Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 39

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
RENEWABES
ADB, Nauru sign grant
agreement for new solar
project
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Nauru today have signed a $22m grant for a project that will fund the delivery of reliable, affordable, secure, and sustainable solar energy to help meet the socioeconomic development needs of the Pacific island nation.
The grant for the Solar Power Development Project was signed by ADB Director General for the Pacific Ms. Carmela Locsin and Nauru’s Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Mr. Martin Hunt at a ceremony
in ADB’s headquarters in Manila. The Government of Nauru will contribute $4.98m towards the initiative.
“Nauru currently relies heavily on imported diesel fuel for power generation,” said Ms. Locsin. “The Solar Power Development Project will reduce diesel dependency and help boost the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources from 3.0% to 47%.”
The grant will fund a 6MW grid-connected solar power plant and a 2.5MWh, 5MW battery energy storage system to help supply continuous power even when solar energy is interrupted by cloud cover.
The system will be fully automated and integrated with the existing diesel system to optimise solar energy use, enable optimal battery energy storage system charging and discharging, and allow optimal shut-off of the diesel engines. This will reduce Nauru’s reliance on diesel for power generation and decrease production costs.
The project will strengthen the institutional capacity of the Nauru Utilities Corporation
by training staff in the operation and management of the solar plant and the battery energy storage system, while supporting gender-mainstreaming efforts and providing
project implementation assistance. Project- related employment will include gender targets. When the project is complete, solar power will provide 100% grid-connected electricity supply to the people of Nauru during daylight hours.
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Macquarietodevelop20GW
of renewable capacity by
2025
Speaking during the UN Climate Action Summit in New York Macquarie CEO Shemara Wikramanayake outlined Macquarie’s intention to develop a pipeline of 20 GW of new renewable energy projects over the next five years through its Green Investment Group (GIG).
Around a fifth of these projects are expected to be in non-OECD emerging market countries where climate finance flows have historically been weaker.
Many of these projects are expected to be backed by power purchase agreements arranged by GIG with corporate clients.
This follows Macquarie raising A$1bn ($1.2bn) of share capital for investment through an institutional placement in August 2019, following an active period of investment in renewables projects, alongside other sectors.
Macquarie will also play a part in the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI), which will work to support emerging market countries to create conditions conducive to greater private investment.
GIG has announced it is working alongside the UN Green Climate Fund to support the Government of Mongolia in developing
its own green bank, the Mongolian Green Finance Corporation.
GIG is exploring opportunities to extend this green bank advisory offering to other countries. Macquarie is also accredited
by the UN Green Climate Fund to deploy concessional finance into climate mitigation
and adaptation projects in emerging markets. “I’m delighted that our Macquarie
teams have been able to contribute to these important United Nations initiatives on climate mitigation and adaptation. Over the last decade we have played a leading role
in facilitating the shift towards renewables, with a particular focus on trying to address the various challenges that remain to full transition, including the need for a stronger pipeline of projects and integrating these with energy grids,” said Wikramanayake. MACQUARIE GROUP
Two hydrogen projects planned for Queensland
Two huge renewable hydrogen projects have beenplannedfortheheartofQueensland’s major coal and gas regions, with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) agreeing to initiate funding to support feasibility studies to use large-scale renewables for the production of ammonia.
One proposal is to build a solar farm of up to 210MW along with a 160MW hydrogen electrolyser to produce renewable hydrogen and “green ammonia” at Dyno Nobel’s existing facilities at Moranbah in central Queensland, which currently rely on gas.
The second proposal is to tap into wind and solar and storage facilities to be built
by Neoen to use renewable hydrogen to supply one fifth of the ammonia needs from Queensland Nitrates ammonia plant near Moura, which also currently relies only on gas.
The two Queensland projects add to a growing list of renewable hydrogen proposals across the country, not just for the purposes of storing wind and solar for electricity,
but also to help reduce emissions in key manufacturing industries such as ammonia production, and for the export of renewable fuels.
“This is the first step in the country tapping into the huge potential of a renewable hydrogen export industry,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said in a statement.
ARENA is putting in a total of $2.9 million into the two studies.
“ARENA is helping to create a market for hydrogen and to ensure that Australia remains at the front of this shift to renewable energy. ARENA is helping industry produce hydrogen at a price, quality and reliability point where it can be competitive with natural gas.”
Week 39 01•October•2019
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P11