Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 34

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
POLICY
Australia takes legal action
against Engie over 2017
blackout
e Australian Energy Regulator is seeking penalties against Engie for allegedly failing
to tell the electricity market operator it had power capacity available which could have averted a blackout in South Australia in 2017.
e action is the latest by the Australian Energy Regulator to compel power generators to comply with national electricity rules as the market operator tries to keep the lights on with a grid that is increasingly dependent on exible power sources like gas- red plants to back up wind and solar power.
e regulator alleged that Engie’s Pelican Point natural gas- red power plant failed
to inform the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) for several months before Feb. 8, 2017, that it had a unit that could be switched on with 24 hours notice.
Without that information, the AEMO was unable to manage the power system properly, the regulator said.
e market operator came under re in February 2017 for failing to tap Engie’s Pelican Point plant for power during a heatwave that resulted in blackouts.
“As we head into summer, it is important that generators provide AEMO with timely and accurate information about their capability to ensure that AEMO can manage system security and keep the lights on for Australian consumers and businesses,” Australian Energy Regulator Chair Paula Conboy said in a statement.
“Engie rejects these allegations and will defend the claims,” a company spokesman said in an emailed statement. He declined to comment further while the matter was subject to legal proceedings.
Earlier in August the regulator sued four wind farm operators over a state-wide blackout in South Australia in 2016.
Generators face penalties of up to A$100,000 ($67,540) per breach of national electricity rules. If Engie’s breach is counted for every day that the market operator was not informed, it could face penalties of millions of dollars.
GRID
India to buy surplus electricity from Bhutan
PTC India Ltd, India’s largest electricity
trader, will buy surplus power from Bhutan government-run Druk Green Power Corp. Ltd, which runs the 720MW Mangdechhu hydropower project.
“PTC India Ltd (PTC) signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with Druk Green Power Corp. Ltd (DGPC, A Royal Bhutan Govt. Company) for purchase of surplus power from 720MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project in Bhutan for 35 years.
e Indian government has designated PTC as the nodal agency from Indian side to purchase this power from Bhutan,” PTC said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the major hydropower project during his recent visit to the strategically located Himalayan nation as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s “neighbourhood rst” policy.
Electricity from the run-of-river power plant built on the Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag district of central Bhutan will be supplied to Assam, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal.
Cross-border energy trade is a key part of Modi’s South Asia-focused, neighbourhood- rst policy. India has also been playing a
key role in creating a new energy security architecture for its neighbours to counter China’s Belt and Road initiative aimed at connecting countries across Asia, Africa and Europe.
“ e project is funded by a mix of debt and grant from Govt. of India. e project is estimated to generate 2,923 GWh of electricity and o set 2.2mn tonnes CO2 a year. e generated energy will be transmitted to India through Jigmeling and Salakati sub-stations,” the statement added.
Bhutan, strategically located between India and China, has the potential to generate 30,000MW of hydropower, but has a capacity of just 1,490MW. According to the Indian embassy in imphu, hydropower exports
provide more than 40% of Bhutan’s domestic revenues, and constitute 25% of its gross domestic product (GDP).
COAL
Australia names India
as biggest potential coal
market
India, the world’s third largest coal consumer, is one of the most appealing market for Australia’s thermal coal to meet its increasing energy requirements, according to a new report.
According to “Coal in India 2019” report, prepared by the Australia’s O ce of the Chief Economist, Australia is not a signi cant supplier of thermal coal to India despite India’s imports growing by 84mn tonnes in the past ve years.
e report said that India was the world’s third largest coal consumer behind China and the United States; and the share of coal in India’s electricity mix was rising.
Indonesia was main supplier for India for thermal coal while Australian exports were going to China, Japan and South Korea, the report said.
“ e growth in Australia’s coal exports to India has coincided with the substantial rise in Indian coal imports, only exports of metallurgical coal to India have risen substantially,” it said.
It said that there were a range of factors that had led to limited Australia’s thermal coal exports to India, particularly in the past ve years including the Australian price which exceeded the level that Indian electricity companies, who were subjected to regulated prices, could pro tably pay.
Week 34 27 •August•2019
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P9