Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 07

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec
Coronavirus threatens solar and wind in 2020
GLOBAL
THE coronavirus outbreak could cause a 10-15% fall in new global wind installations in 2020 as component production has ground to a halt in recent weeks.
A report from Wood Mackenzie warned that although Hubei Province is not a centre of Chinese wind turbine production, quarantine measures and travel restrictions could “impact an already tight supply situation” for key compo- nents, senior consultant Xiaoyang Li said.
“Due to an already tight supply of key compo- nents such as turbine blades and main bearings before the COVID-19 outbreak, first-quarter production delays have already reduced annual output of those components by about 10%,” she said. Falling production is “bad news” for key wind markets such as China and the US, said Wood Mackenzie, as there is considerable push to complete projects by the end of 2020 in order to gain access to government subsidies.
“Components without pre-existing bottle- necks, such as generators and converters, should be able to recover from first-quarter delays if the outbreak is brought under control in the next few months”.
“Based on these two possibilities, we estimate
production delays across the wind turbine sup- ply chain will result in a 10% to 50% decrease in 2020 wind installations in China, compared to our fourth-quarter 2019 wind power outlook, which was at 28 GW of capacity,” she added.
Across Asia, wind projects will need to find other sources of components, such as India, Vietnam and Southern Europe, said Wood Mackenzie.
Meanwhile, the global solar industry faces similar slowdowns.
“Module production in Southeast Asia and the US usually carry one to two months of sup- plementary material inventory on-site,” said Wood MacKenzie analyst Xiaojing Sun.
“If the production interruption in mainland China lasts longer than one month, factories in Southeast Asia and the US will start to see sup- ply shortages that will reduce their production output.”
The US EIA forecasts that 18.5GW of new wind capacity will come online in 2020 in the US, while 13.5GW of utility-scale PV will be connected. With the coronavirus cutting Chines solar and wind component production, these figures are unlikely to be met. ™
EU to provide $55mn for green funding in Asia
ASIA
THE European Union is to provide €50mn ($54.9mn) to support green investment across Southeast Asia.
TheEUsaidthatthefundswillbeusedbyThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support the Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF), a pio- neering investment vehicle run by the Associa- tion of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) that aims to boost public and private financing for climate-friendly infrastructure projects
The ACGF will provide technical assistance and loans to ASEAN governments to implement climate-friendly infrastructure projects.
Countries in Southeast Asia face an annual financing gap of over $100bn to meet infrastruc- ture needs, the EU and ASEAN said.
The aim is to catalyse public and private financing for renewable energy and energy effi- ciency, sustainable urban transport, water supply and sanitation, and climate-resilient agriculture projects.
The EU is to allocate the funds from its exist- ing Asia Investment Facility, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said at the ASEAN–EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development.
The ADB’s representative to Europe, Rob- ert Schoellhammer, said: “This commitment
reflects the European Union and ADB’s deepen- ing collaboration to help Southeast Asian coun- tries achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable DevelopmentGoals.”
Anouj Mehta, ACGF unit head at ADB’s Southeast Asia Regional Department, said: “Our joint support through the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility will help ASEAN mem- ber states fight climate change; improve air, soil, and water quality; and improve environmental protection.”
The ACGF is part of the Green and Inclusive Infrastructure Window, which was launched in April 2019 by Southeast Asian governments, ADB and major development financiers under the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, a regional financing initiative established in 2011 that has committed $520mn for energy, transport, water and urban infrastructure projects across the subregion.
The ACGF aims to mobilise around $1.0bn from a number of sources, including the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, ADB, German develop- ment bank KfW, the European Investment Bank, the Republic of Korea and Agence Française de Développement.
The $54.9mn from the EU forms part of this fundraising initiative.™
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 07 19•February•2020