Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 03

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ADB supports Maldives solar hybrid with $55mn grant
MALDIVES
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pro- vided $55mn of support to the Maldives to build solar-hybrid battery systems on 48 islands in a bid to reduce diesel consumption.
The government’s Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development (POISED) project aims to retrofit existing diesel-based energy minigrids to solar hybrid.
The work involves new solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants, battery energy storage sys- tems, energy management systems and efficient diesel generators.
“The POISED project — one of the largest energy sector interventions in the Maldives — will introduce sustainable energy in the outer islands as well as help reduce the cost of energy, minimise CO2 emissions, achieve considerable fuel savings and reduce the burden on the gov- ernment budget,” said the ADB’s energy director for South Asia, Priyantha Wijayatunga.
Wijayatunga, Minister of Environment Hus- sain Rasheed Hassan and Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam were among those taking part in a ceremony to
inaugurate the project in Malé.
At present the Maldives is the first country in
South Asia to achieve 100% access to electricity, although the diesel-powered minigrids are old and inefficient, resulting in expensive and some- times unreliable electricity supply. The system also relies on $40mn per year of government subsidies.
The use of diesel makes the country com- pletely reliant on oil imports and also makes its carbon emissions per unit of electricity among the highest in the region.
The POISED project has already installed 7.5 MW of solar PV facilities, 5.6 MWh of battery energy storage systems and 11.6 MW of ener- gy-efficient diesel gensets.
The project will target a minimum of 21 MW of solar PV, which will meet 27,600 MWh of annual demand and reduce CO2 emissions by 19,623 tonnes per year (tpy).
The ADB, which began supporting the POISED project in 2014, is providing $55mn in grants, while the European Investment Bank (EIB) has lent $50mn.™
INVESTMENT
Macquarie signs wind deal with European metals giant
Australian investment bank Macquarie Group, through its Green Investment Group, has signed a deal to supply power to mining and metals company Eramet Norway from two Norwegian wind farms.
Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) – which it acquired from the UK Government back in early 2017 – announced last week that it had entered into two long- term Power Purchase Agreements with Eramet Norwy, a subsidiary of French mining and metallurgical company Eramet boasting smelters in Porsgrunn, Sauda, and Kvinesdal, as well as a R&D department in Trondheim.
Power for the company’s Norwegian smelters will come from Macquarie Green Investment Group’s two Norwegian wind farms – the 47MW Tysvær Wind Farm, which will become operational in 2021, and the 69MW Buheii Wind Farm currently being
NEWS IN BRIEF
developed by Nordisk Vindkraft.
The GIG announced as part of their agreement with Eramet Norway that it
was acquiring the Buheii Wind Farm from Nordisk Vindkraft, which currently remains subject to certain completion conditions.
Both wind farms will supply power to Eramet Norway’s processing plants through to 2038.
The announcement is a big step forward for both companies as they seek to consolidate their standing as green giants in their respective fields.
Formed by the UK Government in 2012, the Green Investment Group was the first institution of its type in the world, specialising in green infrastructure principal investment, project deliver, and management of portfolio assets.
Since 2012, and being acquired by Macquarie in 2017, the Green Investment Group is one of Europe’s largest teams of dedicated green infrastructure investors.
Further, Macquarie Group itself is one
of the world’s largest investors in renewable energy and has invested or arranged for over
$A8bn ($5.4bn) in Financial Year 2019 for clean energy projects around the world.
Macquarie Group announced back
in September plans to develop a massive portfolio of clean energy projects and a goal of investing in 20 GW of new projects around the planet.
The company followed that up two months later by committing to purchase all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025 and joining the RE100 initiative.
TRADING
Tariffs to hold back Chinese demand for US LNG
Chinese purchases of US LNG are unlikely to surge, despite an agreement for China to buy more US energy supplies, because tariffs on gas from the US remain in place, Reuters reported.
Under a Phase 1 trade deal between the
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