Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 06

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
coal to lessen the amount of pollution in the air.
“We are trying to generate more power through solar panels. Also there is possibility for us to export clean energy to our neighbours. We have a lot of space, we can even use the sea to install more (solar) panels, so the trend is towards that,” he said.
COAL
Mongolia suspends
coal exports to China on
coronavirus fears
Mongolia will suspend deliveries of coal across its southern border into China until March 2 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the country’s National Emergency Commission said on Monday.
Exports via the border points of Gashuunsukhait, Shiveekhuren, Bichigt and Bulgan will all be stopped, the commission said. The body is also recommending that Mongolia’s Tsagaan Sar new year celebrations be suspended, it said.
Mongolia has already stopped any foreign national
from entering the country via China. The country has not yet reported any cases of infection.
HYDRO
Nepel’s Upper Karnali HPP likely to sign PPA by May
Nepal’s Upper Karnali Hydropower Project (UKHP) is likely to sign the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) within three months as it has received the letter of intent (LoI) from the government of Bangladesh.
The Indian company GMR Energy which
is developing the hydropower project had received the LoI from the Bangladeshi government on January 30, 2020. “With this, a door to expedite the PPA signing has been opened,” said K K Sharma, project head at GMR Upper Karnali Hydropower.
“We are preparing for bank guarantee of $5million and it will be submitted within the next two weeks.” Sharma said that the signing will take place in May if everything goes as smoothly as the company has planned.
The tariffs, terms and conditions of the PPA with GMR Energy for the import of 500MW to Bangladesh were finalised last year. The 900MW export-oriented project will supply power to India and Bangladesh. The project plans on developing its own transmission line to evacuate the electricity it generates. The Indian party will get IC 4 paisa per unit as a trading margin for transmitting the power to Bangladesh. The supply of power to Bangladesh from India is expected to become exemplary in terms of regional power trade agreement.
A GMR official said that the company is trying to maximise the participation of Nepali banks for the financial closure. “With the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) closing, it will be easier for the company to know the actual construction cost,” Sharma added. The company has categorised EPC into two packages: EPC-I
for civil hydro-mechanical and EPC-II for electromechanical works. “We want to call for the commercial discussion by the end of this month,” he said. The estimated budget for the completion of the project is $1.5bn.
Ethiopia opens Chinese- built 254MW dam
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has inaugurated the Chinese built 254MW Genale Dawa III hydro dam project.
The Ethiopia Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Seleshi Bekele and Ethiopia Minister of Innovation and Technology, Abraham Belay also attended the hydro dam inauguration ceremony.
The hydro dam project built by the China Gezhouba Group Corporation cost around 451mn U.S. dollars with the majority of the money needed to finance the project sourced through loans from the China Export-Import Bank.
Speaking to Xinhua, Moges Mekonen, Communication Director at Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), said the 254MW Genale Dawa III hydro dam is expected to fill a critical
gap in Ethiopia’s ongoing efforts to meet
the energy needs of the country’s estimated 110mn people.
The 254MW Genale Dawa III hydro project is located in southeastern Ethiopia, 630 kms southeast of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The energy sector is one of Ethiopia’s priorities as the country envisages to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa and middle-income economy by 2025.
Ethiopia recently unveiled a 10-year energy roadmap that aims to increase energy generation four-fold using various energy sources such as geothermal, hydro, wind, co- generation and solar power.
SOLAR
Indian solar power rises 27% in 2019
India’s utility-scale solar PV projects boosted output by 27% year on year in 2019 to 46,033 MWh, shows new data by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
In the fourth quarter alone, the output of the country’s solar parks amounted to 11,750
Week 06 12•February•2020
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