Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 37

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
INVESTMENT
Pakistan power sector
offers $80bn of investment
opportunities
Pakistani Minister for Power Division
Omar Ayub Khan said that the country’s Pakistani power sector including generation, transmission and up-gradation had over $80bn investment opportunities and foreign direct investment was pouring as multiple companies have shown their interest to invest.
He said the government has planned to increase installed capacity of power generation to 42,000 MW by 2030.
He was addressing a five-day inaugural training programme for professionals of Afghanistan on Pakistan’s Power Regulatory regime organised by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NRPRA) and the SAARC Energy Center (SEC),
The generation side alone has investment opportunity of $40bn, as well as $20bn in transmission market of the country, he added.
UAE to invest $10bn in Bangladesh
A number of UAE business groups are set to invest $10BN into Bangladesh, according to data compiled by Bangladesh Economic Forum.
Bangladeshis are major investors in the UAE economy where more than 50,000 businesses are owned and successfully run by Bangladeshi expatriates who employ more than 150,000 people collectively.
Salman Fazlur Rahman, Advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister for Private Industry and Investment is leading a 20-member government delegation to the Bangladesh Economic Forum in Dubai.
According to Pan Asia Media, the Bangladesh economy saw a growth of 7.9% in 2018, experiencing a growth overdrive that will see its economy growing at over eight percent in the next few years.
“Bangladesh is more than ready to receive a higher level of Foreign Direct Investment that jumped 69 percent last year to $3.61bn,” said Rahman.
“We have seen large investments coming from China, Japan and the United States. We believe, investors from the GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, should take advantage of the lower cost of investment, operations and higher return on investment in Bangladesh.”
During a three-day visit by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the UAE in
February this year, Bangladesh and the UAE signed four memoranda of understanding, MoUs, on establishing a port, industrial park, supply and setting up a liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminal, power plants, and a special economic zone in Bangladesh.
PERFORMANCE
China’s power generation accelerates in August
China’s power generation climbed 1.7% year on year in August, a faster growth than the 0.6% rate recorded in July, official data showed on September 16.
Power generation hit 668.2bn kWh hours last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
A breakdown showed a milder decline in coal-fired electricity, which edged down 0.1% year on year in August. Hydroelectricity saw slower growth of 1.6%, compared with 6.3% in July.
The generation of wind, nuclear and solar power posted double-digit increases, growing 13.7%, 21.2% and 13.9%, respectively.
In the January-August period, power generation rose 2.8% year on year to 4.7 trillion kWh, the NBS data showed.
GAS-FIRED GENERATION
LNG Ltd to supply
Vietnamese gas-to-power
project
Australia-listed Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd
said it had signed a deal with a province in Vietnam to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Louisiana-based Magnolia project.
The Vietnam project includes an LNG import terminal, and a 3,200MW combined- cycle power plant in the coastal province of Bac Lieu, where the Houston-based company will supply gas and Vietnam-based Delta Offshore Energy will generate electricity and sell it.
Two million tonnes of LNG per year will be supplied from its Magnolia project, which locks in a buyer for 25% of the supply from the project.
The deal comes at a time when LNG
Ltd has been struggling to lock in sales agreements for its Magnolia project due to the US trade dispute with China, which has been seen as a key potential customer for US LNG projects.
“Our alliance with LNG Limited will allow the Government of Vietnam to have a stronger relationship with the U.S. market,” Bobby Quintos, engineering managing director for Delta Offshore Energy, said in a joint statement.
Pending government approvals, the project is expected to begin operations in 2023.
COAL
Australia’s New Hope flags
coal market volatility,
Queensland slowdown
Australian coal producer New Hope said
coal markets would likely remain volatile in the near term though demand is strong for high-quality thermal coal across Asia, as it posted a 41% rise in annual net profit, Reuters reported..
The firm also forecast lower production
Week 37 17•September•2019
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