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Indonesia eyes energy transition plan by August

  • : Coal, Electricity, Emissions
  • 23/05/23

Indonesia aims to finalise a broad plan to guide its energy transition ambitions by August as the country tries to reduce its carbon footprint.

The country's energy ministry (ESDM) said it is working with the ministry of state-owned enterprises (BUMN), the ministry of finance, and state-owned utility PLN to complete the Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP), which will serve as the framework for Indonesia's energy transition through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Indonesia in late 2022 entered the JETP, a financing mechanism through which it will receive an initial $20bn over the next 3-5 years from international partners such as the US, the EU, Japan and Canada.

The CIPP will focus on developing new transmission networks, building baseload and peakload renewable energy power plants, new plans for the early retirement of coal-fired power plants, and creating a renewable energy supply chain, the ESDM said. Indonesia plans to reach net zero by 2060.

New renewable energy power plants and smaller plants need to be connected to national grids via the new transmission systems to contribute to the country's electricity supply, ESDM added.

There is a need to reform the early retirement program for coal-fired power plants since the country currently has an oversupply of coal power, ESDM said. PLN has outlined a plan to divest old plants as part of efforts to retire coal-fired units from its fleet. The ministry has identified plants for early retirement, including the 660MW Cirebon 1, the 1050MW Pelabuhan Ratu, and 815MW PLN Paiton coal plants.


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24/09/06

Singapore lifts low-carbon power import goal to 6GW

Singapore lifts low-carbon power import goal to 6GW

Singapore, 6 September (Argus) — Singapore has raised its low-carbon electricity import goal to 6GW by 2035, up from its initial target of 4GW. The target has been raised on the back of "strong interest by credible parties to participate in electricity import projects, and to ensure adequate supply to meet Singapore's future energy needs," said the country's Energy Market Authority (EMA) on 5 September. In line with this, the EMA has granted conditional approvals to two new projects to import 1.4GW of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia to Singapore. The first project is by Singa Renewables, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and energy resources development company RGE, with an import capacity of 1GW. The second is by Shell Eastern Trading in partnership with power producer Vena Energy, with a 0.4GW capacity. The EMA in September last year granted conditional approvals to five companies to import 2GW of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia. The EMA has now granted conditional licences to the companies, following substantive progress by these five projects. These conditional licences are issued to electricity import projects that have been assessed to be technically and commercially viable, and are at an advanced development stage. The EMA may subsequently issue the companies an electricity importer license to begin construction and commercial operations, once the obligations under the conditional licenses are fulfilled. The companies aim to begin commercial operations in 2028. The EMA "will continue to engage companies with credible and commercially viable proposals that can contribute to Singapore's 2050 net zero ambitions," it said. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Singapore’s SP to launch 240MW solar project in China


24/09/06
24/09/06

Singapore’s SP to launch 240MW solar project in China

Singapore, 6 September (Argus) — Singapore's state-owned utility SP plans to start up a 240MW peak (MWp) agrivoltaic project in Guangdong province's Huizhou city, which will be fully operational by the end of this year. MWp refers to the maximum power output potential a solar farm has when reaching ideal conditions. SP expects the project to generate 7.5bn kWh of green electricity over the next 25 years, reduce coal use by 920,000t and avoid 4.46mn t/yr of carbon emissions. The project's solar installation capacity is 240MW, and marks SP's largest solar investment in China, the company said on 5 September. SP has secured 1.45GW of solar projects in China to date, spanning 18 provinces and municipalities. SP in May also partnered with China environmental technology solutions provider Qingdao Daneng Environmental Protection Equipment to invest and build a 90MW aquavoltaic farm in Qingdao city. This will power a green hydrogen facility in Qingdao, likely referring to Chinese refiner Sinopec's 4,500 t/yr facility . The solar project has an investment value of over 76mn Singapore dollars ($58.5mn) and is on track to connect to the grid by the end of the year. SP expects it to produce 162mn kWh/yr of green electricity and reduce carbon emissions by 160,000 t/yr. The operational model will incorporate renewable energy generation, grid integration, demand-side management, and energy storage. SP's first investment in solar assets was in June 2023, for 78MWp of agrivoltaics assets across four agricultural sites in the Dabu county of Meizhou city in Guangdong province. The project will generate 91.3GWh/yr of clean electricity, and reduce coal usage by almost 30,000t, which amounts to cutting more than 91,000 t/yr of carbon emissions. The operational date of this project was not disclosed. SP in May entered a strategic alliance with Shanghai-based CMB Financial Leasing to obtain financing services, which is expected to reach up to 8bn yuan ($1.13bn) over the next three years, to support the firm's deployment of renewable energy solutions in China. The projects will span utility-scale solar farms, distributed solar photovoltaic, energy storage, and district cooling and heating. By Joey Chan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation


24/09/05
24/09/05

Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation

Warsaw, 5 September (Argus) — The Polish climate ministry has released for consultation its draft plan to increase investment in renewable energy and accelerate the country's exit from coal. The share of coal — including lignite — in Poland's total electricity generation would fall to 22pc by 2030, from about 61pc in 2023, according to the ministry's ambitious decarbonisation scenario, due to be published for public consultation this week. In this scenario, the share of renewables would rise to 56pc by 2030 from 23pc last year, the ministry said. The decarbonisation scenario is included in the draft of Poland's national energy and climate plan (NECP), which it intends to notify to the European Commission this month. NECPs are EU member states' national planning documents defining their decarbonisation targets and allowing the commission to monitor overall EU climate policies. The scenario is more ambitious than in an earlier Polish NECP, which it shared with the commission in March. The earlier plan indicated that renewables' share in the electricity sector will rise to 50.1pc by 2030. An acceleration of decarbonisation and more ambitious investments in renewables will eventually lead to lower electricity prices and increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy, the climate ministry said. The share of coal in Poland's power mix has declined sharply this year because of a surge in solar and wind power generation. Hard coal accounted for about 41pc of total Polish electricity generation in January-July, compared with 46pc over the same period last year, according to data from grid operator PSE. The feasibility of several coal-fired power plants will decrease from 2026, when the country's current capacity payment support mechanism ends and eligibility for another payment scheme is yet to be decided. Tomasz Stepien Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA


24/09/05
24/09/05

Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA

Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — The phasedown of Asian coal-powered plants requires stricter emissions disclosures, which will in turn reduce investment, said speakers at an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conference this week. One of the biggest short-term challenges for coal-fired abatement is that the coal price has halved from about $240/t to about $130/t right now, said energy finance analyst at IEEFA, Ghee Peh, on 3 September at the IEEFA Energy Finance 2024conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The greater shift towards renewable energy means that demand for coal-fired power is falling, but coal plants are still profitable and coal prices will eventually rebound as new supply is limited. "So what we can do as a larger group is to continue to pressure the financing side," said Peh. This can be done by encouraging greater emissions disclosure, which will then influence investors' decisions, he added. "The good news is that in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong are moving towards disclosures by next year on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, so investors will know how much a company emits, and that will contribute to a very decisive investor response," said Peh, adding that local regulators should put the onus on companies to disclose their emissions as soon as possible. Coal-mine methane emissions Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) and coal mining is one of the biggest sources of methane emissions. Just over 40mn t of coal-mine methane (CMM) was released into the atmosphere in 2022, according to IEA data, representing more than 10pc of total methane emissions from human activity. The EU approved a regulation on 27 May that requires the measuring, reporting and verifying of methane emissions from coal, oil and fossil gas exploration and production, distribution and underground storage, including LNG. It also establishes equivalence of methane monitoring, reporting and verification measures from 1 January 2027, and EU importers by mid-2030 have to demonstrate that the methane intensity of the production of crude, natural gas and coal imported to the EU is below maximum methane intensity values. It is therefore important to address CMM as this affects countries in Asia, said independent global energy think tank Ember's CMM programme director Eleanor Whittle. At the moment, none of the 10 biggest exporting countries to the EU meet its standards. But CMM emissions are rarely ever reported or even properly measured, she added, and measuring CMM could even double companies' reported emissions. "We did research that found that in Australia, a shift to company-led emissions reporting — but without verification — meant that overnight, hundreds of thousands [of tonnes] of carbon dioxide equivalent in the form of methane were erased, but without any mitigation or change in coal mining," said Whittle. This shows that even without improvements in the framework methane measurement and verification frameworks, policy shifts like these can still have a profound impact on short-term warming, she said. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’


24/09/05
24/09/05

Australia's Dartbrook mine to restart in ‘coming weeks’

Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — Australian mining firm Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) is planning to restart its Dartbrook thermal coal mine soon after multiple attempts to do so over the past five years. The underground mine produced and transported coal to the surface on 4 September, the first time since it was placed into care and maintenance in 2006, AQC said on 5 September. The Dartbrook mine is located in the Hunter valley coal mining region in New South Wales. It could potentially produce 5mn t/yr of thermal coal . AQC had installed and tested a 4km conveyor system designed to transport coal produced from the Kayuga seam to the surface via the Hunter Tunnel. The coal will then be processed at a handling and preparation plant. "Commissioning is under way and the team on the ground is working hard to bring the mine safely into commercial production in the coming weeks," said AQC managing director and chief executive Ayten Saridas. Dartbrook will initially only produce unwashed thermal coal for sale to domestic or export customers when it resumes operations, the company said. Once the coal handling and preparation plant is refurbished early next year, the mine will produce washed and graded coal with high-calorific values (CV) for export. It may also produce semi-soft or pulverised coal injection coal. Dartbrook was placed into care and maintenance by its previous owner, UK-South African mining firm Anglo American, in 2006 when high-CV NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal was as low as $50/t fob Newcastle. AQC had hoped to restart the mine in 2019 but was delayed by opposition from local communities and a fraught approvals process. Australian high-CV coal prices have rallied recently on concerns regarding natural gas supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Argus last assessed the price of NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal at $143.92/t fob Newcastle on 30 August. By Jinhe Tan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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