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Taiwan’s CPC increases LNG

price for power generators

POLICY TAIWAN’S state-owned CPC on February 28 the Taipei Times quoted CPC spokesman Ray
increased the price of LNG going to electricity Chang as saying. He said the domestic supply
generators by 10% for the month of March, the of LNG remained stable, but added that world
Taipei Times reported. The move comes as Rus- market prices had exceeded CPC’s procurement
sia’s invasion of Ukraine hits energy markets, costs.
causing the prices of oil and gas to soar. CPC reported a loss of TWD43.4bn
CPC has sought to keep gas prices stable as ($1.55bn) in 2021, and its loss for 2022 is
part of government policy to put a lid on rising expected to be even higher due to higher LNG,
consumer costs, which climbed by 2.84% in Janu- the daily suggested.
ary, exceeding the Central Bank’s target cap of 2%. Following the invasion of Ukraine in late
However, the price of LNG for power gener- February, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs
ation has been bumped up in the face of rising said the country does not face an imminent risk
prices in recent months, with the government to energy supply as it has sufficient stocks of oil
absorbing the extra cost. The price of LNG sold and LNG.
for power generation on the island was raised Minister Wang Mei-hua said the island buys
by 3% in August and September in 2021 as gas LNG primarily from Qatar, Australia and Indo-
prices began to rise on the international market. nesia, and that LNG deliveries had been follow-
The CPC hiked LNG prices by 5% in November ing monthly shipment schedules. Wang said
and December 2021 and by 10% in January this Russia was one of Taiwan’s suppliers, but that that
year. contract was due to expire in March. After that,
“We are keeping LNG prices unchanged for he said, Taiwan would either sign new contracts
industrial and household users since June last with potential suppliers or acquire LNG on the
year, despite the uptrend in global LNG market,” spot market.™

JERA to pursue LNG-to-power in Vietnam

PROJECTS & JAPAN’S JERA announced on March 1 that it responsible for building the facility and supply-
COMPANIES had kicked off full-scale operations in Vietnam. ing LNG – potentially redirecting it from Japan
The company – a 50:50 joint venture between in the event of a shortage.
utilities Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and The investment ratio and other details of the
Chubu Electric Power – intends to pursue LNG- project are still being worked out, according to
to-power projects through its new Vietnamese Nikkei Asia, but the newspaper added that it is
unit. anticipated to cost billions of dollars. Work on
JERA said it had “positioned Vietnam as the facility’s basic design is expected to begin in
a priority country” and was “considering the March.
development of several LNG-to-power projects JERA is launching its Vietnamese operations
that will contribute to both decarbonisation and as Japan – the world’s largest importer of LNG
to a stable supply of energy that supports eco- until it was edged out by China last year – tries to
nomic growth”. The company’s JERA Energy make inroads into emerging Asian markets for the
Vietnam subsidiary has established Hanoi as its super-chilled fuel. According to JERA’s statement,
operational base in the country. it will also explore renewable investment opportu-
The announcement from JERA comes days nities in Vietnam as it advances its LNG-to-power
after media reported that it was partnering with business there and explores other opportunities
ExxonMobil on a Vietnamese LNG-to-power for collaboration with local companies.
project. Nikkei Asia said on January 27 that the Vietnam, for its part, is increasingly focused
project would entail 6mn tonne per year (tpy) on LNG-to-power as part of its energy transi-
LNG import terminal and a 4.5-GW power plant tion. The country has several LNG-to-power
in the northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong. projects at various stages of development and is
According to the newspaper, JERA will be aiming to begin LNG imports this year.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 04•March•2022