Page 13 - AsiaElec Week 10 2023

AsiaElec NEWS IN BRIEF AsiaElec

BlueFloat Energy announces the government hopes to be able to develop expected to support rapidly falling lithium
prices, which have dropped by more than 30%
2.8 GW of renewable energy.
1.7-GW floating wind farm across China of late due to oversupply and
plunging EV sales in the country.
off Australia Masdar invests in south-east and is known throughout the country
The Chinese city is in Jiangxi Province in China’s
BlueFloat Energy has revealed plans for a new Indonesian geothermal and around the region as Asia’s lithium capital.
1.7-GW floating offshore wind project off The investigation is also likely to affect
Australia. company the already tumbling prices of lithium. Spot
The Eastern Rise Offshore Wind Project lithium carbonate prices in China have,
would be in the Pacific Ocean off Hunter Masdar, a leading global clean energy according to the latest figures from the
region of New South Wales. The zone was company, is making a strategic investment country, already gone down by as much as
announced recently by Australia’s Minister for in Indonesia-based Pertamina Geothermal 34% since late last year.
Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen. Energy (PGE), a major player in the This only helped add to oversupply issues
The project aims to support the clean geothermal energy sector. and plunging EV sales across the country.
transition from coal-fired generation and help This move will enable UAE-based Masdar Analysts in China and elsewhere now expect
decarbonise and boost the regional economy, to enter the sector in the second largest the price of the metal to continue to fall
said BlueFloat. geothermal market in the world. throughout the year.
Nick Sankey, BlueFloat Energy’s Country The investment in PGE demonstrates Investment firm Goldman Sachs has even
Manager, said that they had chosen to develop the company’s commitment to supporting projected that spot prices of lithium carbonate will sink
a new project in the region because of its Indonesia’s energy transition and to leveraging to as low as $34,000 per tonne by this time next year.
industrial and power generation history, its low-carbon energy sources, including
high-quality wind resource, its favourable geothermal, to help achieve the targets set out
position near emerging energy infrastructure in the Paris Accords, said Masdar. Aussie rooftop solar to top
and its positive stakeholder and community PGE aims to increase its geothermal
engagement. capacity by 600 MW over the next five years power source rankings
“BlueFloat Energy is very excited about to support Indonesia’s renewable energy mix,
our latest offshore wind project in Australia. said Ahmad Yuniarto, CEO of PGE. Australia’s long-time power generation leader,
Minister Bowen’s announcement is good news Indonesia is one of the world’s most coal, is to finally be dislodged from its long
for the whole state and Australia’s energy geologically active countries and has a vast held rank as number one power supplier by
transition,” he said. potential for geothermal energy, estimated rooftop solar in Australia …. next month.
The project’s development and to be around 28 GW. The country’s goal is Seen as an indication that fossil fuel use
construction will take seven years, said to increase its installed geothermal capacity is declining across Australia, a new SunWiz
BlueFloat. from 2.8 GW in 2022 to 6.2 GW by 2030, report points to more than 20 GW of small-
BlueFloat Energy was previously working which would make it the largest geothermal scale, primarily rooftop cells having been
on the very early stages of a separate project producer in the world. installed nationwide in recent years. Most of
in the region, the Hunter Coast Offshore Masdar’s investment in PGE is part of these installations are believed to be positioned
Wind Project, which is now being developed its broader effort to expand and increase its atop commercial properties and private homes.
independently by Energy Estate. strategic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific In excess of 3.4mn Australians, out of a
region. In addition to developing the region’s population of 25.7mn, now own some form of
largest floating solar facility in Indonesia, rooftop solar installation, according to the report.
Sri Lanka okays $442mn Masdar recently announced a new focus on each year, making Australia the world’s leading
This number climbs by around 300,000
green hydrogen and a goal to achieve 100
Adani Group wind projects GW renewable energy capacity and green nation in terms of private solar installations.
“Solar energy is already Australia’s largest
hydrogen production of 1mn tonnes per year
Sri Lanka’s Investment Board has approved (tpy) annually by 2030. Masdar will lead the fuel source for electrical power,” said Warwick
two wind projects at a cost of $442mn by UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. Johnston, managing director of SunWiz.
Adani Green Energy, part of the multinational “When the Liddell coal-fired power station
conglomerate Adani Group. closes in April 2023, rooftop solar alone will
“The two wind power plants of 350 MW are Lithium mining crackdown generate more power than the remaining
scheduled to be commissioned in two years and, coal-fired power stations operating across
accordingly, they will be added to the national to hurt global battery supply the country, making rooftop solar the largest
grid by 2025,” said a statement from the board. power generator,” he added, maintaining the
A report by a short seller, Hindenburg An investigation into illegal mining in Yichun, generally held concept that it was the average
Research, on Adani Group in late January had China’s lithium hub, is expected to have an impact Australian’s love of solar technology that was
led to $125bn in losses of the market value of on global supply of the battery raw material by helping to dislodge coal as top dog.
seven of the group’s companies. 13% this month, according to analysts. 20 GW of solar “is an immense amount
Renewable energy projects have accelerated Yichun produces around 29% of China’s that has been made possible due to millions
in Sri Lanka, which has been facing power lithium salt, and has an annual extraction of Australian households and businesses
shortages. In mid-February the country raised capacity of 150,000 tonnes of lithium and supported by Australia’s thriving solar
electricity prices by 66% to try to get the IMF carbonate equivalent (LCE). industry. Australian solar power systems are
to bail out Sri Lanka’s ailing economy. The investigation could halt mining in the more affordable than in any other country,
Sri Lanka hopes to be able to generate city for a month, removing around 13,000 so it’s understandable that we lead the world
enough green electricity ultimately to export tonnes of LCE from global supplies. in per-capita uptake of solar,” Johnston
it to southern India. Over the next three years The crackdown on illegal mining is also concluded.

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