Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 02

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods.
Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailand’s Office of Natural Water Resources (ONWR), told BenarNews, , an RFA-affiliated online news service, he had documented complaints from villagers who had suffered economic hardship as a result of the river’s erratic flow.
“We compiled from and studied those concerns of the people along the Mekong River,” Somkiat said. “During the next meeting of the Mekong River Commission, expectedly in February, we will address the issues and make it a top priority.”
The commission, known by its acronym MRC, an inter-government agency that works with regional governments to manage the Mekong’s resources, warned Sunday that water outflows could potentially drop by half along the river that stretches through China and five other nations.
The MRC’s dire forecast – which says that water levels could fall by up 70 centimeters (28 inches) in Thailand and about 25 centimeters (10 inches) in Cambodia this week – came as Beijing said it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams on the upper Mekong River.
In October, amid protests from villagers in Thailand, the first hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River in Laos – one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries – began its commercial operations.
Protesters said the 1,285-megawatt, multibillion-dollar Xayaburi Dam, which was aiming to sell 95 percent of its generated power to Thailand, could further disrupt the river flow that was already drying out even at the end of the rainy season.
NUCLEAR
Costs for managing Japan’s nuclear plants rise
The total costs to implement government- mandated safety measures, maintain facilities and decommission commercially operated nuclear power plants in Japan will reach JPY13.46 trillion ($123bn).
The amount, which could balloon further and eventually lead to higher electricity fees, was calculated based on financial documents from 11 power companies that own 57 nuclear reactors at 19 plants, as well as interviews with the utilities.
Two years after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Japanese government introduced new safety standards which made measures against natural disasters and major accidents mandatory for restarting reactors.
The power companies have been given
the option of either maintaining their idled nuclear power plants and restarting them once they had implemented the required safety measures, or decommissioning their plants. But it has become clear either choice required massive costs.
Of the total costs, JPY5.4 trillion ($49bn) was for safety measures implemented as of last month at 15 power plants they are trying to restart.
WIND
JERA, Shimizu Corp. seal offshore wind deal
Japanese utility JERA and the engineering firm Shimizu Corporation have entered
into a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate within the offshore wind power generation business.
JERA and Shimizu will explore ways
to utilise their respective know-how and resources in the offshore wind power generation business to collaborate on related projects in Japan and overseas.
Based on the MoU, both companies will move forward to prepare for the Japanese government-conducted public tenders related to the development of offshore wind power projects in Akita Prefecture and elsewhere in Japan.
Both companies will also continue to search for suitable locations and evaluate technologies with the goal of further project development.
JERA will leverage its experience in large-scale power development to develop offshore wind power projects. Through
its participation in projects in the United Kingdom and Taiwan, and involvement in projects at different stages of development, JERA continues to accumulate expertise in the construction and operation of offshore wind power projects, the company said.
Shimizu is aiming to achieve the
top market share in offshore wind farm construction by leveraging its expertise in the design and construction of onshore and offshore wind power generation facilities and the self-elevating platform vessel that the company is currently constructing.
Ørsted, Equinor lead
coalition to promote
offshore wind growth
Denmark’s Ørsted SA and Norway’s Equinor ASA will lead a multinational team of companies and institutions who have grouped around the newly-formed Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition to push for global offshore wind growth.
The Action Coalition has brought together CWind Ltd and its parent company Global Marine Group, Japanese joint venture JERA Co, wind turbine makers MHI Vestas and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, transmission system operator TenneT, Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power and the UK’s Crown Estate.
Announcing the initiative’s launch this week, Equinor said the group was created in response to the September 2019 Call for Ocean-Based Climate Action made by the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.
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