Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 47

AsiaElec C O A L AsiaElec
Elixir kicks off second Mongolian CBM well
MONGOLIA
AUSTRALIAN-LISTED junior Elixir Energy has said it has kicked off the second well in a two-well drilling programme on its coal-bed methane (CBM) block in Mongolia.
The company said on November 18 that it had spudded the Ugtaal-1 core-hole at its wholly owned Nomgon IX production-sharing contract (PSC) on November 11.
Elixir added that Ugtaal-1 had reached a depth of 122 metres, intersecting lithologies that included conglomerates, carbonaceous mud- stones and thin coal stringers.
Managing director Neil Young said: “With the spudding of the Ugtaal-1 core-hole we have now commenced our key well for 2019. We anticipate the well reaching the Permian section later this week, after which we will start testing coal cores for their gas content.”
Nomgon IX covers 30,000 square km of land in southern Mongolia and lies close to the border with China. The company signed its PSC, which includes a 10 year plus exploration period, in September 2018.
In addition to Ugtaal-1, Elixir has begun analysis on the findings from its first well – the BO-CH-1 chip-hole. Elixir said the well had demonstrated gas in the system, coal seams that would be considered productive in Australia as well as natural fracturing that could support “good permeability”.
The company said last week that BO-CH-1 had reached a total depth of 738 metres by November 10, after which the well was logged. Elixir noted that the first chip-hole had inter- sected a 490-metre coal-prospective Permian section, which exceeded the company’s expec- tations. It added that preliminary interpretation had indicated a gross carbonaceous section of 30 metres, of which 7 metres was net coal. The thickest coal penetration was 4 metres thick, which was in line with expectations.
Elixir said on November 18 that its drilling programme would consist of two fully tested core-holes, with the option for a third, that would support a contingent resource assessment in early 2020.™
POLICY
Meralco to emulate Taiwan’s power sector
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and its power generation arm, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), said here that there is a lot to learn from Taiwan’s power sector. So far, company officials said, the Philippines has already taken a step in the right direction.
“We have pioneered the utilization
of HELE [high efficiency, low emission] technology in the Philippines and I think we are in the right direction because no less than Taiwan has the technology to power almost 40 percent of the country’s power requirement,” said MGen Vice President Litz Santana.
MGen has recently switched on the P56.2- billion power plant of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. (SBPL), a partnership between MGen, with a 51-percent stake, and New Growth BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Electricity Generating Public Co. of Thailand (Egco), the first independent power producer in Thailand.
This is the country’s first 455MW
NEWS IN BRIEF
supercritical coal-fired power project located in Mauban, Quezon, utilizing a HELE coal technology, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve the efficiency of the power plant by producing more amount of energy with less coal.
It was built by the consortium of South Korea’s Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. which are both experienced engineering, procurement and construction contractors with very strong track records.
An official of LinKou Thermal Power Plant, a power station operated by the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), agreed.
Philippine senator urges
probe into ‘hostile’ China’s
power grid threat
A senator in the Philippines urged lawmakers on November 26 to investigate China’s access to its power grid, warning of a security threat and possible sabotage due to its stake in the nation’s only transmission firm, Reuters reported.
Risa Hontiveros filed a resolution
warning of Chinese-engineered power
and internet outages and interference in elections if safeguards remained absent, citing confirmation last week from a Philippine power executive that a “hostile third party” had the ability to cause blackouts.
Beijing and US ally Manila have a long history of mistrust, despite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s pursuit of warmer ties with China, largely concerning disputes in the South China Sea.
Opinion polls consistently show Filipinos consider China an untrustworthy neighbour.
Ties were at their worst under the previous administration, when the Philippines infuriated China by seeking international arbitration over the conduct of its coastguard and its transformation of submerged reefs into de facto military installations.
Hontiveros said a country capable of aggression should not have the means to destabilise a neighbour “with the flick of a switch”.
“Imagine a foreign country, which is an unrepentant trespasser and aggressor in our seas and territories, controlling our national electricity grid,” Hontiveros
P8
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
Week 47 27 •November•2019