Page 14 - AsiaElec Week 21

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
the occasion.
As per the MoU, NTPC and ONGC
will explore and set up Renewable Power assets including offshore wind, in India and overseas, and explore opportunities in the fields of sustainability, storage, E-mobility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) compliant projects.
ONGC
Bangladesh urged to turn to renewables
Global thinktank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Ieefa) has recommended Bangladesh turn to renewables, rather than costly coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports as the nation tries to recover from the Covid-19 crisis.
The US-based organization said the power generation glut in the country, which had already seen less than half of power plant capacity operating in the 2018-19 fiscal year, had been exacerbated by the slump in energy demand prompted by Bangladesh’s Covid-19 industrial shutdown.
IEEFA reported Bangladeshi power plants had a capacity utilization rate of just 43%
in 2018-19 and the national subsidy bill for power generation rose from $530 million
in 2017-18 to $936 million a year later.
The subsidy cost for the last fiscal year is expected to come in at $1.1 billion, according to Bangladesh Power Development Board estimates.
“A long-term switch from cheap domestic gas towards more expensive imported coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), combined with the severe, long-term power overcapacity Bangladesh is on course for, is likely to see government subsidies continue to rise,” said Simon Nicholas, energy finance analyst with IEEFA and author of the study.
Renewable energy eats into
coal’s share of Australian
grid
Australia’s reliance on coal-fired electricity is waning as new figures reveal renewable energy now accounts for more than 20% of the nation’s power, passing a new record, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
While coal and gas-fired power remain dominant in the energy mix, together accounting for 77%, the latest data from the
Energy Department shows renewable energy’s share of total power generation has continued to surge on the back of a 46% rise in solar output last year and a 19% increase in wind power.
Renewable energy - including wind power, hydro power, large-scale solar and rooftop solar panels - rose from a combined 19% share in 2018 to 21% in 2019.
%Gas-fired power generation increased 6%, with a 21% share of the energy mix.
Although coal’s share declined from 60% to 56%, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the figures demonstrated the “continuing importance of coal” in Australia’s energy mix and also highlighted a “growing reliance on gas”.
“Gas is flexible and provides the dispatchable capacity we increasingly need to balance intermittent renewables and deliver a secure, reliable and affordable electricity system to power our homes, businesses and industries,” Taylor said.
SOLAR
India’s ReNew Power wins 400MW solar project
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has awarded a large tender for steady supply of renewable energy. Part of the project awarded under this tender will supply power to a high-
profile area in India’s capital city.
One of India’s leading renewable energy
IPPs, ReNew Power, has secured rights to develop a 400 megawatt project under a recent tender issued by SECI. The company will be free to set up either solar or wind or solar- wind hybrid project to supply a pre-defined amount of electricity to distribution utilities in capital city New Delhi and federally- administered regions of Dadar and Nagar Haveli.
ReNew Power secured the project at a tariff bid of Rs 2.90 (US¢3.81) per kilowatt-hour. This tariff will increase at 3% each year for first 15 years of the 25-year agreement to supply power. Two other companies submitted bids for this tender. Greenko Energy Holdings
had bid for 400 megawatts while Ayana Renewables and HES Infra had bid for 100 megawatts and 50 megawatts, respectively.
Power from this project will be supplied
to a high-profile area in New Delhi. The area is home to India’s federal government as well as diplomats of numerous countries and has an area less than half that of Paris. Dadar and Nagar Haveli are geographically separate but administratively a singular entity located in western region of India. Its area is comparable to the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico.
The tender was a first-of-its-kind where developers would be required to supply renewable energy throughout the day. Given the small geographical area in the two cities and comparatively low power demand, the share of renewable energy is expected to increase very sharply in their consumption
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Week 21 27•May•2020