Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 28

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NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
computers solving complex algorithms. e mining process can be very expensive on a large scale because it requires cutting-edge technology and vast amounts of electricity.
Police in Zhenjiang in eastern Jiangsu province said o cers con scated almost 4,000 mining devices from the illicit bitcoin operation.
“In value, it is the largest case in the amount of electricity stolen that Jiangsu has cracked since the founding of New China, and a rare sight in the whole country,” Zhenjiang police said in an online statement.
e authorities said they were originally tipped o by a local power company, which reported abnormal electricity usage.
Police have taken “compulsory measures” against more than 20 criminal suspects, and the case is under investigation, they added.
e value of bitcoin has surged above US$11,000, a er Facebook last month unveiled its own global cryptocurrency called Libra, which will launch next year.
Besides electricity the , other bitcoin- related crimes include hacking cryptocurrency owners.
Last August, Chinese police in the northern city of Xi’an arrested three suspects who had allegedly stolen assets worth CNY600m ($87m) by hacking the computers of victims who owned bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
Vietnam PM urges efforts to avoid power cuts
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged ministries and agencies to work to avoid upcoming power shortages.
Many key electricity projects, especially large-scale projects that are expected to be completed in 2023, have been delayed, leading to a risk of electricity shortages from 2021.
e Government leader urged o cials to prepare plans to hasten the projects at a Government meeting held in Hanoi.
He told them to submit a dra plan the Government soon.
e State Bank will consider allowing the projects to exceed credit limits to nish on time, while Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and Vinacomin will focus all resources on completing them.
Ministries, sectors and localities should create favourable conditions for power projects and remove di culties for them, the PM said.
As well as that, he said the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the State Capital Management Committee should submit to the Government solutions relating to development of the ai Binh ermal Power Project 2 and report on issues relating to the Electricity Planning VIII and the Quang Trach ermal Power Project 1.
TARIFFS
No tariff rises for Malaysia in 2019
No hike in electricity tari for all categories of domestic users as well as commercial and industries for the period between July to December this year, said Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
She said based on the imbalance cost pass
through (ICPT) mechanism, the cost of fuel and the increase of other generating cost that need to be imposed on the users through the surcharge for the same period has amounted to MYR1.592bn ($387mn).
However, she said to reduce the burden of the people as well as the commercial and industrial sectors, the government took various steps to reduce the cost that has to be imposed on the users.
“ e ministry through the Energy Commission has made adjustments on the outcome and electricity costs in 2018 and 2019 under the Incentive-Based-Regulation (IBR) based on the provisions in the Regulatory Implementation Guidelines (RIGs) and managed to secure a total savings of MYR336.7mn ($82).
“ e ministry also received approval
from the Cabinet to subsidise the electricity tari s through the allocation of funds from Kumpulan Wang Industri Elektrik (KWIE) of MYR107.16mn ($26mn),” she said during oral question time in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
She was replying to a question by Datuk Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik) on whether the government revises the new electricity tari s following the declining prices of global coal and gas in the recent months.
CONSUMPTION
China’s power use up 5%
China’s electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 5% year on year in the rst half of 2019, the country’s top economic planner said Tuesday.
Total power use hit 3.4 trillion kWh in H1, according to Meng Wei, a spokesperson
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Week 28 16 •July•2019