IN BRIEF

510-MEGAGAWATT DEAL IS THE ONE OF THE LARGEST POWER-PURCHASE AGREEMENTS IN ASIA IN 2023

A bidding process for a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tata Power Delhi Distribution for a 510-megawatt (MW) hybrid project has been won by Tata Power Renewable Energy.

Tata Power said the agreement has a capacity of 170 MW of solar and 340 MW of wind, located in Karnataka. One of India’s largest hybrid projects in the country, it will be commissioned within 24 months from the execution of the deal.

CAMBODIA’S POWERGRID HAS BEEN ENHANCED

Leader Energy has acquired the 230kilovolt Kampong Cham-Kratie Transmission System to power Kampong Cham and Kratie, and transmit electricity from the Lower Se San 2 Hydropower plant in Stung Treng to Kratie in Cambodia.

The project will contribute to Cambodia’s transmission system, aiming to accelerate the country’s transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. In 2010, Leader became the first private investor to be awarded a high-voltage transmission project in Cambodia. This is a 25-year, Build-Own-Transfer (BOT) Power deal.

The project will also save around 1,540MU of carbon dioxide emissions annually for the Tata Power Delhi Distribution. The agreement brings Tata Power Renewable’s capacity to 6,303MW with an installed capacity of 3,909MW, a total of 2,981MW of which are solar and 928MW. Around 2,394MW are under different implementation stages.

Ashish Khanna, CEO, TPRE, told IPA: “We won via competitive bidding, showcasing our future readiness and expertise in project execution skills. This partnership is significant in our quest to continue our journey as one of the torchbearers of the green and clean energy transition.”

TPREL won this project through a competitive bidding process, followed by the release of LOA by Tata Power-DDL. This win is an extension of the earlier LOA of 255MW received in Dec.ember 2022.

Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power Delhi Distribution, added, “This association will strengthen our commitment towards significantly enhancing the portion of sustainable energy in the overall supply mix.” With this win, the total renewables capacity of TPREL reaches 6,303MW with an installed capacity of 3,909 MW and 2,394MW under various stages of implementation. Notably, Tata Power-DDL is a joint venture between Tata Power and the Delhi government that supplies electricity to a population of over 7 million people in North Delhi.

AA POWERLINK PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA TO SINGAPORE POWER LINE - IN JEOPARDY

The ambitious US$24.8b AA Powerlink project which aims to supply 15% of Singapore’s electricity grid through the world’s largest solar farm, battery, and 4,200 kilometres of undersea cable, crossing Indonesia, is in jeopardy.

Sun Cable CEO and Co-Founder David Griffin had previously said that the company’s solar generation site, which spans 12,000 hectares of the solar array, will have a capacity between 17 gigawatts (GW) to 20GW, and a battery energy storage system capacity between 36GWhours (GWh) to 42GWh, located in Darwin, Australia.

Earlier this year Singapore-based Sun Cable entered voluntary administration to secure additional capital and progress the development of its Australia-Asia PowerLink project (AAPowerLink Project).

According to Sun Cable, ‘the company could not arrive at a consensus on the future direction and funding structure of the company despite having funding proposals at hand’.

“The administrators intention is to continue to pursue the company’s development portfolio, with a view to achieving either recapitalisation via Deed of Company Arrangement or a going concern sale in the short term,” FTI Consulting, the voluntary administrators of Sun Cable, said in a statement.

John Park, Leader Australia, Corporate Finance & Restructuring for FTI Consulting, said the administrators aim to preserve the value of the company and will look into all the key options for the project’s further development.

ENGIE Lab Singapore recently developed and commissioned the REIDS-SPORE (Renewable Energy Integration Demonstration Singapore – Sustainable Power for Off-grid Regions) - a key microgrid site. This is a unique energy demonstrator on Semakau Landfill on the Southern shores of Singapore. The platform is a research and development (R&D) facility consisting of a smart multi-fluid microgrid which generates and stores green hydrogen and renewable