Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 01 2023

AsiaElec NUCLEAR AsiaElec

Russia is in talks with the Sri

Lankan government to build two

small nuclear power stations

SRI LANKA RUSSIA is in talks with the Sri Lankan govern- and Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana
ment about building two small nuclear power Wijesekera. Our plan is to help Sri Lanka with
plants (NPPs), according to Russian Ambassa- the construction of two mini-NPPs, with a
dor Levan Dzhagaryan. capacity of 55 MW each,” the Russian envoy told
The plants, each with a capacity of 55 MW, Tass on December 2.
would be the first of six that Russia hopes to Russian state nuclear energy agency Rosa-
build in Sri Lanka. Dzhagaryan said the project tom plans to see its book for constructing power
would save the country money on oil and coal, plants abroad growing in the next 20-30 years
be environmentally friendly and safe, and would due to rising demand for low-carbon energy
be inexpensive. It is currently being discussed in such “nuclear club” newcomers as Bangla-
whether Russia’s state-run corporation Rosatom desh, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
will visit Sri Lanka to examine the details of the Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, India’s IANS
project further. reported citing the head of Rosatom, Likhachev
“Recently, I met with Sri Lanka’s Nuclear said previously.™
Energy Council, the country’s nuclear agency
Tokyo asks insurers to cover

LNG carriers in Russian waters

JAPAN JAPAN’S government has asked the country’s generation, and almost all of it is imported in the
insurers to take on extra risk to continue pro- form of LNG. Furthermore, Japan is the biggest
viding marine war insurance for LNG carriers buyer of LNG from the Gazprom-led Sakhalin-2
in Russian waters, a senior official at the industry project in the Russian Far East, which covers 9%
ministry told Reuters. of the country’s overall imports. Japan receives
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, additional cargoes from the Novatek-operated
Sompo Japan Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Yamal LNG plant in the Russian Arctic.
Insurance on December 23 told shipowners that Tokio & Nichido, Sompo and Mitsui Sumi-
they would stop covering damage suffered by tomo all said on December 26 they were discuss-
ships in Russian wars from the start of this year. ing with other reinsurers to offer cover.
That was after reinsurance firms warned they “Securing LNG is the top priority for the gov-
would also no longer take on the risks of vessels ernment, and we asked insurance companies to
incurring damage from war. co-operate in this regard,” an official at the FSA
However, Japan’s Financial Services Agency told Reuters.
and Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Responding to the letter, Tokio & Nichido,
issued a joint letter to the country’s general insur- Sompo and Mitsui Sumitomo told the news
ance association requesting continued coverage agency they would continue trying to secure
for LNG tankers. more support from reinsurances for war
“The FSA and ANRE have asked insurers coverage.
to take actions to continue offering marine war Reinsurers usually renew their one-year con-
insurance for the shipowners to transport LNG tracts with insurance clients on January 1, which
from Sakhalin-2, as it is key for Japanese energy means that they have their first opportunity to
security,” the official said. reduce exposure since Moscow began its inva-
Natural gas is Japan’s biggest source of power sion of Ukraine in late February.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 03•January•2023