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GRID purchased from PTT in multi-year contracts ministry estimates the new mines will employ
to 736mn standard cubic feet per day, some 70,000 people and earn extra annual
Xinjiang Uygur ups replacing it with LNG. revenue for various provinces to the tune of
INR200bn.
The gas is used as the main fuel at Egat’s
transmission five power plants. explored for reserves and land has been
Of the proposed 41 mines, 37 have been
Egat executives yesterday signed a 10-
Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur year gas sale agreement, known as a GSA, acquired for 12 of them, the coal ministry
Autonomous Region transmitted 300bn kWh with PTT because its present agreement is said. Companies will submit technical bids
of electricity outside the region over a decade, scheduled to expire at the end of June. Gas in August. This will be followed by auctions,
said the State Grid’s Xinjiang branch. deliveries under the new GSA are set from where bidders will say how much of the
The electricity transmission helped next month to July 2030. revenue they will share with the government.
China’s central and eastern regions reduce Mr Kulit said the new GSA is valued at
about 96mn tonnes of coal use, and cut 340bn baht.
carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions Usually Egat must buy enough gas from
by 259.2mn tonnes and 816,000 tonnes, PTT to meet real demand for its five power RENEWABLES
respectively. plants, but this time the contract allows Egat
According to the company, the continuous to buy less so it can use more LNG. ARENA to fund AUD5mn
expansion of electricity transmission is due to LNG shipping licences have been granted
improvements in several key power projects to five firms: PTT, Egat, Ratch Group Plc, Gulf Renewable Energy Zone
extending from Xinjiang to the eastern Energy Development Plc and B.Grimm Power
provinces. Plc. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency
In addition, the region signed deals with PTT’s power generation arm, Global Power (ARENA) has announced AUD5mn in
several provincial-level administrations, Synergy Plc (GPSC), is expected to apply for funding for TransGrid to conduct a feasibility
further fueling the surge, the company said. a licence soon, according to a source who study to develop New South Wales’ Central-
According to the Xinjiang Electricity requested anonymity. GPSC president and West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
Trading Center, Xinjiang currently transmits chief executive Chavalit Thippawanich said The AUD16.2mn study will assess the
electricity to 19 other Chinese regions, many earlier this month that the company was technical and commercial options for the
of which buy electricity from Xinjiang as a preparing to submit an application letter to development of new high voltage transmission
form of economic support to the region. the Energy Regulatory Commission. lines to enable Australia’s first coordinated
Xinjiang is rich in coal and wind power. To REZ and demonstrate a pathway for future
date, the installed power capacity of Xinjiang REZs across the National Electricity Market
is 92,432MW, and the installed capacity of (NEM).
new energy is among the top in China. COAL ARENA CEO, Darren Miller, said, “The
Australian energy system is transitioning from
India seeks to open new dispatchable thermal generation to largely
variable renewable energy generation.
coal mines in setback to connect regions with strong renewable
GAS-FIRED GENERATION “New transmission will be required to
New Egat contract cuts gas climate action resources to load centres and to reduce
network congestion.”
purchases from PTT India has launched its first auction to private pathway to achieve Australia’s first true
“This study is expected to provide a
firms to mine and sell coal in what is seen as a
State-run Electricity Generating Authority regressive move in a country where renewable Renewable Energy Zone and provide a
of Thailand (Egat) is fuelling its growth in energy has become cheaper than fossil fuels. blueprint for how others can be created in
liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping by The coal ministry will auction 41 new the future, helping to unlock investment
reducing its gas purchases from national coal mines, many of which are located in in renewable energy projects, secure new
energy conglomerate PTT in a new 10-year dense forests of central India. These mines regional jobs and cheaper, emission-free
contract. will require INR330bn ($4.3bn) in capital energy.”
The move came after the Egat board investment in the next 5-7 years and raise the The Central-West Orana REZ will unlock
approved the import of an additional 4mn nation’s output by 225mn tonnes, the ministry more than 3,000MW of new electricity
tonnes of LNG from 2020 to 2022, paving the said. generation by the mid-2020s, enough
way for the company to enter the second stage The opening up of commercial coal mining to power around 1.3mn homes and will
of its LNG business, said Kulit Sombatsiri, to the private sector, named Unleashing Coal, represent at least $4.5bn in private investment.
Egat chairman and permanent secretary for could see India, which has the world’s fourth- Construction is due to begin at the end of
energy. largest coal reserves, to be a net exporter of 2022, and the project is expected to provide
Egat imported 65,000 tonnes of LNG last the fuel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. 450 regional jobs.
December and in April 2020, marking the first “We are not merely launching commercial The NSW Government has also already
stage of its LNG expansion. coal mining today, we are unshackling it from committed AUD9mn to the project and today
Mr Kulit said the new lots of 4mn tonnes decades of lockdown,” Modi said at the launch announced a further AUD31.2mn in funding
will be gradually delivered, with 600,000 event livestreamed over the Internet. for the pilot, including the establishment of a
tonnes scheduled this year, 1.9mn tonnes next Although there has been a global shift in body to oversee the development of the new
year and 1.5mn tonnes in 2022. recent years away from coal to cleaner energy zone.
As Egat switches focus to LNG, currently like wind and solar, India wants to boost NSW Energy Minister, Matt Kean, said,
trading at low prices in the spot market, production to help recover from the economic “With this funding locked in, we can bring the
it needs to decrease the amount of gas shock due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The coal Central-West Orana REZ from a vision to a

Week 25 24•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11