Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 34 2021

AsiaElec NEWS IN BRIEF AsiaElec

COAL The XMC-CMC consortium is offering first trimester of 2021, due to higher prices
this price for the next 6 years, according to of other components in the module supply
Indonesia ends coal export documents of the Energy Division. chain, including cells, wafers and glass.
The proposal is currently awaiting the final
For the consumer, this meant a 3.7%
ban for three companies approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public increase in the average selling price of a solar
module in the first quarter of 2021.
Purchase.
Indonesia has reversed coal export bans for Officials of BCMCL said they are currently However, module manufacturers had to
three companies after they complied with buying coal from the contractor at $81 per face tighter profit margins over the same
domestic market obligations, an official at the ton. With the inclusion of vat and tax, the period even as customer demand grew
energy and natural resources ministry said, price rises to $121 per ton. significantly following the COVID-19
Reuters reported. They added that the price of coal would pandemic-related slowdown in early 2020.
Indonesia suspended coal exports from likely be increased by around $20 if the Polysilicon prices are unlikely to come
34 coal mining companies earlier this month proposal is approved. down before mid-2022, “when capacity will
after it said the companies failed to sell an “Currently, the BCMCL is selling coal come online and ease the current bottleneck
obligatory 25% of their production to the at $130 per ton to its nearby Barapukuria in the market”, says Edurne Zoco, an executive
domestic market, mainly to state power utility Thermal Power Plant. If the proposal is director in the Global Power and Renewables
PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). approved, we will also send a proposal to the group at IHS Markit.
As of last week, three companies, including higher authority for increasing the coal price,” Higher solar module prices are fuelled
PT Arutmin, a subsidiary of the country’s Engr Md Kamruzzaman Khan, managing mainly by the currently stronger demand for
top coal producer PT Bumi Resources, have director of Barapukuria Coal Mining solar power, while the US-China solar trade
been given their coal export licenses back, the Company Limited told Dhaka Tribune on war appears to influence only a part of the
official, Sony Heru Prasetyo, told Reuters. Monday. demand shifts.
The other two companies were PT Bara He said the price of coal from BCMCL may The US Administration’s import-export
Tabang and PT Borneo Indobara. rise to $150 per ton. ban imposed in June against a small group
of Chinese polysilicon producers for using
forced labour at factories in Xinjiang region
Bangladesh seals Chinese SOL AR are not expected to make a dent in China’s
polysilicon production. IHS Markit says that
coal deal China’s polysilicon capacity is expected to
double by 2025 as demand for solar grows.
The price of coal from Bangladesh’s Polysilicon prices up by “Most new polysilicon capacity expansions
Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd 175% in H1 2021 currently happening in China are located
(BCMCL) may rise again, this time by 5%, as outside of Xinjiang province,” Zoco
the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral IHS Markit has found that prices of commented. The manufacturers are not
Resources has decided to renew a six-year polysilicon, a key solar panel component, only building new facilities outside Xinjiang
contract with Chinese company XMC-CMC surged by 175% between January and mid- to reduce risk, but also to become more
Consortium. June 2021, and are expected to stay high independent from the region, according to
The price of coal per tonne, including VAT through mid-2022. Zoco’s analysis.
and tax, has been proposed at $85.85 in the IHS Markit said in its latest solar market IHS MARKIT
new contract, officials said, the Dhaka Tribune analysis that overall costs to produce solar
reported. panels rose 5.9% quarter-on-quarter in the
GEOTHERMAL

Japan to expand
geothermal

Japan will expand its search for geothermal
power sources in national parks and other
areas it has been reluctant to tap, despite
having the world’s third-largest reserves, the
Nikkei reported.
About 30 locations will be assessed in a
new government-funded phase of exploration,
overseen by the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, to contribute to cutting
greenhouse gas emissions. Only five were
studied in earlier surveys.
Around 80% of sites suited for geothermal
power in volcanic Japan are thought to be in
national parks. The Environment Ministry

Week 34 25•August•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11