Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 49

AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec

Egco applies for Thai LNG import licence

THAILAND THAI power utility Electricity Generating 70% of the country’s gas supplies compared with
(Egco) has applied to the Energy Regulatory around 13% in 2018.
Commission (ERC) for a liquefied natural gas LNG may also gain ground more quickly in
(LNG) import licence. the short term, with energy planners reportedly
The company applied earlier this month for planning to scale up the use of two import termi-
permission to import 250,000 tonnes per year nals to offset an anticipated production blip from
(tpy) to feed three gas-fired thermal power plants the offshore Erawan gas field from 2022.
(TPPs), company president Thepparat Theppi- The Bangkok Post reported in October that
tak told the Bangkok Post on November 30. The the government wanted to use spare capacity at
plants include the 256-MW Banpong TPP in the Map Ta Phut and Nong Fab LNG import ter-
Ratchaburi, the 121-MW Klongluang TPP in minals at Rayong to supply gas to TPPs owing to
Pathum Thani and the 120-MW Egco TPP in anticipated delays in PTT Exploration and Pro-
Rayong. duction (PTTEP) assuming control of the field
Theppitak said the company intended to from Chevron.
import LNG via a mix of long and shortterm PTTEP has said the US super-major’s arbi-
contracts to offset the risks posed by volatile tration with the government over Erawan will
pricing. The company may work with other LNG stop it from installing production facilities this
importers to combine their supply contracts. year. Chevron’s concession for Erawan expires in
Despite the country producing gas from fields 2022, with PTTEP set to take over after having
in the Gulf of Thailand, as well as importing it by won the field’s contract in December 2018.
pipeline from neighbouring Myanmar, declining The super-major has, however, locked horns
output is driving the country to rely increasingly with Bangkok over a retroactive law passed in
on LNG to sustain its rising fuel demand. 2016 that requires operators to cover the decom-
Thai LNG imports are projected to climb missioning costs of equipment they installed,
to 27mn tonnes in 2037 from 4.4mn tonnes even if another developer takes over the field and
in 2018, with the chilled fuel set to account for associated equipment.™

COAL-FIRED GENERATION

CIMB bank unveils 2040 coal exit plan

MALAYSIA MALAYSIA’S CIMB, one of the world’s major environmental campaigners in Asia. For exam-
Islamic finance institutions, has unveiled a ple, in Indonesia and Malaysia, campaigners
comprehensive climate policy that rules out any published newspaper advertisements in October
exposure to coal power by 2040. calling for CIMB and two other regional banks,
The bank said on December 8 that it would RHB and Maybank, to stop funding new coal.
prohibit asset-level or general corporate financ- Tim Buckley from the Institute for Energy
ing for new thermal coal mines, new coal-fired Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
power plants and expansions, except where there said CIMB was the first “globally significant
are existing commitments in place. financial institution in the developing world to
The new policy brings Southeast Asia’s commit to a coal exit strategy as a core part of
fifth-largest bank into line with the Paris the wider effort to align with its sustainable profit
Agreement. objectives”.
“The advancement of sustainability princi- According to Global Energy Monitor data, it
ples is complex and must be seen as a journey, has financed at least five coal-fired power pro-
one that CIMB started only two years ago,” said jects in Indonesia and Malaysia, including the
CIMB group chairman Datuk Mohd Nasir controversial Jawa 9 & 10 complex.
Ahmad in a statement. The bank’s policy is one of the Southeast
CIMB also said that it now expected gener- Asian finance sector’s strongest climate action
ating companies, such as state-run utilities and plans yet, and could well act as a blueprint for
private players, to publish a diversification strat- similar plans.
egy to reduce the share of coal in their power Banks in Japan and South Korea, both major
generation mix.The policy prohibits the financ- investors in Southeast Asia, have also recently
ing of mine expansions, unless the bank has said they would limit or even stop investing in
already committed to them, and it sets out the new coal.
expectation that electricity utilities which rely Major technology vendors such as Toshiba
on coal should provide a diversification strategy. have also said that they would stop taking new
The bank is reacting to pressure form orders for coal-fired generating technology.™

Week 49 09•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9