Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 25 2021

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

Thailand’s Global Power Synergy

to move into renewables

THAILAND THAILAND’S Global Power Synergy said it in Taiwan.
would invest $635mn in renewable projects PTT has said it aims to raise its renewable
across Asia, backed by its parent, state-owned capacity to 8 GW by 2030, with the majority
energy oil and gas group PTT. being handled by Global Power Synergy.
Global Power Synergy said this week that As well as Global, PTT has invested in electric
its investment would be 100%-backed by loans vehicles (EVs), securing a tie-up with Foxconn
from PTT, with solar and wind in Asia, especially Trading Group EVs in Thailand.
India and China, being the main investment Foxconn is a contract electronics manufac-
destinations. turing giant that is best known for being the larg-
The company aims to raise renewables’ share est vendor for Apple for its iPhones and more.
of its generation portfolio from 12% at present In August 2020, PTT first said it would raise
(including hydropower), to 30%. its green exposure from 500 MW to 8,000 MW,
It currently controls 5.05 GW of capacity, using Global Power Synergy as a base.
most of which is in Thailand and 80% of which is In 2019 Global Power Synergy bought 69.11%
thermal power, using coal or gas. of independent Thai power producer Glow for
The company made its first foreign green $2.96bn.™
move in November, when it bought a solar farm

India’s NTPC raises green target to 60 GW

INDIA INDIA’S biggest power generator, state-owned On the other hand, NTPC did not say how
NTPC, has almost doubled its green energy tar- the new green target could affect its plans to raise
get for 2032, raising it from 32 GW to 60 GW. its total installed capacity to 130 GW by 2032, of
NTPC aims to have as much as 60 GW of which thermal generation, mostly coal and some
installed renewable capacity by 2032, up from a gas, would account for 70%.
previous target of 32 GW, finance director A K NTPC has 65.8 GW of total installed capacity
Gautam said on a conference call. of 65.8 GW at present, of which coal accounts
The company currently has just 1,350 MW for 54 GW.
of green capacity, although it intends to add 13 The improved green target shows how
GW by 2024. an incumbent coal-dominated utility has to
NTPC, which generates 70% of its electricity become greener in order to maintain access to
from coal, in October 2020 set up its subsidiary energy funding and to respond to environmental
NTPC Renewable Energy. At that time, it set a concerns.
2032 target of 32,000 MW. However, India has not yet set a net-zero
At present, the company has 2,884 MW of emissions target, as rival China has by 2060.
renewable capacity under construction, and What this means is that coal use is expected
another 3,290 MW at various stages of tender- to continue to grow in India, partly to keep pace
ing. The company will participate in 5,000 MW with rising demand for electricity.
of upcoming renewable energy auctions. The IEA reported in December that it
NTPC said it had access to low cost of fund- expected India’s coal use to rise by 3.8% in 2021.
ing, which had helped it in quoting low compet- “In the medium term (to 2025), India has
itive tariffs in the auctions. one of the highest potentials to increase coal
The company is boosting its target because consumption as electricity demand rises and
of rising environmental concerns and in order more steel and cement are required for infra-
to take advantage of falling tariffs for renewable structure projects,” the IEA said in its annual
energy. Coal Report.™

Week 25 23•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9