Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 04

AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec
China imports record amount of LNG in 2019
CHINA
CHINA’Simportsofliquefiednaturalgas(LNG) climbed 12.2% year in year in 2019 to a record high of 60.25mn tonnes in 2019.
Imports for the year placed Asia’s largest economy behind Japan in terms of purchases – Japanese imports slid 6.7% y/y to 77.32mn tonnes, according to General Administrations of Customs (GAC) data published on January 23. As China’s imports of LNG have surged, pipe- line gas imports inched down 0.8% on the year to 36.31mn tonnes.
Domestic production, meanwhile, climbed by 11.5% y/y to 177.7bn cubic metres, accord- ing to data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
State-run PetroChina, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, has projected that demand will expand by 8.6% to 330 bcm in 2020. The pace of growth is slower than that seen in 2019, when demand grew by 9.4% to 306.7 bcm.
China has directed its energy majors to pro- duce more of the fuel to meet local demand,
whichhasbeenstimulatedbygovernmentpoli- cies aimed at tackling air pollution.
State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) said earlier this month that it would invest CNY5bn ($725mn) in exploration efforts aimed at increasing production to more than 200mn tonnes of oil equivalent (4mn bar- rels of oil equivalent per day) in 2020, with gas output to account for half of its total output for the first time.
The government has been ramping up efforts in its “war on pollution” since 2013, launching a coal-to-gas switching programme that has seen millions of homes adopt gas-fired heating solutions.
While particularly acute in Beijing, pollu- tion levels in the city have fallen dramatically in recent years.
The capital’s average concentration of PM2.5 shrank to 42 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019, down 53% from 2013’s 89.5 micrograms, the city’s environment bureau has reported.™
INVESTMENT
ADB to spend $2b on Pacific
energy and transport
projects
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is investing more than $2bn over a five-year period to help Pacific countries transition to renewable energy production and to develop sustainable transport.
The bank has made $1bn available in concessionary loans and grants to help the Pacific with sustainable transport projects.
Having begun in 2017, the bank is helping with 15 key projects which are due for completion by the end of the year.
Countries work with the bank to identify transport needs and establish their abilities to sustain debt or whether they qualify for grants. The bank looks at land, air and sea transport projects.
Its Pacific transport specialist, Juan Jimenez, said resilient international ports - able to withstand the onslaught of climate change and natural disaster - were the focus for Samoa and Tonga.
“In countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati, we’re working to improve the domestic connectivity
NEWS IN BRIEF
in these remote outer islands. And this is by building jetties, by building a small wharf so people can [have] access and they can transfer their personal goods or construction materials or whatever they need.”
The ADB is also investing $1bn in renewable energy in the Pacific in the 2019- 2021 period.
The bank aims to help reduce the reliance on expensive and polluting fossil fuels.
The ADB’s Pacific department energy director said it delivered about $270mn of the funding last year - including on a variety of solar generation and battery storage projects.
Pakistan needs $234.5bn to achieve key SDGs
Pakistan needs at least $234.5bn investment by 2030 to deliver on three sustainable development goals (SDGs) — power, digital access, transport and clean water and sanitation.
The findings were released by Standard Chartered bank in a report titled “Opportunity 2030: The Standard Chartered SDG Investment Map” to help companies, institutional investors, and other stakeholders ascertain the impact of their investments in
achieving United Nation’s SDGs.
The map identifies $10 trillion opportunity
for private-sector investors across all emerging markets.
In Pakistan, the power sector needs $99.3bn, digital access $56.6bn, transport $38.5bn and clean water and sanitation $4bn.
The report highlights universal access
to electricity as the greatest investment opportunity for private sector in Pakistan. With around 29 per cent population living off the grid, the sector cumulatively requires $144bn investment, of which the private sector can contribute around $44.7bn.
The private sector can help improve power infrastructure and address inefficiencies in the energy sector.
Pakistan is also lagging behind in digital infrastructure, with a digital access rate — comprising mobile phone subscription rates and internet connectivity levels — just over a quarter of the country’s total population.
To ensure universal digital access, the map notes that “the potential opportunity for private-sector investment in facilitating universal digital access is also significant, standing at $34bn.”
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Week 04 29•January•2019