IN BRIEF

INDONESIA PLEDGES TO GIVE UP FOSSIL FUELS - BUT THE TOTAL COST IS PUT AT US$2.4 TRILLION

Indonesia has agreed to five schemes with international stakeholders designed to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

While the deals aim to turn one of the largest coal-producing countries toward its vast greener energy sources, experts warn that financial, policy, infrastructure and other challenges need to be overcome too.

US$32BN ENERGY SPEND BY TAIWAN

Taiwan is planning a massive clean energy spending spree through 2030 to redouble climate efforts after government officials said they will likely miss 2025 targets.

For Taiwan, which imports 98% of its energy, offshore wind is one way to demonstrate its clean energy committments. Wind turbines are also crucial to strengthening national energy security. Taiwan’s wind turbine projects are expected to generate about US$32.6 billion in investments by 2025, Lee Chun-li, deputy director-general of Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy,

Indonesia’s energy transition is “very unique” because of high economic growth, geography, population centers and clean energy potential, said David Elzinga, a principal energy specialist at the Asian Development Bank.

Despite Indonesia’s energy potential from solar, hydropower, geothermal, wind and other sources, only some 12% of them are tapped, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Nearly all energy demand is met by fossil fuels, with 60% coming from highly-polluting coal.

In 2021, Indonesia’s energy sector emissions were around 600 million tons of carbon dioxide, the world’s ninth highest, according to the International Energy Agency. And population and economic growth are expected to triple the country’s energy consumption by 2050.

Indonesian officials have signalled they’ve started the shift: They have announced new regulations around solar, set a goal to raise the market share of electric vehicles in Indonesia to 25% of total vehicle sales by 2030 and have deployed charging stations. But experts warn Indonesia is lagging behind its Southeast Asian peers.

Indonesia aims to reach net zero emissions from the power sector by 2050, bringing forward its target by a decade, and reach a peak in those emissions by 2030. It is increasing its target for renewable energy to make up over a third of all power generation by 2030, which would mean doubling the pace of current deployment.

Financing, however, remains an obstacle, comments Elrika Hamdi, an Indonesia-based energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. By one estimate, Indonesia will need up to $2.4 trillion in cumulative investment across the energy system by 2050.

Myamar Faces Crippling Blackouts As Summer Temperatures Rise

Power blackouts have expanded across Myamar, affecting even the commercial hubs of Yangon and Mandalay, leaving the population suffering in the record temperatures.

Myanmar has the lowest electrification rate in Southeast Asia with only 50 percent of households connected to the public grid, according to the World Bank.

According to a report by the NLD government in January 2021, 40 percent of Myanmar’s electricity is generated by hydropower, 14 percent by solar power plants, 34 percent from domestic natural gas, and 11 percent from LNG (natural gas).

Up until 2021, the country generated about 3,700 MW daily and Yangon consumed about half of that amount. However, daily power generation declined from 3,711 MW in October 2021 to 2,665 MW in March 2022.

Since the last military coup LNG power plants producing about 750 MW have been suspended, with rising gas prices cited as the reason. The power plants were supplied by an LNG ship owned by Hong Kongbased CNTIC V Power, which left Myanmar permanently in March 2023. The state-owned Yangon Electrical Supply Corporation (YESC) said in April that production capacity of large hydropower plants in the national power system has fallen in line with dry, summer conditions, resulting in widespread electricity shortages across the country.

Asean Members Are Invited To Form A Joint Supergrid

The success of a recent project through which Singapore imports renewable energy from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia, demonstrates that multilateral power trading in the region works.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has this month called on ASEAN to continue working towards a joint power grid. A regional power grid will strengthen energy security and resilience in member states, and advance regional decarbonisation, Mr Lee argues.

The Lao PDR-ThailandMalaysia-Singapore project shows that “multilateral power trading in the region is feasible”, said Mr Lee during his intervention at the plenary session of the 42nd ASEAN summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.

Singapore has been accessing renewable energy from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia since June 2022.

More than 170,000 megawatt hours of electricity have already been imported to Singapore from Lao PDR.

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• Presetting per G99/98, values as per the standard pre programmed

• Under and overvoltage monitoring 40…520 V Under and over frequency monitoring 45…65 Hz

• Monitoring of Rate of Change of Frequency (ROCOF, df/dt)

• Monitoring the voltage quality (10 minute average value)

• Response time adjustable 0.05 … 130.0 s, individual setting for each limit

• Fail-safe, with monitoring of the connected section switch (can be switched off) 2 automatic restarts on error

• Supports the mains synchronisation when using generators

• Measurement 3 phase 3 or 4 wire systems or single phase

Self-test