Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 48 2020

AsiaElec NUCLEAR AsiaElec

Iranian draft bill instructs government to

raise uranium enrichment target

IRAN IRANIAN MPs on December 1 voted in favour accord.
of a draft bill requiring the government to pur- On December 1, the Guardian reported some
sue uranium enrichment of 20% and not com- of Europe’s leading diplomats as saying that
ply with other restraints placed on Iran’s nuclear France, Germany and the UK must move quickly
development programme by the 2015 nuclear to set out a roadmap for Iran and the incoming
deal with major powers. Biden administration to come back into compli-
The construction of a nuclear bomb requires ance with the nuclear deal.
uranium fissle purity of 90%. Iran has lately They reportedly warned that unless the three
gradually moved its enrichment up to around countries, known as the E3, coordinated a joint
4.5%. That is above the nuclear deal’s 3.67% cap public statement setting out what both sides
but below the 20% Iran has achieved before. must do to end the impasse, there was a real risk
The breach is one of several made by Iran in that Biden would come to power facing only
protest at the US withdrawal in 2018 from the escalating tensions with Iran.
nuclear accord that protected its economy from The statement was said to underline the
major sanctions and the failure of Europe to take urgency felt in parts of Europe that the momen-
meaningful action to defend the Iranian econ- tum towards potential reconciliation, signalled
omy from sanctions introduced by US President by Biden’s election, risks being disrupted by those
Donald Trump after he unilaterally pulled Wash- determined to ensure that the US and Iran can-
ington out of the agreement. not get back to the negotiating table, and instead
Iranian centrist politicians that would like to end up in a dangerous round of escalation. That
see Iran enter into discussions with Joe Biden— fear grew with the assassination of nuclear scien-
the US president-elect who will commence his tist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
presidential administration on January 20—to The remaining signatories to the nuclear
resurrect US participation in the nuclear deal, deal—France, Germany, the UK, Russia, Iran
which would remove the Trump sanctions and China—are to meet at joint commission
crushing the Iranian economy, face a battle with level in Vienna on December 16 to discuss how
hardliners who say Washington should not be to keep the deal alive.™
trusted again to sign up to and stick with the

GAS-FIRED GENERATION

Vietnam signs LNG-to-power deals

VIETNAM TWO separate projects that will have an LNG government officials on a visit to Hanoi.
import component were reported over the past “GE will look to supply gas turbines and asso-
week to be advancing in Vietnam. On November ciated equipment and services for the project
19, Nikkei Asian Review reported that PetroVi- estimated at more than $1bn over the lifetime
etnam Power and a Vietnamese construction of the project,” a company spokesperson was
firm had signed a memorandum of under- quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
standing (MoU) with Japan’s Tokyo Gas and That project is being planned to start up by
Marubeni to build an LNG-to-power project. 2025. It will also involve Pacific Corp., Vietnam’s
The facility would be built in Vietnam’s Quang Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Com-
Ninh Province at an estimated cost of JPY200bn pany 2 (PECC2) and Mitsubishi.
($1.9bn). The power plant would have a capacity The MoUs come as various similar projects
of 1,500 MW. are also advancing in Vietnam, where power
The partners in the project will now begin a demand is rising by roughly 10% per year and
feasibility study and commence negotiations on new capacity is urgently needed. It is also hoped
power pricing. Start-up of the planned facility is that a shift towards LNG will help wean the
targeted for 2026. country off coal as the energy transition gathers
Separately, on November 21, General Elec- pace.
tric (GE) signed an MoU with Vietnam’s EVN Indeed, last month, NewsBase reported that
Genco3 to develop the Long Son LNG-to-power Japan’s JERA, ExxonMobil and the city of Hai
project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. GE will be Phong had signed an MoU to collaborate on
contracted to install the gas turbine technology another potential LNG-to-power project.™
and certain other equipment, according to US

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 02•December•2020