Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 28

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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Similarly, the southern region, which includes Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep, also met its power demand of 79.11bn kWh with a negligible shortfall of 2mn kWh. e region met its peak demand requirements of 45.66bn kWh with a shortfall of only 13mn kWh.
Previously, India’s power supply de cit stood at 0.5% at the end of March for the nance
al year 2019-20, and the peak power de cit stood at 0.7%, according to the CEA’s data.
COAL
China’s June coal imports fall 6.7%
China’s coal imports dropped 6.7% in June from the same period last year, as stringent import restrictions at ports impeded purchases by traders and power plants, despite solid fuel demand.
China, the world’s top coal importer, brought in 25.29mn tonnes of the fuel last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed, Reuters reported.
at compares with 27.1mn tonnes in June last year but is still higher than 22.06mn in May, driven by stockpiling demand ahead of the peak summer season.
Customs had been stepping up curbs on coal imports since May, through lengthy processing and import quotas as China looks
to bolster its coal industry.
For the rst half of 2020, China brought in
a total of 173.99mn tonnes of coal, up 12.7% over the corresponding period last year.
Powerful state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) met energy rms and local authorities last week, urging miners to boost domestic coal output to ensure market supplies, while not ruling out the possibility of easing the import curbs.
“Notably, recent oods alongside the Yangtze River delta region would a ect hydropower generation, which could buoy coal- red power demand and support thermal coal consumption,” the China Port and Harbour Association said in a note y.
COAL
SouthKorea’sKEPCObacks Indonesian coal project
South Korea’s state-owned utility Korea Electric Power (Kepco) has announced that will move ahead with investments in the construction of two coal- red power plants on the Indonesian island of Java.
According to media sources, Kepco’s
board approved the acquisition of a 15%
stake in a joint-venture entity that will see the construction of the two planned units of 1GW each, expanding the existing Java 9-10 coal power facility.
According to IEA Clean Coal Centre,
the expansion is being undertaken by PT Indo Raya Tenega, a joint venture of Barito Paci c (49%) and Indonesia Power (51%). It is being undertaken as part of the Indonesian government’s plans to increase the power generation capacity in the country.
Java 9 is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2023, while Java 10 is scheduled for commissioning in the rst quarter of 2024.
e plant has however caused a great deal of controversy. A petition was led by Korean and Indonesian litigants in August 2019, requesting Korean banks to stop funding the project.
e litigators have objected to the development of the project in the region citing environmental reasons. e Suralaya power plant is located approximately 122km north- west of Jakarta, a region already populated with 22 coal- red power plants. e Banten regionisalsopopulatedwith52coalpower projects.
In November 2019 Greenpeace also lobbied the South Korean government and nancial agencies to stop funding coal- red projects in countries such as Indonesia.
It appears as if the opposition is causing delays for the project.
South Korea is the third biggest public nancier of coal and this project investment indicates that the government may not be ready for 100% commitment to its green climate pledge.
Indonesia, on the other hand, has recently partnered with with International Energy Agency to expedite its energy transition to greener fuels.
Week 28 15•July•2020
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