Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 33

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
“PTC India Ltd (PTC) signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Druk Green Power Corporation Limited (DGPC, A Royal Bhutan Govt. Company) for purchase of surplus power from 720MW Mangdechhu Hydro Electric Project in Bhutan for 35 years. Government of India has designated PTC as the nodal agency from Indian side to purchase this power from Bhutan,” PTC said in a statement on Monday evening.
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 Prime Minister Narendra 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 against the backdrop of China’s Belt and Road initiative aimed at connecting countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. “ e project is funded by a mix of debt nd grant from the government of India. e project is estimated to generate 2,923 GWh of electricity and o set 2.2mn tonnes
of CO2 a year. e generated energy will be transmitted to India through Jigmeling and Salakati Sub-station,” the statement added.
NUCLEAR
Australiaconsidersnuclear power
Australia is poised to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the possibility of pursuing nuclear power. “Nuclear energy has evolved
since it was last seriously considered in Australia,” said Queensland Liberal National parliamentarian Ted O’Brien, head of the standing committee on environment and energy, in a statement.
“ is inquiry will provide the opportunity to establish whether nuclear energy would
be feasible and suitable for Australia in the future, taking into account both expert opinions and community views.”
In 2009, Australia o cially banned nuclear power in response to Japan’s Fukushima disaster. But at the behest of the prime minister, energy minister and conservative members of parliament, it will take another pass at the idea.
e renewed interest is being spurred by Minister for Energy and Emissions Reductions Angus Taylor’s enthusiasm for small modular reactors (SMRs), which are cheaper, allegedly safer and use less water.
As nuclear technology evolves, proponents argue there is an opportunity for Australia to become specialised in SMRs, which o en only have capacity of 60 megawatts, far lower than the kind of baseload power Australia might need to replace large coal stations, though they can also be deployed in clusters.
Russia, China and South
KoreavieforBulgarian
nuclear project
State run energy companies from Russia, China and South Korea are among seven groups interested in becoming strategic
investors in Bulgaria’s Belene nuclear
power project, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said, Reuters reported.
Neighbouring North Macedonia has also expressed an interest in a minority stake and long-term contracts to buy electricity from the 2,000MW project on the river Danube, estimated to cost 10bn euros ($11 billion), Petkova explained.
So a revived the Belene project last year a er the parliament said it should seek investors to make use of the two reactors
it paid over 620 million euros to Russia’s Rosatom for in compensation for scrapping the original project in 2012.
“ ere has been a lot of scepticism whether there will be interest at all for the project. With the applications we got this is no more, because these are some of the global leaders in the nuclear energy,” Petkova said.
She said Rosatom, China’s CNNC and Korea Hydro & Nuclear POWER Co (KHNP), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp, had led applications. A consortium including Czech rm Vitkovice Heavy Machinery; two Bulgarian bidders; and a Germany-registered company have also expressed an interest in being a strategic investor.
Meanwhile, France’s Framatome, a unit
of EDF, and General Electric have led letters saying they are interested in providing equipment and in arranging nancing for the project, Petkova said.
Bulgaria will shortlist candidates in three months and ask them to le binding bids. It will not hire a consultant to advise it on the process, which it hopes to wrap up in May 2020. e project is hoped to be completed around ten years later.
Week 33 20•August•2019
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