent, as they are heavily dependent on weather and time of the day, leading to fluctuating electricity output. Meanwhile, the power grid requires the supply and demand of electricity to be equal every time to maintain a stable frequency. For conventional systems, the balancing is done by switching dispatchable power plants such as natural gas and hydro – on or off. As vRE are non-dispatchable, they require energy storage to balance the electricity by storing excess generation during the peak production and low demand for later use. The transmission also must be able to manage and withstand the fluctuation of VRE-generated electricity. Without these upgrades to the system, grid congestion and curtailment of RE-generated electricity could happen, which can cause both blackout and economic losses. In Vietnam, it has seen a staggering eight-fold increase of rooftop solar in 2020 compared to the previous year, driven by the attractive feed-in-tariff (FiT), tax incentives, and land-lease exemption scheme. This is a commendable effort, as it shows that energy transition towards RE is feasible in ASEAN with the right policies. However, this market rush also brought about technical issues: growing overcapacity and overloaded transmission

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PUMPED-HYDRO AS THE ASEAN ENERGY STORAGE BACKBONE Research conducted by the Australian National University (ANU) projected that the required storage if ASEAN goes almost 100 percent RE would be about 45000 Gigawatt hours (GWh). The best way forward is to combine various storage methods that are technically, economically, and environmentally feasible for each area’s context. Building grid-scale lithiumion battery plants is a more commonly adopted option, with the advantage of a short building period. However, the current cost is still relatively high, although it has been decreasing over the years. Furthermore, there’s a growing concern related to the shortage and competition of raw materials for other uses, such as electric vehicles and mobile electronics. Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) is believed to be the best alternative that

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

VIETNAM capability to balance VRE supply through automated tools and ancillary arrangements. Thus, grid capacity integration and new technologies are required. Following the suit of developed nations on digitalisation of energy systems could be the followup steps. By using a more balanced supply-demand approach, rather than the traditional approach – a one-way system where supply meets demand – flattening the consumption peaks is feasible to close electricity gaps. Inadequate, inflexible, and weak existing grid infrastructure can be strengthened by utilising digital technologies such as the smart grid and forecasting electricity demand through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning technologies. Predicting energy demand will enable better energy allocation, which will increase efficiency and avoid losses. From Vietnam’s massive RE growth, other AMS learned that supplementary infrastructure, such as storThe moment significant growth of VRE enters the system age and ample grid, should be planned way ahead and develand storage is available, the limited power transfer capacity oped along with the deployment of vRE. The high upfront cost from production to consumption locations can be eliminated will be needed to achieve these, and challenging development by supplementing and/or upgrading transmission lines and should be anticipated due to the increased complexity of these substations, followed by providing faster and more efficient multi-stakeholders issues. ASEAN should be forward-looking equipment grid operation. It can be done by reinforcing the grid and be better prepared in this ever-changing energy transition operator’s journey towards greener energy. comprehends the requirements mentioned above, which is still yet to be explored further in ASEAN. ASEAN’s PHES potential is exceptionally high, with almost 50 times the required amount for 100 percent RE, or equivalent to two million GWh, according to the Global Pumped Hydro Atlas, due to the abundance of rivers or reservoirs. There are two types of PHES; a conventional on-river system that connects reservoirs on two rivers with different altitudes; and an off-river (closed-loop) system that connects two reservoirs away from the river. Off-river storage would be more promising than the on-river system, with the less environmental impact caused by river damming and long service life of more than 50 years.

WAY FORWARD

Source: theaseanpost

BUILDINGS MAKE THEIR OWN ENERGY WITH SOLAR “I thought it would be great but I was working by myself,” she told AAP. Professor Yang was captivated by the idea construction products could be designed to actually produce energy but no-one in Australia was really talking about it, she says. Over the past decade things have changed and there are now windows, skylights, facades, cladding and roofing products that can harvest the sun’s energy while also replacing traditional building materials. Overseas, FKI tower in Seoul is clad with moving panels that follow the sun’s rays and Chicago’s Willis tower has retrofitted PV glass. Prof Yang now runs RMIT’s Solar Energy Application Lab, with about 20 researchers, and represents Australia on building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) at the International Energy Agency. She keeps a database of more than 300 BIPV products – transparent PV windows that can be coloured or printed on, cladding that can be molded to specific shapes and PV roof tiles that click into place. There are many unknowns – it’s hard to say what the energy-producing potential of a BIPV building might be or to estimate what it could mean for entire cities. “We don’t know what the energy potential of BIPV actually is in Australia,” she said. And although these products are used overseas, Australia is lagging behind Europe and China, despite being a world leader in rooftop solar adoption, Prof Yang says. There are only about 20 non-domestic BIPV buildings in Australia and no figures on the number of BIPV homes. Part of the reason is many BIPV products are manufactured and safety certified overseas, and there’s no testing to show they comply with Australian standards. BIPV also finds itself wedged between two industries – renewable energy and construction – that often don’t see eye to eye. Fire safety is also a “critical issue” for BIPV products in a industry scarred by flammable cladding scandals, although Prof Yang says there are design solutions that mitigate the risk.

Last week she won funding from the Victorian Building Authority to look into BIPV fire risk and compare overseas certifications with Australian standards. The RMIT lab is also hoping for government funding to test various products to see if they can be used locally. Rapid gains in BIPV efficiency means building materials that make their own energy could be widespread within a few years. “I think it is the right time, we are all thinking about how to use it,” Prof Yang said Source: northernbeachesreview

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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VIETNAM

EDIFY GRANTED DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL FOR GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FACILITY AT LANSDOWN ECOINDUSTRIAL PRECINCT Edify Energy has been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production plant of up to 1 GW, as well as a behind-themeter solar photovoltaic and battery storage facility within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville, Queensland.

dify’s initial development involves generating green hydrogen from a pilot scale facility of 10 megawatts and increasing capacity in stages to meet the needs of a growing domestic and export green hydrogen market. Edify Energy Chief Executive Officer John Cole welcomed Townsville City Council’s approval of the development application and said the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct represented a future vision of Australian industry and energy. “We’re very pleased to be a leading player in the establishment of the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct, a blueprint for new age environmentally sustainable industrial ecosystems.” Mr Cole said. “The eco-industrial precinct not only supports the use of natural mineral resources for advanced manufacturing

and production, but also the use of renewable energy from the approved and co-located Majors Creek Solar Power Station, utilising advanced grid friendly technology and storage to dispatch renewable energy when it is most needed. Electricity from renewable sources is an essential part of green hydrogen production and the decarbonising of advanced manufacturing in Australia. “Existing rail and road infrastructure connecting Lansdown to the Port of Townsville makes the precinct an excellent location to lead the renaissance of exporting value-added Australian-made products to global markets. We have long held the view that Townsville is a very good place to create a green hydrogen export industry and meet the growing need domestically and across the world for this emission free fuel.

“The linking of clean electricity generation with the proposed advanced eco-industrial activity at Lansdown, together with the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and opportunities for future proofed careers is what delights us. We will continue to innovate and develop solutions that meets the needs of energy markets and industry. “Our hydrogen development supports the State and Federal Government jobs, industry and long-term post-COVID recovery policies. We look forward to working with Governments, local businesses, contractors, equipment providers, off-takers and capital providers to make the Edify green hydrogen production plant and the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct a success.” Townsville City Council Mayor Jenny Hill states “The momentum continues to build behind the development of northern Australia’s first environmentally sustainable, advanced manufactur

ing, processing and technology estate righthere in Townsville” “Edify’s application is a major vote of confidence in our city, our developing green hydrogen industry and our Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct. “Edify’s desire to establish itself at the precinct supports Council’s ongoing efforts to work with both the State and Federal Government through the Townsville City Deal to get the precinct investment ‘turn-key’ ready as soon as possible.” Cr Hill said the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct had the potential to significantly boost Townsville and North Queensland’s economy for decades. Our large-scale green hydrogen production facility is one of the first in Queensland to receive planning approval. It adds another dimension to Edify’s leadership position in the Australian renewable energy and storage market and places Edify at the vanguard of hydrogen project development. Source: edifyenergy

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MALAYSIA

ASEAN POWER GRID — OPTION FOR S’PORE TO SOURCE GREEN ENERGY Trial to import electricity from Malaysia the first step to larger imports of clean energy from South-east Asian neighbours.

ccording to UOB chief sustainability officer Eric Lim, a regional power grid would save governments the cost of constructing new generation facilities and reduce the need for storage and related services. Clean or renewable energy usually tops the list of changes the world can implement to stave off the worsening effects of climate change. This is because renewable energy sources such as solar and wind do not emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. In Singapore, power generation still accounts for 40 per cent of total emissions. But, to halve its peak emissions by 2050, Singapore will start importing electricity from Malaysia by the end of this year. For a start, it will import 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which would meet just 1.5 per cent of Singapore’s peak electricity demand. The two-year trial to import electricity from Malaysia marks the start of what could eventually be a significant part of Singapore’s energy mix — clean energy drawn from a regional power grid. To diversify and green its energy supply, Singapore wants to reduce reliance on natural gas — 95 per 36

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cent of its electricity is currently generated from this fossil fuel — and tap on three other “switches”: solar energy, emerging low-carbon technologies like hydrogen, and finally, a regional power grid. Singapore’s trial to import electricity, and its decision to finally initiate cross-border trade under the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS-PIP) — both announced late last year — also give fresh traction to long-standing plans for an Asean power grid, first conceived more than two decades ago.

Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said of the two-year trial in a parliamentary speech in March: “This

will also allow us to tap on the abundance of hydropower and other renewable energies that some of our South-east Asian neighbours have.” This (trial to import electricity from Malaysia) will also allow us to tap on the abundance of hydropower and other renewable energies that some of our South-east Asian neighbours have. “But these are just first steps towards a regional grid,” Mr

Tan added.

These trials are meant to help Singapore refine regulatory and technical frameworks in preparation for larger-scale commercial imports from the region.

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MALAYSIA HOW CAN AN ASEAN POWER GRID HELP? The benefits of collaboration across the power markets of Asean — which has been working towards greater economic integration — are clear.

The International Energy Agency’s 2019 report on multilateral power trade in Asean, said: “Regional power system

integration can enhance electricity security, improve the affordability of electricity and scale up the deployment of the region’s abundant renewable energy resources.” The benefits of collaboration across the power markets of Asean — which has been working towards greater economic integration — are clear.

The International Energy Agency’s 2019 report on multilateral power trade in Asean, said: “Regional power system

integration can enhance electricity security, improve the affordability of electricity and scale up the deployment of the region’s abundant renewable energy resources.” As energy demand surges across the region thanks to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, Asean has now set a target of meeting 23 per cent of its energy needs from sustainable, renewable sources by 2025. Things are moving fast. According to the Asean Centre of Energy’s update this month, 82 per cent of the 22 gigawatt (GW) of power capacity added across Asean last year was renewable. And the most significant among the fresh additions were jumps in solar capacity in Vietnam and hydro capacity in Laos. UOB chief sustainability officer Eric Lim says increased cross-border power integration and trade can be an energy solution that is both “economically viable and environmentally friendly”. Explaining his point, he says: “Power interconnection will also help to open up new markets for resource-rich countries, and to provide countries with high electricity demand greater and more affordable access to clean energy.” A regional power grid would also save governments the cost of constructing new generation facilities and reduce the need for storage and other services, he adds. But progress on the Asean power grid has been slow, particularly compared with the progress of other regional electricity grids such as that of the Nordic countries — first mooted at around the same time which are now well established.

Speaking about the slow progress of the Asean power grid, the head of the energy security division at the National University of Singapore’s Energy Studies Institute Philip Andrews-Speed, says: “One of the key political obstacles

has been the apparent preference of Asean member states for self-reliance in power supply.” But this is changing slowly, says Dr Andrews-Speed, who is also a senior principal research fellow at the institute.

FRESH IMPETUS FOR SINGAPORE TO EYE THE REGION When the LTMS-PIP was launched in 2018, Singapore was not part of it. It began with 100 MW of electricity flowing from Laos to Malaysia, through Thailand, and last year the amount being exported rose to 300 MW. So Singapore’s decision last October to initiate cross-border trade under the LTMS-PIP and import up to 100 MW from Laos, is significant. Dr Andrews-Speed to submit documentary proof of carbon output to verify how clean the electricity being imported is. Still, according to Dr Andrews-Speed, it may be another five to 10 years before this energy “switch” supplies a significant part of Singapore’s needs, even if all goes well.

Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng

Head Of The Energy Security Division At The National Philip Andrews-Speed

INFRASTRUCTURE, FUNDING KEY TO POWER GRID After Singapore’s trial power imports from Malaysia, what happens next? According to Dr Andrews-Speed, boosting infrastructure is the first step. “For Singapore to receive substantial power imports, the capacity of the grid connection from Malaysia will need to be substantially increased and connections with Indonesia, for instance Batam, will be needed if Singapore companies build solar photovoltaic plants there. “At a later date, we expect a connection to Australia,” he adds. Solar energy infrastructure company Sun Cable, which is building the world’s largest solar farm in Australia’s Northern Territory, hopes to export power from Australia to Singapore via a 3,500 km undersea cable. Following the electricity import trial, Dr Andrews-Speed expects more Singaporean and other companies building solar capacity in Malaysia to feed this line. What is most needed to spur progress on the Asean power grid, he says, is government support for private enterprises with novel ideas. Local financial institutions are also expanding their financing of sustainable energy projects — through the issuance of green bonds and more. Speaking about UOB’s role, Mr Lim says: “Beyond sustainable financing, we also aim to direct more investments to renewable energy projects and source our operational energy needs from renewable sources in the region to support Asean’s energy transition.” Source: straitstimes

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MALAYSIA

RESERVOIR LINK EXPANDS FOOTPRINT INTO SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESS Reservoir Link Energy Bhd is looking to diversify its business and enter the solar energy business.

n a bourse filing, the group said it has signed a share sale agreement with Lee Seng Chi to acquire a 51% stake in Founder Synergy Sdn Bhd (FESB) for RM21.17 million. This purchase consideration will be funded via RM8.46 million in cash, and the allotment of 18.15 million new shares in Reservoir Link at 70 sen a piece to Lee. The deal is subject to a profit guarantee, where FESB will achieve an aggregate annualised profit after tax (PAT) of RM13.8 million over 24 months after the completion of the acquisition. 30% or 5.45 million shares will be allotted to Lee once the acquisition is completed, with the remainder to be allowed once FESB mets its obligations under the profit guarantee. Upon the acquisition’s completion, FESB will be a 51%-owned subsidiary, with Reservoir Link noting that upon the consolidation of FESB’s results, may result in more than 25% of the group’s future net profit being derived from FESB. “This is derived from the audited consolidated PAT of RLEB Group for financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 of RM11.783 million against RLEB’s share of the expected PAT of FESB of RM3.528 million (being RLEB’s share of the annualised profit guarantee),” it added. It will be balloting shareholders at an upcoming extraordinary general meeting to diversity into the renewable energy (RE) business. As a result of the share issuance under the deal, the group’s share capital will increase to 303.15 million shares, from 285 million currently.

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FESB is a special purpose vehicleset up by Lee to undertake solar RE projects in Malaysia. Under the acquisition, Lee will transfer identified business and assets of Solar Bina Engineering Sdn Bhd (which is fully owned by Lee) to FESB. As such, FESB will be involved in the provision and implementation of solar photovoltaic projects. In a separate statement, Reservoir Link executive director Thien Chiet Chai said the move is line with the group’s mission to expand its footprint into the RE space as its new income stream. “Fossil fuels and natural gas no doubt are crucial sources of energy but diversification into renewable energy is equally important given the group’s initiatives for cleaner and renewable energy. “I believe that this synergistic acquisition will let us continue to increase our value and maximise the returns from our venture into RE as well as to maintain our sustainability, thereby strengthening our capabilities and competitiveness. We are partnering with a reputable solar renewable energy operator with vast experience and track record both locally and regionally. We look forward to an accelerated pace of expansion going forward, as we tap into the enhanced technical knowledge and skilled talent pool of the enlarged Reservoir Link,”

Thien said. At 2.35pm, share in Reservoir Link were trading 1.83% or a sen higher at 56 sen, yielding a market capitalisation of RM158.18 million.

Source: theedgemarkets

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MALAYSIA

A RAY OF SUNSHINE: SOLAR INDUSTRY GETS FRESH PUSH FROM PLI SCHEME

India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

s part of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), India has three quantitative climate change goals viz. reduction in the emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level, achieving about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. While India seems to be progressing well to meet the above commitments, the need to ensure

that reliance on renewable sources of energy has become more important than ever. Indian Government has been undertaking various initiatives for development of non-conventional sources of energy especially electricity. One such initiative was National Solar Mission started back in the year 2010, with a target of generating 20 GW of electricity through solar energy by 2022 and establish India as a global leader in solar energy. The target of 20 GW was later increased to 100 GW. India currently produces around 39 GW of electricity through solar energy (as on February 2021). India also spear-headed the formation of International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative in 2015 along side France. Since then, more than 121 countries have become part of the alliance to collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in line with their needs.

IMPORT LEVIES INTRODUCED BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO INCENTIVISE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION Since 2005, solar cells and modules were exempted from levy of Basis customs duty. But the growth of solar cells and modules manufacturing capacity in China, Taiwan and Malaysia coincided with increasing demand of the same in India led to sharp rise in imports of solar cells and modules in India. Government of India introduced Safeguard Duty (‘SGD’) as below on imports of solar cells and modules (including imports from China, Thailand and Vietnam): The SGD was levied with a view to promote domestic manufacturing and curb imports but domestic manufacturers were not able to benefit from the imposition of these additional duties as the duration was too short (3 years). Also, most of the solar power projects importing modules Source: ET CONTRIBUTORS

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MALAYSIA

got a reim bursement for the levy through a “change in law” condition of PPAs. As a result, an uptick can be observed in the volume of solar cells imported into India. However, due to a steady decline in the price of solar cells, the impact of SGD has been nullified and the value of imports have taken a downturn. In order to discourage imports further, the Indian

Government has proposed levy of Basic Custom Duties of 40% and 25% BCD on the import of solar modules and solar cells respectively starting from 1 April 2022. It may be noted that as these products are a part of the Information Technology Agreement,

PRODUCTION LINKED INCENTIVE FOR SOLAR PV SECTOR – NEED AND OVERVIEW The solar power tariffs continue to hit new lows in the reverse bids conducted and have been on steady decline. This has put pressure on reducing the setup and production cost.

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Since, about 60% to 80% of the cost of setting up a solar power generation plant can be attributed to solar PV cells, there is a need to reduce the procurement cost of the same. Source: ET CONTRIBUTORS

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MALAYSIA LOWET TARIFF/BIDS(₹/KWH)

Source: Mercom India Research The Government, as a part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, has proposed the implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (‘PLI’) Scheme, ‘National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV (Photo Voltaic) Modules’ with an outlay

of Rs 4,500 crores.Introduction of the PLI scheme would provide the needed fillip to the production capacity expansion needed to meet the ambitious target of solar electricity generation set by Indian Government.

Present Installed Solar PV Manufacturing capacity in India is as follows:

Primary considerations for selection of beneficiaries under the PLI scheme is the extent of vertical integration and the manufacturing capacity. The selection process would involve a scoring mechanism and ranking would be provided basis the scores. The total pool of Rs 4,500 crores would be divided among various bidders basis the ranking provided. Higher incentive allocation would be provided to the selected bidders with higher rank. Impetus is being provided towards creating the entire value chain required for manufacturing of solar modules right from polysilicon to modules by providing higher scores based on higher value addition for the modules in India as also providing local value addition as one of the parameters for incentive calculation. Further, there is also a focus on local sourcing of raw material. The eligible incentive would be calculated on the basis of sales volume, efficiency of the module and local value addition. The efficiency of the module would be calculated through a performance matrix. The manufacturer selected under the scheme would be eligible for receiving the incentive over a period of

five years from commissioning. The Government expects additional 10 GW capacity of integrated solar PV manufacturing plants with an investment of around Rs 17,200 crore under the said scheme. It is expected to augment the supply of solar modules and accelerate India towards meeting the target of electricity generation by solar power as also keeping the cost of power generation at minimal levels. To complement the introduction of PLI, the Government has taken measures like BCD imposition on solar cells, antidumping and countervailing duties on other raw materials (like Ethylene Vinyl Acetate sheets, glass, etc) on imports from various countries like China, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. These measures could also aid a long way in creation of manufacturing capacities in India for overall value chain for manufacturing of solar modules and not mere assembly units importing raw materials. Appointing the Empowered Group of Secretaries (‘EGoS’) for monitoring of the scheme is also another positive step proposed in the scheme which would be ensure monitoring and timely implementation of the scheme.

OTHER CHALLENGES FACED BY THE INDUSTRY

taxpayers resolved to establishing their units in the Special Economic Zones (‘SEZs’). However, with the proposed introduction of BCD the incentive of setting up a unit in SEZ has been diluted substantially. With this renewed thrust on making India self-reliant, the government is focussing on building a plethora of lucrative incentives to increase the manufacturing capacity to cater to domestic as well as international market and for sure it would help give Indian manufacturers focus more than ever on the energy sector. Source: ET CONTRIBUTORS

Inverted duty structure under GST Most of the input goods and input services fall under 18% GST rate bracket, while, on the other hand, Solar Modules are taxed at 5%. This difference in the tax rate leads to accumulation of input tax credit on input, inputs services and capital goods. The refund of the accumulated GST credit is available merely for the inputs and the credit on account of capital goods and input services is accumulated. To circumvent the said hindrance,

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

MALAYSIA

RISEN ENERGY TO SET UP US $10.2 BN SOLAR MANUFACTURING PLANT IN MALAYSIA

Risen modules in operation at a 500MW solar project in India.

isen Energy will spend MYR42.2 billion (US$10.2 billion) over 15 years on a new solar manufacturing plant in Malaysia, representing the Chinese company’s first investment in Southeast Asia. The solar cell and module production plant will be built in the state of Kedah, with construction expected to be completed by the end of this year and commercial activities to begin in Q1 2022. It will have an annual production capacity of 3GW for the first five years of operation. Risen Energy president Xie Jian highlighted Malaysia’s strategic location at the core of Southeast Asia as well as the country’s economic growth prospects. “Risen Energy has clearly shown confidence in Malaysia as an investment destination of choice even as the world faces the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. Risen last week revealed that it had secured a deal to supply 480MW of its modules that will be manufactured and assembled in Malaysia and used at a PV project in the US state of Indiana. The firm will provide its 540W and 545W bifacial solar modules to developer Global Energy Generation by the end of 2022. The latest announcement sees Risen join manufacturers such as LONGi, Trina Solar and First Solar in setting up production facilities in Malaysia. Welcoming Risen’s expansion plans, which are expected to create 3,000 jobs, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the investment represents a “key win” for the country. Thanks in part to improved financing incentives and a successful tender policy, Fitch Solutions earlier this year revised its forecast for Malaysia’s solar market, and now expects solar capacity to increase fourfold by 2030 to reach 4GW. Following on from recent tenders – the latest of which was launched last year – the consultancy expects the gov

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Xie Jian, Risen Energy chairman of the board & president

ernment will launch more solar auctions in the coming years, possibly with larger target capacities. By 2025, Malaysia has a target of reaching 20% clean energy in its power mix. This July will see more than 300 industry insiders connect online for the seventh Solar & Storage Finance Asia Summit hosted by our publisher, Solar Media. Taking place from 6-8 July, the event will host more than 50 speakers discussing the latest trends in Asia’s solar and storage investment markets. Source: pv-tech

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Saudi Arabia SINGAPORE

FUTURE-PROOFING SINGAPORE’S GRID SP PowerGrid CEO Jimmy Khoo says Singapore faces common grid challenges yet delivers uncommon solutions. By Melissa Fitzgerald. “We are looking for solutions to mitigate climate change and other challenges, but with the solutions are also opportunities for the energy industry, including the possibility of new business models,” says Jimmy Khoo, CEO of SP PowerGrid. And Khoo, who is also Chairman of Singapore’s chapter of the World Energy Council*, explains that collaboration is key to unlocking these opportunities. “Here and everywhere else in the world, energy companies have to think about what we need to do and come together to help solve the problems of climate change.” A topic that is top of his agenda at the moment and also “very pertinent to the problems we face” is the future of the grid. So why is this such a hot topic? And what are the significant challenges for Singapore and ASEAN as a region?

RELIABILITY IS KEY These are unprecedented times in the power sector. Energy companies face challenges such as continued investments to maintain infrastructure, and upholding reliability while keeping it cost-effective for the consumers. Yet grid operators are also having to understand, embrace and incorporate increasing digitalisation, decentralisation, decarbonisation and electrification – all of which add to the complexity of operating the grid and equipping it for the future. According to Khoo, until now, the key emphasis for the grid has been on reliability. “As one of the world’s most reliable power grids, SP Group has maintained this focus. But the future of energy is geared for transformation, and we have to tackle climate change and the transition to new energy sources. “How do we then focus on what is traditionally expected of the power grid and still cater to the evolving demands of the future?”He says adaptability, knowledge and reliability are paramount to grid optimisation, carrying the grid into its next stage of development. Power companies are currently faced with challenges that operators 50, 25, and even ten years ago could not imagine, let alone manage. Khoo says because available digital tools are increasingly more powerful, addressing the issue of distance, and with greater bandwidth, obstacles preventing the development of the grid are on the brink of being overcome. However, even with the right tools, he says that power companies must ensure reliability still remains the overarching priority. HERE AND EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, ENERGY COMPANIES HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO AND COME TOGETHER TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE SP Group is not alone in having to overcome barriers related to reliability. However, the company aims to empower a sustainable energy future for everyone through reliable power and a smart grid. Khoo believes that new technologies will continue to explore “smartness”, which will lead to further grid optimisation. With so many solutions being created seemingly every day, the grid will continue down the journey of intelligence in a way which defies imagination. For example, Singapore has begun utilising reservoirs in a unique way to fortify the grid with renewable resources. Along with a smart grid, Singapore is committed to becoming more sustainable with the addition of energy storage systems and adding renewable resources to the energy mix with floating solar. The city-state is ahead of the

curve in many ways, but some things are inflexible, such as the amount of open land available. That’s where the city-state needs to become resourceful. “Recently, the Prime Minister visited a 60MWp capacity floating solar farm in Singapore and commented that the island nation will probably do a lot more of this – the concept is really applicable to Singapore because we don’t have much space, so we have to look for new ways of implementing solar energy.” The project will be used to power the island’s water treatment plants, spans 45 football fields, and ties into the country’s installation strategy of at least 2GWp of solar PV capacity by 2030.

ACCELERATING EV ROLLOUT

In addition to the challenges posed by the adoption of digital technologies and the incorporation of renewables into the grid, electrification is a developing global trend. In Singapore, the electrification of transportation has been prioritised with a significant target put in place to accelerate EV adoption. With these changes coming down the line, there will be infrastructure challenges to overcome, including vehicle-to-grid, significant charging infrastructure demand, and the added complications posed by fast charging. I ask Khoo what SP Group has up its sleeve for planning for the full electrification of transportation. Unsurprisingly, he says much of the electrification planning revolves around accessibility and involves grid infrastructure to enable EVs. In respect of Singapore’s electrification targets, Khoo uses the tagline ‘Empowering the future of energy’ as a mantra. In this particular instance, he says, it’s a bit like solving a chicken-or-egg dilemma with what should come first and believes it is a globally common question: whether to start with charging infrastructure or electric vehicles, because they need to go hand in hand. “A couple of years ago, we decided to champion electric vehicle charging, and we’ve been rolling out charging points across Singapore. “At this point in time, we are the largest charging provider with more than 400 points, and we are growing this number. If you follow Singapore energy developments, by 2040 all vehicles or cars will be electric.” THE SMART GRID IS SOMETHING THAT, I BELIEVE, HAS NO SINGLE END-STATE Right now, the focus is on enabling the extensive infrastructure for approximately 600,000 cars to have charging points, allowing movement from point A to point B. “The key focus will be to enable and empower the use of electric vehicles, and the key is creating accessibility. We believe that it is our responsibility to do as much as possible for Singaporeans.” With the vision already set, how then should organisations enable optimisation and, in terms of infrastructure, support many of these green energy early days? “That’s why we believe that we need to understand many of the new technologies by way of experimentation to study the applications and opportunities to implement all this new technology,” Khoo explains. SP Group has allocated funding for research and development to apply innovative technologies to understand the possibilities. Khoo and his team recently launched Southeast Asia’s first trial of vehicle-to-grid integration to test and verify the possibility of using the energy stored in EVs to cater for demand on the grid, and to support the increased demand when Singapore phases out internal combustion engine vehicles. These strategies combined will enable the small city-state to become more innovative and to secure its place as the ASEAN’s electrification leader. Khoo stresses that an intelligent grid that continues to learn is a vital tool needed to facilitate the transformation of the grid. With the incorporation of renewables, smart grids can contribute to combating climate change. The grid in ASEAN has faults just like any other grid. However, the addition of intelligence will not only improve optimisation but also enlighten operators.Nevertheless, the smart grid transformation in ASEAN will not be achieved overnight. “The smart grid is something that, I believe, has no single end-state,” says Khoo. “It will keep evolving. But what will continue to happen is that it will get more and more green and it will become smarter. It’s going to be a journey.”

Source: smart-energy

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

SINGAPORE

HOPE FOR GREEN FUTURE ALSO RESTS ON HARNESSING HYDROGEN, TRAPPING CARBON DIOXIDE

Technologies to produce low-carbon fuel and convert harmful emissions into useful products are critical in transition to clean energy.

ingapore has set aside S$49 million to fund research and development into hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies over the next five years. Hydrogen, that simplest, most abundant element in the universe, has potential to be a gamechanging green fuel for Singapore in the fight against climate change. “For the further, but nottoo-distant future, advancements in technology will increasingly see hydrogen become a key energy resource. It too could become a bedrock of our economy by helping us meet climate change goals and needs,” Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said at the Singapore International Energy Week in October last year. But producing and transporting lowcarbon hydrogen globally has proven costly for mass adoption so far. Also, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies are tricky for a country like Singapore with no known geological formations to permanently store carbon dioxide underground.

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN HYDROGEN AND CARBON CAPTURE?

If either hydrogen or CCUS technologies become more commercially viable, that aids development of the other. An affordable means to capture carbon dioxide would make local production of low-carbon hydrogen more feasible. Access to hydrogen would allow carbon dioxide to be turned into fuel and chemical feedstock. Emerging low-carbon alternatives, hydrogen and CCUS technologies, have been named one of Singapore’s four energy switches. The others are natural gas — which accounts for 95 per cent of Singapore’s electricity — solar energy and regional power grids. The Government has set aside S$49 million to fund research and development in these areas over the next five years. As for the bigger picture, Singapore aims to halve peak carbon emissions to 33 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050 and achieve net zero emissions in the second half of this century. Exploring hydrogen and CCUS technologies is thus part of a broader strategy to diversify its energy supply.

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Saudi Arabia SINGAPORE CHALLENGES OF HARNESSING CLEAN HYDROGEN Cost will limit how soon low-carbon hydrogen can become a significant part of Singapore’s energy mix, says Nanyang Tech-

nological University professor of chemical and biomedical engineering Xu Rong, who is also co-director of the Singapore En-

ergy Centre. But Singapore is heading in that direction. “With significant funding dedicated to the research and development of low-carbon energy, Singapore is moving fast to prepare for a future where hydrogen plays a significant role as a renewable energy vector.” There are different “grades” of hydrogen. The cleanest green hydrogen is made using renewable sources like solar and wind, while blue and turquoise hydrogen — though not entirely carbon-neutral — are produced with methods that emit less carbon than existing grey hydrogen. The target researchers and industry are gunning for is US$2/kg (S$2.68/kg), but with government incentives, a reduction to US$3/kg could be enough to generate “great interest” to switch from natural gas to hydrogen, she adds. Projections from the Hydrogen Council — a global CEO-led initiative to develop the hydrogen economy — and global management consulting firm McKinsey show that by 2030, the cost of renewable hydrogen production could range from US$1.4/kg to US$2.3/kg. Low-carbon hydrogen could break even with grey hydrogen between 2028 and 2034, they say. Electricity generation, the maritime and heavy transportation sectors, and certain industrial processes, are areas Singapore can potentially decarbonise with hydrogen, according to a government feasibility study published in June

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR S’PORE? For Singapore with its limited renewable energy resources, producing green hydrogen will be challenging. This makes the cost of storing and transporting hydrogen even more salient. Hydrogen has a far lower boiling point than natural gas, so commercially viable storage and transport is an engineering challenge — one that Singapore is taking on by exploring different carriers including ammonia, liquid organic hydride carriers and liquefied hydrogen. Large-scale deployment of hydrogen will require the Government to put in place extensive infrastructural support, new regulations and more. Accord-

ing to National University of Singapore associate professor of mechanical engineering Lee Poh Seng, who is also the director

of the Singapore Energy Centre, “The use of hydrogen as a low-carbon energy source…will largely depend on the development of a wider global hydrogen economy. “The associated low-carbon technologies have yet to reach a commercialisation phase, while the global supply chain is not yet developed.” But, hydrogen aside, given Singapore’s refineries, power plants, petrochemical and other industrial complexes, there remains clear value to developing technology that can trap emitted carbon and convert it into valuable products. CCUS technologies in Singapore are being explored via partnerships with companies and countries with suitable geological characteristics.

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These technologies — which trap carbon dioxide and convert it into waste-based feedstock or natural minerals that are in turn made into aggregates for reclamation or building — are already being test-bedded locally. Captured carbon dioxide could also be converted into synthetic fuels and chemicals — such as kerosene and methanol — for use as aviation and marine fuels. “Unlike large countries such as China and the US, we do not have the full set of industries needed to complete the entire CCUS ecosystem,” says Prof Xu. Singapore has thus been pursuing international collaboration and has already inked agreements with New Zealand, Chile and Australia to develop low-carbon hydrogen and low-emissions solutions.

WHY INTEREST IN LOW-CARBON TECH IS GROWING UOB chief sustainability officer Eric Lim says interest in carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies in South-east Asia has been growing in view of its potential contribution to emissions reductions for the region’s energy systems. “There are inherent economic and technical challenges for the region to be mostly or fully powered by renewable energy. The technology will thus be an important pillar in supporting the region’s alignment with climate goals,” he adds. The bank’s interest in these issues is as a financial intermediary which bears responsibility to support the sustainability of the countries in which it operates, and is committed to supporting the development and deployment of low-carbon energy solutions. A report by global law firm Akin Gump last month noted that though Singapore is not among the more than 30 countries that have rolled out hydrogen road maps, it has moved forward with investments in that space. Sovereign wealth fund Temasek’s S$140 million joint venture with Singapore-listed nanotechnologies manufacturer Nanofilm Technologies — announced in July — aims to develop components and solutions to tap on hydrogen for energy. Temasek has also invested in Danish company Haldor Topsoe, which focuses on electrolysis for green hydrogen projects. Private sector consortiums have sprung up too. For example, Keppel Data Centres will look at the viability of a liquefied hydrogen supply chain. Globally, 359 large-scale hydrogen projects have been announced across the value chain. If they come to fruition, total associated investment through 2030 will hit more than US$500 billion, according to an update in July from the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey. Looking at the future of low-carbon technologies, the Akin Gump report says: “We expect Singapore to continue to develop its nascent hydrogen economy while, at the same time, closely monitor developments in other more developed hydrogen societies (such as Japan and South Korea) as these are likely to form test cases as more nations begin to take an interest in hydrogen.” Source: straitstimes

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

SINGAPORE

TEST-BEDDING TECHNOLOGIES CRUCIAL TO ACCELERATING SOLAR DEPLOYMENT: EXPERTS

The world has set its sights on soaking up more sunshine to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but deploying solar panels is not just a matter of plug and play.

olar energy systems often need to be tested first, so they can be fine-tuned before widespread deployment, where mistakes are more costly to fix, said Mr Dustin Smith, executive director of Solar Technology Acceleration Centre (SolarTAC) – a facility in Colorado in the United States that allows the solar industry to research, test, validate and demonstrate solar technologies. “(For) large-scale energy systems, it’s much more complex and much more expensive when you make mistakes, and this facility was put together to sort of be an alternative to sort of rolling out immature technologies and letting your customer test them for you,” he said during a virtual press conference in

“Obviously, the environmental conditions are very different. Therefore, it is important to test whether the reliability claims, and also the warranty conditions by the manufacturer hold true in more extreme climates,”

he told The Straits Times. The Republic may not have a facility like SolarTAC, but Dr Reindl said Singapore has opened itThomas Reindl deputy chief executive of the (NUS) (Seris) self as a “living laboratory” at a very early stage in the deployment of solar panels. He pointed May. While flat panel systems are commonplace now, there to the floating solar system on Tengeh Reservoir, involving 10 are still technologies that are a work in progress. “So it tries to solar-panel islands – about the size of 45 football fields – on be the bridge into the real world, so (companies) can test the water surface. The project has been touted to be one of the things at a small scale, get them revved up and get them world’s largest inland floating solar photovoltaic systems. Dr Removing,” he added. The press conference was part of a virtual tour of US climate innovation, organised by the US indl said government agencies such as industrial developer State Department for foreign journalists. While flat panel systems – where solar panels convert the sun’s rays directly into electricity – are commonplace now, there are still technologies that are a work in progress.One of them is concentrated solar systems, said Mr Smith. This

refers to systems that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. The energy can then be used for other purposes, including generating electricity through conventional steam turbines, said the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in a 2013 policy brief. Mr Smith said: “The challenge with

concentrated solar is that it’s more expensive to manufacture, it’s more complex… and again, whenever you add complexity, you add cost.” But he said concentrated solar

systems could become more attractive in the future, especially for places which may not have space for large solar panel farms. An estimated seven such projects have been test-bedded at SolarTAC over the past 12 years, said Mr Smith. More than

half were successful, although they were still more costly. But, as he noted, “the technology is there”. Mr Smith said bridging technology, or test-bedding and fine-tuning such innovations before roll-out, is important to help the world decarbonise. “It’s easy to say, well, let’s just get off of fossil fuels and be renewable in 10 years… it’s literally impossible to do that,” he said. “We can’t just turn off major industries just because we’ve decided we don’t like those industries. We need to do things in a smart, efficient, tactical way. I think that’s critical.” Solar experts in Singapore

agreed, saying it was critical for solar technologies to be tested in the real world. Dr Thomas Reindl, deputy chief executive of the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (Seris), explained that solar panels are usually made in a one-size-fits-all fashion in terms of the climate they would operate in – meaning that a solar panel that leaves the factory could end up in Alaska or in Singapore.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

JTC are also open to allowing technology providers to testbed novel concepts or products. Under JTC’s SolarLand programme, solar panels can be installed on vacant land, and the generated electricity goes to the national grid. Dr Reindl said institutes of higher learning in Singapore, including NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), are also ready to test-bed novel technologies arising from their own research or from collaborations with industry partners, for example, Singapore-based solar panel manufacturer REC Solar. Seris, for instance, is testing the performance, annual energy yield, and long-term reliability of different technologies on individual module and system levels in four different climates around the world. They are tropical Singapore, desert Australia, and two temperate locations in Germany and China. Professor Subodh Mhais-

alkar, executive director of the Energy Research Institute at NTU, pointed also to a demonstration facility initiated by

the university on offshore Pulau Semakau. Called the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator – Singapore, or Reids, it allows for the testing of solar cells and how they can be integrated with other technologies, including other renewable energy sources from the wind or tides, or with energy storage systems, for instance. Said Prof Subdoh: “Solar definitely needs to be fully characterised for the tropics -not just in terms of temperature but also humidity, cloud cover and corrosion due to proximity to the ocean. The solar spectrum is also different Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, executive due to diffuse lighting and other director of the Energy Research Institute at NTU environmental conditions.” Source: straitstimes

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Saudi Arabia SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE PLACES $1.8 BILLION FOR GREEN INVESTMENTS

At a news conference, Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the funds were placed from Singapore’s official foreign reserves as part of the central bank’s green investment program.

Singapore’s central bank has allocated $1.8 billion with five asset managers as part of moves to protect its portfolio from climate change risks and aid the city-state’s efforts to promote environmentally sustainable projects. Climate change and other green issues are a top priority for many governments, and financial regulators are also changing rules to force companies to better disclose their environmental impact. At a news conference, Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the funds were placed from Singapore’s official foreign reserves as part of the central bank’s green investment program. “We aim to reduce risks to the portfolio across different climate scenarios, seize investment opportunities from the transition to a lower carbon future and support the transition of portfolio companies,”

he said. MAS’ officials said the asset managers, whose names were not disclosed, will manage new equity and fixed income mandates focused on climate change and the environment. They will also set up Asia-Pacific sustainabilty hubs in Singapore and launch new environmental, social and governance thematic regional funds. “This is just the beginning, there is more to come,” said Menon. While outlining the central bank’s inaugural annual sustainability report, Menon said MAS will conduct stress tests on the financial industry by end-2022 under a range of climate change scenarios.

Ravi Menon, Managing Director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

On, the Bank of England launched its climate stress tests for banks and insurers following the world’s first climate stress test run by the Bank of France. Menon said MAS

will consult the industry later this year on mandatory climate-related disclosures by banks, insurers and asset managers to align them to a single, international standard. “Data is the biggest challenge and biggest impediment to green finance. It is the biggest impediment to meaningful disclosures,” said Menon. Source: Reuters

SUNASIA PARTNERS WITH SINGAPORE’S BLUELEAF FOR 1.25-GW SOLAR PORTFOLIO LOCAL renewables firm SunAsia Energy, Inc. said that it had teamed up with Singapore-based Blueleaf Energy to build a portfolio of solar energy projects in Luzon with a target capacity of 1.25 gigawatts (GW). “The partnership coincides with the forecast growth of the Philippine’s solar energy market. The country is increasingly focused on renewable energy and targets the delivery of an additional 10 GW of solar energy by 2030,” SunAsia said in a press release. “Such collaboration is poised to significantly contribute to the achievement of Philippines’ renewable energy goals,” it added.

Solar energy firm Blueleaf has developed and operated nearly 2 GW of solar capacity across the globe, including 250 MW in the Philippines. It specializes in developing, financing, delivering and managing the assets of solar photovoltaic power plants. The venture will bring together Blueleaf’s financial capabilities and technical expertise, as well as SunAsia’s experience in local development. “With BlueLeaf Energy as our partner, we are

in a stronger position today in helping the industry attain the renewable energy targets set by the implementation of the country’s renewable portfolio standards. This

cooperation raises the bar of project development work in the country,” SunAsia Chief Executive Officer Tetchi

Cruz-Capellan said. Ms. Capellan separately told BusinessWorld on Viber that the projects are still in the “co-development stage,” with construction scheduled to take place next year. Sol Proops, Blueleaf’s interim chief executive, said his group is pleased to partner with SunAsia to “drive” the country’s green energy transition. “This marks another milestone as we partner with reliable, strategic local developers to expand the solar industry across Asia,” he said.

Blueleaf is owned by global financial service Macquarie Group’s Green Investment Group. The Philippines has 307 commercial and own-use solar projects with a combined installed capacity of over 1,090 MW as of end-March, latest data from the Department of Energy show. — Angelica Y. Yang Source: bworldonline

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ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

TAIWAN

MPC TO DOUBLE CAPACITY OF NEW SOLAR PLANT BY NEXT YEAR MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Limited and its partners plan to double the power generating capacity at its solar plant in Dominican Republic, a new asset for which the acquisition deal is expected to close by next quarter.

he Monte Plata solar plant will grow its capacity from 34 Megawatts to 74 MW by 2022, a project that MPC told the Financial Gleaner would be financed by Dutch and German development finance institutions FMO and DEG, without disclosing the cost of the expansion. MPC Caribbean partnered with Ansa McAL of Trinidad & Tobago and two other unnamed investors from Dominican Republic and Canada on the Monte Plata acquisition. The price paid to the seller of the plant, United Renewable Energy Company Limited of Taiwan, was also not disclosed. “The purchase price is confidential as agreed between buyers and sellers,” said MPC, which made the acquisition through the MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund. The fund will “indirectly” hold shareholding of some 36 per cent in the solar asset, MPC said.

United Renewable Energy has said Monte Plata I, comprising

34 MW, can generate more than US$7 million in gross revenue annually. “It will not only create electricity revenue of US$7.4 million per year, but also cut greenhouse gas emissions for more than 35,729 tons of carbon dioxide per year,”

United Renewable said in 2018 when it acquired loans of US$38 million FMO and DEG to finance the plant’s construction. MPC says Monte Plata currently sells all of its generated power under a 20-year power purchase agreement to the state-owned Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies. Its operational capacity is estimated at 33.4 MW, “which is set to be extended to approximately 74 MW by 2022”, MPC said in a market filing. Over the course of its operational lifespan, the expanded solar park will help avoid the production of nearly million tons of carbon dioxide, the energy company added. With the acquisition, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund will hold operational solar and wind assets in Jamaica, Costa Rica, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

Source: jamaica

MINISTRY MAINTAINS FEED-IN TARIFFS FOR SOLAR POWER; DEVELOPERS DEMAND HIKE

The economics ministry said the move aims to counter the effects of the pandemic, but developers said the rates reflected outdated data. he Ministry of Economic Affairs is to maintain feed-in tariffs for new solar power installations and grant a three-month grace period for manufacturers to complete their projects, as renewable energy installations have slumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry made the announcement after government officials and industry experts met last week and agreed to extend feedin tariffs to solar power projects that have been approved in the first half of this year. The ministry usually holds two meetings each year to review feed-in tariff rates for solar and other renewable energy power developers. It tended to gradually reduce the tariffs as in other countries, given falling installation costs. A solar power farm operated by Giga Solar Materials Corp is pictured in Tainan’s Syuejia District on March 30, 2018. The ministry said it would keep the feed-in tariff at NT$3.79 to NT$5.67 per unit for solar energy, instead of lowering the rates to NT$3.73 to NT$5.63 per unit. “The level 3 alert to curb infections has affected solar installations in the past two months and could further affect the nation’s progress in reaching its solar energy target,”

the ministry said in a statement.

“To reach the nation’s renewable installation goal and to provide incentives to resume installations, feed-in tariffs are to remain the same,” it said.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

However, solar cell and module manufacturers United Renewable Energy Co, Motech Industries Inc and TSE Corp called for a hike in feed-in tariffs, as solar installation costs have soared over the past year, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported, citing a joint statement by the companies. The costs of steel, aluminum racks, silicon wafers and labor have been rising over the past year, prompting solar energy developers to halt installations to avoid losses, the companies said. Furthermore, feed-in tariffs are not based on current market prices, as the rates are determined by a third-party research institution, which uses outdated price information in its calculations, they said. Solar energy developers urged the ministry to raise feed-in tariffs to reflect higher costs, saying that more solar installation projects would be suspended otherwise, the paper reported. Local solar project developers have seen installation costs jump more than 20 percent, wiping out their profit margin, Photovoltaic Generation System Association chairman Tsai Tsung-rung wrote on Facebook on June 4. Source: taipeitimes

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TAIWAN

B&V SUBSIDIARY DIODE VENTURES CLOSES FINANCING ON GRIZZLY RIDGE SOLAR PROJECT IN TEXAS

An infrastructure development wing of Black & Veatch has gained the financing it needs for a 138-MW solar farm planned in Texas. iode Ventures closed funding round for the Grizzly Ridge Solar Project to be located in Hamilton County near Fort Worth. The project was co-developed with RKB Energy LLC. “Grizzly Ridge is one of the first utility-scale solar projects that Diode developed from the ground up, marking a significant milestone for the company when it comes to pure greenfield development projects,”

said Brad Hardin, president of Diode.

“In Texas, we are seeing more resilient infrastructure development on the horizon to support large-scale energy generation from both renewable and non-renewable sources.” Diode partnered with RKB – a greenfield, utility-

scale solar development company that currently focuses on

the West and Southwestern regions of the U.S. – to assist with co-development activities of the project, from origination to sale. “Diode Ventures has been an excellent partner in the Grizzly Ridge Solar project,” said Robert Schleider, president of RKB. “We are excited to see this project enter the build phase of its life cycle and believe it is a great project for Hamilton County and the State of Texas.” Black & Veatch, one of the nation’s biggest

engineering, construction and consulting firms for the energy industry, created Diode Ventures as a spinoff focused on infrastructure for the commercial, industrial and technology sectors. It has played a role in develop solar projects in Texas, Missouri, Taiwan and Japan. Texas, already home to the largest wind power state in the U.S., could reach 1.6 GW of installed solar capacity by next year, behind only California.

Source: power-eng

NEFIN APPOINTED BY CYBERPORT TO CARRY OUT SOLAR POWER PROJECT

Light-weight panel system provides facility owners with safe options towards carbon neutrality he leading solar photovoltaic (PV) developer and investor in carbon neutrality solutions, NEFIN Group, was appointed by Hong Kong Cyberport (Cyberport) to trailblaze solar PV solutions for its existing facilities. The revolutionary solar panel system overcomes space and loading constraints of most buildings while safeguarding building structure. The project adopts a dual-purpose solar panel system comprising both traditional rigid solar panels and flexible solar panels catered to fit different rooftop loading capacity. The traditional way of setting up rigid solar panels makes use of long plinths or bricks to support the panels on rooftops. However this “counter weight” installation method does not suit all existing buildings. While this method complies with international and local codes and regulations, the weight of the system may exceed the loading limit of a rooftop. The installation also involves direct bolting to the floor to safely secure the panels, which may damage the surface and the water proofing layer of rooftops. This project has adopted an innovative approach to installation. By directly fixing the flexible PV panels to the roof surface, wind-load and dead-load are significantly reduced, allowing for the full utilisation of the available structural loading of the roof and hence, maximize the overall solar plant capacity. This is a convenient and innovative alternative for corporations seeking renewable energy solutions and carbon neutrality. Each of the low reflectance PV panels utilised in the Cyberport’s solar power system carries multiple sensors that measure solar radiance and environment changes. These sensors collect scientific data to measure system performance which can be further utilised to develop an advanced monitoring system, facilitating the development of environmental

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technology and renewable energy in Hong Kong. Chief Execu-

tive Officer of NEFIN Group, Mr Glenn Lim, commented, “This particular type of solar PV system provides a convenient carbon neutrality solution for facility owners who were once hindered by space constraint. It is particularly suitable for corporations that are focussed on corporate social responsibilities and ESG commitment.” Covering two upper roofs and an accessible roof of Cyberport 4, the solar power system is expected to generate power of 66,000 kWh each year, equivalent to offsetting 46,860 kg of CO2 emission, or driving an electric vehicle for 365,000 km. NEFIN Group is a regional renowned carbon neutrality solutions provider and investor with a bespoke unified energy management platform committed to achieve carbon neutrality for organizations. Founded by a core management team of DuPont Solar Business, the management team has grown into a wellrounded team of engineers, legal experts, investment bankers and techno-commercial experts with the combined experience of over 40+ years of project development in Asia and 50+ years of engineering experience. NEFIN Group has collectively delivered over 300MW of utility-scale, commercial, and industrial rooftop solar systems regionally. As a strong cohesive team, NEFIN Group is able to offer a comprehensive 360-degree assessment and full-suite of services on socially responsible and commercially viable projects through innovative approaches to technology under its unified energy management platform. NEFIN believes the future of the world is everyone’s responsibility and strives to redefine energy boundaries towards a sustainable future. Please refer to NEFIN’s website www.nefinco.com for more information. Source: taiwannews

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

TAIWAN

TOTAL MAKES BIG CLEAN ENERGY MOVES IN TAIWAN AND EUROPE Total is acquiring a 23% stake in Tawian’s Yunlin Holding GmbH, which owns an offshore wind farm being built off the coast of Taiwan, 200km southwest of Taipei.

lso, the energy giant has entered into a €515 million ($620.9 million) deal with EDP, thereby acquiring around 2.5 million residential contracts in Spain. By investing heavily in renewable energies, as well as expanding its electricity retail business, the company is further aligning itself with decarbonisation policies and moves closer to its net zero targets. Total has reached an agreement with renewable energy company wpd to acquire a 23% stake in Yunlin Holding GmbH which owns an offshore wind farm being built off the coast of Taiwan, 200km southwest of Taipei. The 640MW offshore wind project has secured a 20year power purchase agreement with state utility Taipower of $250/MWh for the first 10 years and $125/MWh for the following 10 years. The project will have sixty 8MW wind turbines and is set to be completed in 2022. Once online, the farm will produce 2.4TWh of capacity per annum, enough energy to power 605,000 households. Other owners of the project include wpd (47%), EGCO (25%) and Japanese investors Sojitz Corporation, ENEOS Corporation, Chugoku Electric Power, Chudenko Corporation and Shikoku Electric Power who owns a 27% stake. The project is expected to help Taiwan to reach its goal of generating 20% of its energy from renewables by 2025. Total plans to expand its offshore wind energy business in Taiwan owing to the untapped renewable energy potential the region has. Stéphane Michel, President Gas, Renewables & Power at Total, said: “This agreement provides Total with an opportunity to gain a foothold in one of Asia’s main offshore wind markets and strengthens the Group’s position in this fast-growing segment, in line with its strategy of profitable development in renewables worldwide.

“Taiwan has been a pioneer in developing offshore wind power in Asia, and we are proud to contribute to the transformation of its energy mix. We are delighted to enter into this first partnership with wpd, one of the leading independent developers of offshore wind power.”

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

Patrick Pouyanné the CEO of Total

TOTAL IN CLEAN ENERGY RETAIL

Total also wants to engage itself in energy distribution which is in line with the company’s energy transition strategy. Total has entered into a €515 million ($620.9 million) deal with EDP. The deal made Total the 4th largest gas and electricity utility in Spain, due to acquiring around 2.5 million residential contracts. This came after the energy giant entered the Spanish solar market in February 2020 with the acquisition of a portfolio of almost 2GW of renewable power projects, Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of Total, said: “With this deal, Total will reach 8.5 million gas and power customers in Europe from 2021, on track with its ambition to serve over 10 million customers by 2025.” In late April, the energy company announced that it has increased its gas and electricity B2C and B2B customers to more than five million in France. Total gave credit to the milestone to its new green energy offering as the company seeks to accelerate the country’s energy transition through the provision of affordable and clean energy to its customers at affordable tariffs. Source: powerengineeringint

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TAIWAN

SOLARVEST EYES HIGHER EXPOSURE IN ASSET OWNERSHIP FOR RECURRING INCOME SOLARVEST Holdings Bhd, a solar turnkey engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) solution specialist, is making its debut as an asset owner in the fourth cycle of the large-scale solar programme (LSS4).

olarvest was one of the bidders who recently won the government’s tender to develop LSS4, where it is to provide a cumulative capacity of 50 megawatts (mw) via three solar plants. Being an asset owner, Solarvest will own, operate and maintain a 25MW solar farm to be constructed in Manjung, Perak, a 12mw solar farm in the same district, as well as a 13MW solar farm in Kuala Selangor. As Solarvest embarks on the asset ownership business model, executive director Edmund Tan Chyi Boon says the group is now aiming for more such projects, which will provide stable earnings streams over the long run. “We are targeting to increase our exposure in asset ownership on a yearly basis. Including our first 50mw in the LSS4, we aim to build a solar assets portfolio of about 200mw within the next three years. We hope the asset ownership projects will make up 30% of our group’s net profit by 2023 or 2024, and subsequently, increase further to 50% as early as 2025,” he tells The Edge in

an interview.

Solarvest expects an annual earnings contribution of RM8 million to RM9 million from the three solar plants under LSS4, which are expected to be operational by end-2022 or 2023. The recurring income will contribute positively to the group’s financial performance during the entire tenure of the 21-year power purchase agreement, which is expected to end in 2043. While EPCC will remain the company’s bread and butter, CEO Davis Chong Chun Shiong says the recurring income generated from asset ownership projects is equally important. “With a passive income of RM8 million to RM9 million every year as our base, that will cover most of our expenses in other areas.” Solarvest saw its net profit decline 17% to RM9.84 million in the nine months ended Dec 31, 2020 (9MFY2021), from RM11.85 million a year ago. Its revenue also dropped 20% to RM161.12 million compared with RM202.08 million in 9MFY2020. The weaker financial performance was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the movement restrictions implemented by the government, which resulted in the suspension of work at sites, at a time when most LSS projects had been completed. Shares of Solarvest have gained 25% year to date, closing at RM1.54, giving it a market capitalisation of RM976.29 million.

VENTURE INTO TAIWAN

To achieve higher exposure in asset ownership for recurring income, Solarvest will not only be relying on the LSS4 but will also venture abroad. “Our priority is to go to Taiwan. Currently, we are eyeing a 40mw floating solar project there. We plan to go in with a local partner,” says Tan. Solarvest is undertaking a power system study with state-owned utility firm Taiwan Power Co. The group has also issued a project bond to the Ministry of Finance (Taiwan) to get the rights to use government land. “Unlike Malaysia, Taiwan doesn’t really have a LSS programme. The Taiwanese government is very careful about the environmental impact. We need to bid for the government land that has already been allocated for solar purposes,” he explains.

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Taiwan has set a goal to achieve 20% renewable energy in its generation mix by 2025, as the island hopes to generate a total of 20Gw solar power in the same year. So far, says Tan, Taiwan is only generating about 4GW to 5GW, which means there will be plenty of opportunities for Solarvest. “In fact, we think the Taiwan market can be potentially bigger than Malaysia. It is a good time for us to gain a foothold in Taiwan. Out of the 20gw, we hope to develop 1gw in Taiwan. But it doesn’t mean that we will own the whole 1gw. We will participate as an asset owner or co-developer,” he adds.

EPCC JOBS FROM LSS4

Solarvest managing director Lim Chin Siu says the company is in a favourable position to fulfil the requirements and financial close for the bids, backed by its robust financial strength.It recently raised RM38.7 million from a private placement of 32 million new shares at an issue price of RM1.21 per share, bringing its cash in hand to RM80.3 million. As at Dec 31, 2020, Solarvest’s net cash position stood at RM64.3 million with a gearing ratio of 0.1 time. It is worth noting that in the previous rounds of LSS, Solarvest had been making submissions for its clients to participate as co-developers, but the company’s main objective at the time was more of trying to get their clients’ EPCC jobs when they won. However, in LSS4, Solarvest decided to submit tenders for asset ownership in the LSS programme on its own for the first time. Its average bid for LSS4 was around 22 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh). Lim estimates that the costs for the three LSS plants will be around RM160 million to RM170 million. These projects will be funded by 20% equity — through private placement exercises — while the remaining 80% will be financed by term loan or sukuk. “Again, being an asset owner and EPCC all by ourselves, we would be able to put cost advantage into the project’s internal rate of return (IRR), which we are confident of achieving 10% to 12%. As for the equity’s IRR, we are talking about 16% to 18%,” he says. Chong points out that for the LSS4 alone, Solarvest is targeting to secure at least 265Mw to 300Mw of EPCC jobs — from eight to 10 projects — which are worth around RM600 million to RM800 million over the next three to 12 months. “We are confident of securing these EPCC jobs because we submitted the tender for them, and we have the first right of refusal to take on the projects,” he

says.

Source: theedgemarkets

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

THAILAND

BGRIM EQUIPS DAIRY WITH SOLAR HARDWARE PART OF FIRM’S CLEAN ENERGY AMBITIONS.

Grimm Power Plc (BGRIM) is installing rooftop solar panels with a capacity of six megawatts for Alaska Milk Corporation, the largest dairy manufacturer in the Philippines, as part of its plan to grow its solar power business. The company set a goal this year to install rooftop solar panels with generation capacity totalling 100MW for factories and commercial buildings. A 6MW rooftop solar panel project at Alaska Milk Corporation in the Philippines is part of BGRIM’s business expansion in clean energy overseas. BGRIM president Harald Link said the company wants to tap into growing demand for clean energy resources this year, both domestically and internationally.

BGRIM also signed a memorandum of understanding and a power purchase agreement with real estate giant Al Madina Group in Oman for a rooftop solar power development project, with installed capacity of 30MW. In Thailand, BGRIM has various customers in the rooftop solar power segment, including Dental Innovation Foundation under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King, Thammasat University, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Bangkadi Industrial Park in Pathum Thani. Alaska Milk Corporation factory with solar rooftop power generation system installed by B.Grimm Power. Alaska Milk Corporation is the largest dairy producer in the Philippines under Royal Friesland Campina

“Our move is part of an effort to protect the environment through development of clean energy, and our goal is to increase the proportion of clean energy usage,” said

Mr Link.

Alaska Milk Corporation is operated under Royal FrieslandCampina NV, a Dutch multinational dairy cooperative. Alaska Milk Corporation agreed to have BGRIM install rooftop solar panels in two phases. Panels with a capacity of 3MW began operating in February 2021, with another 3MW of capacity scheduled to begin operations in December. Last month, BGRIM began installation of rooftop solar panels with a capacity of 5.67MW for subsidiaries of Republic Biscuit Corporation, a leading food producer in the Philippines.

NV. As of March, power generation capacity from all fuel types in BGRIM’s portfolio stood at 3,682MW. Gas fuel made up 2,560MW, rooftop and on-ground solar energy made up 861MW, hydroelectric power made up 133MW and wind power 16MW. Some 112MW came from waste-to-energy and hybrid fuel development projects. BGRIM senior executive vice-president for legal and business development Peradach Patanachan said energy demand is shifting towards clean resources as organisations move to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Source: bangkokpost

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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THAILAND

GUNKUL TIE-UP FOR SOLAR PANELS Gunkul Engineering, a renewable energy developer and constructor, and Origin Property — both SET-listed companies — are forming a joint venture to install rooftop solar panels and directly sell electricity at inexpensive rates to households in residential areas.

The new business aims to provide clean energy to homeowners as well as raise awareness about global warming, caused by high levels of carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels. Gunkul and Origin Property agreed to set up Origin Gunkul Energy Co with registered capital of 1 million baht to provide solar power service and develop charging outlets for electric vehicles (EVs). The two companies are in the process of endorsing a joint venture agreement, said Origin Property chief executive Peerapong

Jaroon-ek. Gunkul is investing via its unit Future Energy Cor poration. The new business is scheduled to launch in the third quarter this year, according to the companies’ statements sent to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Mr Peerapong said this business is in line with a global trend towards use of cleaner energy resources to reduce carbon emissions and deal with climate change. Gunkul also wants to administer private power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are usually made between private electricity producers and owners of factories or commercial buildings, in the housing segment.

A private PPA lets business operators buy electricity from energy firms other than the state power distributors. Under a private PPA, Origin Gunkul Energy expects to install rooftop solar panels and sell electricity generated by solar power to house or condominium owners at a lower tariff rate than is charged by the state grid, said Mr Peerapong. This type of service should be appealing to customers who cannot afford to buy a complete solar power system to generate their own

electricity, yet want to play their part in the fight against climate change, he said. Origin Gunkul Energy also plans to design a peer-to-peer power trade platform to facilitate the activity among homeowners at auction prices. Gunkul chief executive Somboon Aueatchasai said the new business supports the company’s expansion under private PPAs, which currently provide power generation capacity of 70 megawatts.

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Source: bangkokpost

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

SOUTH KOREA

SOUTH KOREA SEEKS BIDS FOR LARGESCALE SOLAR TO MEET 2030 TARGET

South Korea will launch its largest-ever solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in July when it will offer 2 GW of capacity. An extra 2GW could also be offered later this year.

South Korea needs to boost its renewable energy sources as it seeks to end coal power South Korea will launch its largest-ever solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in July when it will offer 2 GW of capacity. An extra 2GW could also be offered later this year. “The country is likely to open another 2 GW auction in the second half of the year as it races to meet its ambitious solar target of over 30 GW by 2030,” consultancy Rystad Energy said in its latest report. Rystad Energy estimates the total investment needed to hit South Korea’s solar target is over $15.2 billion by the end of this decade. Rystad expects large-scale solar projects will attract more bids from developers than small-scale ones, which have so far supported installations across the country, as a new category for 20 MW projects and above was introduced. “As South Korea’s PV project pipeline to the end of the decade is currently short by almost 7 GW, this new category – designed to support large-scale PV development – is necessary for the country to achieve its solar goals,” said Rystad.South Korea had installed 15.6 GW of solar PV by the end of 2020, mostly from small-scale projects of up to 3 MW of capacity. Installed large-scale solar made up just 2.5 GW at the end of last year. Meanwhile, the country held 8.3 to install 12 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. GW of capacity in the pipeline at the end of April from projects at various stages of development, calculated Rystad. Still, the country requires an extra 6.8 GW of capacity to meet its 30.8 GW goal by 2030.

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

“This target could potentially be best achieved with largescale solar projects developed on the back of the upcoming tender’s newly introduced category,” said Rystad. “The upcoming tender is part of President Moon Jae-in’s Green New Deal initiative, which aims to increase the auctioned capacity and subsidy budget for solar PV, as the technology is expected to help replace coal power generation when it’s phased out by 2034,” added the consultancy. Renewables make up 6.7% of South Korea’s power generation, and the government aims to increase this share to 20% by 2030. But while more than 15 GW of solar capacity has been installed, onshore and offshore wind projects have stalled. For instance, onshore wind installed capacity at the end of 2020 was just 1.4 GW, with around 6.3 GW of projects in the pipeline, reported Rystad. “The technology is struggling to grow due to land and environmental constraints. It currently takes about four years for an onshore wind project to receive development approval, while approval for solar PV projects takes about a year,” said the consultancy. Offshore wind, while in early stages of development, appears more promising as investments of up to $43.2 billion have been lined up by the government to develop an 8.2 GW project off the coast of Jeonnam province. This development is part of a target to install 12 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. “To increase the share of renewables in South Korea’s power generation, the government should update its approval process to allow for faster commissioning of more, large-scale solar and wind farms,” advised Rystad. Source: energyvoice

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SOUTH KOREA

SOUTH KOREA TO SPEND $40 BILLION ON WORLD’S BIGGEST FLOATING WIND FARM

Just three months after the South Korean government announced it was building the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, it has now announced a new ambition : to build the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm.

ccording to reports in Hong Kong newspaper The South China Morning Post, the new wind farm will cost $US32 billion ($A40 billion) with a generation capacity of 6 gigawatts. That’s about three times the capacity of Australia’s largest coal plants. It adds to the 8 gigawatts of wind capacity announced in February. While that wind farm is planned for South Korea’s south west coast, the latest project will be off the coast of the industrial city of Ulsan in the south east of the country. President Moon Jae-in said the project would be funded by a mixture of public and private finance. He said it would generate enough electricity to power 5.7 million homes and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 9 million tonnes a year. “Sea winds are like carbonless petroleum in the 21st century. Large scale offshore wind farms will bring us a short cut to achieve carbon neutral and provide us with new growth engines,” the SCMP quoted Moon as saying. Floating offshore wind remains by far the rarest and most expensive form of wind power. However, recent projects including the Hywind project off the coast of Scotland and the Windfloat project off the coast of Portugal show it can be done. A recent report in academic journal Nature Energy predicts floating solar could make up a quarter of all offshore developments by 2035. While traditional fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines rely on relatively shallow water – up to 50 or 60 metres – floating wind has no such limitations, massively opening up potential sites. It also means they can be built beyond the horizon from the shore, reducing the risk of complaints. The massive announcement

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is further evidence the South Korean government is serious about meeting its goal of net zero by 2050, part of a Green New Deal that also promises to phase out coal and build 16 gigawatts of new wind capacity. At US President Joe Biden’s leaders climate summit last month, President Moon Jae-in also announced his country would end all funding of overseas coal projects – a big move as South Korea has until now been a lifeline for coal mining companies that couldn’t secure funding or insurance in other markets. But despite South Korea’s promises, the country remains extremely dependent on coal and gas. Renewables generated just 5 per cent of the country’s electricity in 2019, with wind and solar contributing less than 3 per cent. Its carbon emissions continue to rise, and are currently more than two and a half times what they were in 1990. South Korea plans to shut down 30 coal fired power stations by 2034, 24 of which would be turned into gas plants. It also plans to increase its renewable capacity to 42 per cent of total generation capacity by 2034.

Source: reneweconomy

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

INDONESIA

IMPROVING INVESTMENT CONDITIONS COULD MAKE INDONESIA A WORLD LEADER IN CLEAN ENERGY, SAYS OECD Indonesia could become a world leader in clean energy with further reforms to mobilise investment in renewables and energy efficiency, according to a new OECD report.

he OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Policy Review of Indonesia says Indonesia has abundant untapped potential for finance and investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, areas that are key to accelerating the country’s green energy transition and supporting a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Reforms to create a clear and consistent regulatory environment for renewables, for example by using competitive tenders to foster competition and cost reductions, could help to address this investment shortfall. The recent introduction of the country’s first energy performance standards should drive further uptake of efficiency solutions. “The clean energy sector will play a crucial role in supporting Indonesia’s green recovery,”

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said,

presenting the report alongside Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto at a virtual launch event. “Creating a sound, transparent and predictable regulatory environment is key to attract the hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment needed to drive Indonesia’s clean energy transition, and the country’s green recovery more broadly.” With its sprawling volcanic geography, Indonesia’s potential to generate geothermal and hydropower ranks among the largest in the world. Opportunities for tidal and solar energy are also substantial.However, investment in renewable

energy has so far fallen short of the level Indonesia needs to reach its 2025 clean energy targets, due in part to regulatory bottlenecks. As of 2019, Indonesia had utilised less than 2% of its total renewable energy potential. Indonesia’s energy services market is largely limited to small engineering firms, the Review says, and fossil fuels continue to dominate power investment, where for every dollar invested in renewable electricity generation in 2019, three dollars were invested in coal power. This is despite the fact that the cost of renewable technologies is generally competitive, particularly compared to the diesel generators that are ubiquitous outside the Java region. The Review recommends that Indonesia use the period of post-pandemic recovery as an opportunity to shift away from fossil fuels and embark on a low-carbon path. Widening corporate access to renewables would also help to make Indonesia a more competitive investment destination, as companies continue to pledge more climate action. Further incentives are needed, however, and public authorities can lead by example, for instance by building upon recent efforts to procure highefficiency street lighting. Assistance from the international community can also play a key role in helping Indonesia to accelerate its clean energy transition. International partners can help develop a robust pipeline of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, for example by providing technical assistance for training and capacity building aimed at certified investmentgrade energy audits. Leveraging blended finance mechanisms such as the SDG Indonesia One Fund can also help to mobilise private capital for clean energy projects in Indonesia.

Source: hellenicshippingnews 56

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

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INDONESIA

BPPT FOSTERS INNOVATION IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

he Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology Indonesia (BPPT) has pushed for innovation in the development of alternative energy to support the availability of clean and environmentfriendly national energy. “The BPPT is ready to seek innovations in the field of renewable energy with all stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem,” the agency’s head, Hammam Riza, noted in a statement. Riza pointed out that national development constantly involved the electric energy sector to meet the declining availability of fossil fuel sources. Hence, the development and utilization of renewable energy is important for the government in maintaining energy availability. As one of the Non-Ministerial Government Institutions (LPNK) under the coordination of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, the BPPT supports alternative energy development programs in accordance with the National Energy General Plan (RUEN) that serves as the basis for the government for managing energy in the country. The BPPT has made various technological innovations to develop alternative energy, comprising waste power plants, biogas power plants from palm oil waste, and the production of 30-percent biodiesel fuel, or B30, in order to reduce the imports of diesel oil. Moreover, the BPPT has conducted various

studies and technological applications in the electricity sector, such as the engineering of smartgrid systems for buildings and fast charging stations to support electric vehicles that are integrated with solar power plants as an alternative energy source. “I am optimistic that the mastery of technology can provide benefits for the development of alternative energy in Indonesia,” Riza remarked. He pointed out that the BPPT is also developing the capacity of the national electricity industry, so that the development of new and renewable energy can increase significantly. Meanwhile, Indonesia remains committed to achieving a clean energy mix of 23 percent by 2025. Currently, the share of new and renewable energy utilization in the national energy mix has only reached 11.2 percent. Based on data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in 2020, the new and renewable energy generation capacity in Indonesia still reaches 10,467 megawatts (MW), comprising 3.6 MW of hybrid power, 154.3 MW of wind power, 153.8 MW of solar power, 1,903.5 MW of bio power, 2,130.7 MW of geothermal power, and 6,121 MW of hydropower. The government has set a target of five-percent growth in the new and renewable energy generation capacity or nearly 978 MW for 2021. One of the strategies adopted in the energy transition process is replacing energy sources having high emissions with loweremission energy sources, for instance, by optimizing natural gas and solar utilization rather than coal. Source: en.antaranews

INDONESIA’S KRAKATAU STEEL TO BUILD 40 MW FLOATING SOLAR POWER STATION State-owned steelmaker Krakatau Steel plans to build a 40 megawatt (MW) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) power station in Banten to power the operations of its water treatment subsidiary, PT Krakatau Tirta Industri (KTI).

TI signed a US$14 million deal on Monday (April 5) with energy company Akuo Energy Indonesia, a subsidiary of Paris-based Akuo Energy SAS, to develop the floating station on its water reservoir in Cilegon, Banten. Krakatau Steel president director Silmy Karim said the power station would have a 16 MW capacity by 2022 that would cut power bills by Rp 7.8 billion ($537,352.92) annually. The capacity would be raised to 40MW by an unspecified date. “This partnership is the start of our next business development project in renewable energy with Akuo Energy SAS. This will generate added value for the Krakatau Steel Group that is in line with improving the competitiveness of Krakatau Steel and its attention to emissions reduction, ” Silmy said, as quoted in a news release. Krakatau Steel booked a US$74.1 million profit in the first quarter of 2020 – its first profit in eight years – after taking several cost cutting measures, including slashing energy bills, reducing spare parts costs and laying off employees. The steel industry is one of the most pollutive industries in the world, contributing 2.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide (Gt CO2) annually, compared

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to the chemical industry’s 1.2 Gt CO2 and the cement indus try’s 0.8 Gt CO2, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) data. Company representatives sign a deal to develop a 40MW floating solar power station in Banten on April 5,2021. Krakatau Steel’s planned solar plant is larger than those of many other big companies, including Coca Cola Amatil’s 7.34 MWp solar rooftop in West Java and Danone-AQUA’s planned 15.6MWp solar rooftop in Central Java. “This agreement can open up horizontal business exploration to develop a [domestic] green steel industry that has a very lucrative market in Europe, ” said Akuo Energy Indonesia director Refi Kunaefi in the statement. Akuo Energy SAS has developed 1,400 MW worth of renewable energy in 18 countries, including the United States, France, Poland, Australia, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Uruguay and Morocco. Indonesia plans to have renewable energy account for 23 per cent of the country’s energy mix by 2025, but last year, the share was only 11.51 per cent, and many studies predict the country will miss the target. With the country aiming to increase the use of green energy, state-owned electricity company PLN started developing a 145 MW floating solar plant in West Java in December. It is the largest such facility in the pipeline in Indonesia. – The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network Source: thestar

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021

INDONESIA

SOLAR CANALS COULD SAVE WATER, CREATE RENEWABLE ENERGY, FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

Installing solar panels over California’s 4000 miles (6,350 km) of canals could generate less expensive, renewable energy, save water, fight climate change.

ew research shows that ‘solar canals’ could reduce evaporation and save upwards of 63 billion gallons of water annually while providing approximately 13 gigawatts of renewable power for the state. The water savings would be comparable to the amount needed to irrigate some 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of over 2 million people. And the electricity generated would be equivalent to about one-sixth of the state’s current installed capacity or roughly half the projected new capacity needed by 2030 to meet the state’s decarbonization goals. The new study, conducted by researchers from the University of California, Merced, and UC Santa Cruz, presents an analysis that quantifies the economic feasibility of building a solar canal system in the state by utilizing one of the world’s largest water systems, which supplies over 27 million citizens with vital water resources. “We were surprised by the significant evaporation savings, which we project to be as much as 82%,” said Dr. Brandi McKuin, report lead author. “That amount of water can make a significant difference in water-short regions.” Because the solar panels shade the canals from direct sunlight, McKuin added, they can not only mitigate evaporation but also reduce the growth of aquatic weeds and reduce maintenance costs for operators. The evaporation that does occur, however, has the added benefit of cooling the solar panels above the waterway, thereby increasing their efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity. The UC Solar AquaGrid study comes at a time when there is a growing urgency for shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy. California is calling for 50% of California’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and all gas-powered

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Brandi McKuin, a postdoctoral researcher in environmental

studies vehicles to be phased out by 2035. This study is a “modeling exercise” to show the potential of this idea; however, McKuin hopes this analysis will inspire utilities, as well as state and federal agencies, to test it out on the real waterways. “What is most compelling about this study is when you tally up the multiple benefits,” comments the report coauthor Roger Bales. “Solar over canals represents the sort of shift in thinking that California and the world need as we transition our economy and infrastructure to a fossilfree, sustainable future.” The analysis shows that adding solar coverings above canals that run across ‘already disturbed land’ means developers can avoid protracted environmental permitting and right-ofway issues so systems can be deployed more quickly and cost-effectively.The concept of “solar canals” has been gaining momentum around the world as climate change increases the risk of drought in many regions. A “canal-top” solar power plant has already been successfully built in Gujarat, India, where solar panels covering a stretch of 750 m of a canal cost over $18 million to build in 2015. In other locations, floating solar panels have been installed on reservoirs and lakes around the world in places such as Japan and Indonesia. Source: inceptivemind

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INDONESIA

IMPROVING INVESTMENT CONDITIONS COULD MAKE INDONESIA A WORLD LEADER IN CLEAN ENERGY Indonesia could become a world leader in clean energy with further reforms to mobilise investment in renewables and energy efficiency, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Policy Review of Indonesia says Indonesia has abundant untapped potential for finance and investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, areas that are key to accelerating the country’s green energy transition and supporting a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Reforms to create a clear and consistent regulatory environment for renewables, for example by using competitive tenders to foster competition and cost reductions, could help to address this investment shortfall. The recent introduction of the country’s first energy performance standards should drive further uptake of efficiency solutions. “The clean energy sector will play a crucial role in supporting Indonesia’s green recovery,” OECD SecretaryGeneral Mathias Cormann said, presenting the report alongside Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto at a virtual launch event. “Creating a sound, transparent and predictable regulatory environment is key to attract the hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment needed to drive Indonesia’s clean energy transition, and the country’s green recovery more broadly.” With its sprawling volcanic geography, Indonesia’s potential to generate geothermal and hydropower ranks among the largest in the world. Opportunities for tidal and solar energy are also substantial. However, investment in renewable energy has so far fallen short of the level Indonesia needs to reach its 2025 clean energy targets, due in part to regulatory bottlenecks. As of 2019, Indonesia had utilised less than 2% of its total renewable energy potential. Indonesia’s energy services market is largely limited to small engineering firms, the Review says, and fossil fuels continue to dominate

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OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann

power investment, where for every dollar invested in renewable electricity generation in 2019, three dollars were invested in coal power. This is despite the fact that the cost of renewable technologies is generally competitive, particularly compared to the diesel generators that are ubiquitous outside the Java region. The Review recommends that Indonesia use the period of postpandemic recovery as an opportunity to shift away from fossil fuels and embark on a low-carbon path. Widening corporate access to renewables would also help to make Indonesia a more competitive investment destination, as companies continue to pledge more climate action. Further incentives are needed, however, and public authorities can lead by example, for instance by building upon recent efforts to procure high-efficiency street lighting. Assistance from the international community can also play a key role in helping Indonesia to accelerate its clean energy transition. International partners can help develop a robust pipeline of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, for example by providing technical assistance for training and capacity building aimed at certified investment-grade energy audits. Leveraging blended finance mechanisms such as the SDG Indonesia One Fund can also help to mobilise private capital for clean energy projects in Indonesia. Source: moderndiplomacy

ASIA PACIFIC - NOVEMBER 2021