Japan digs deep for alternative energy

Deutsche Welle, 7 February 2014

Three years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan's nuclear plants remain mothballed. But as Tokyo struggles to cover the costs of imported oil and petroleum, companies have set their sights on geothermal energy.

The announcement in January that Japan suffered a record trade deficit in 2013 caused consternation in Tokyo, with analysts pointing to the need to import fossil fuels as the biggest single factor in the nation's economic slump.

The annual deficit spiked to 11.47 trillion yen (112.07 billion US dollars), up 65.3 percent on the previous year, due in large part to the demand from industry and households for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, all of which have to be imported.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it is committed to restarting nuclear reactors idled since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and weaning the country off energy imports. But with the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant still fresh in local residents' memories, there is little likelihood of the nation's 50 reactors being switched back on in the near future.

Adversity into opportunity

Face with this situation, Japanese companies have discovered that times of adversity can also present a window of opportunity. And with the public unwilling to countenance a return to nuclear power - at least for now - a number of firms want to tap into an underdeveloped, virtually limitless and environmentally friendly energy source that literally lies beneath Japan's feet.

PM Shinzo Abe is committed to
restarting nuclear reactors in Japan

Chuo Electric Power Co. has announced that its new geothermal plant in Kumamoto Prefecture will start generating power in April, becoming the first new geothermal facility in 15 years.

A second project, developed by Orix Corp, and Toshiba Corp., is scheduled to go online in early 2015. The two companies see the plant in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, as a test site for further facilities in Hokkaido, Tohoku - the region devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami - and on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Another 10-company consortium, headed by Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Inpex Corp., has similarly announced plans to develop Japan's largest geothermal plant, in the Bandai-Asahi National Park in the Fukushima Prefecture. With an anticipated output capacity of 270,000 kilowatts, the developers are hoping to have the plant operational in the early years of the next decade.

Oil, gas exploration firms

"Inpex are getting involved as they are an oil and gas exploration company and obviously have experience and know-how in the area of drilling, so a project like this is perfect for them," Tom O'Sullivan, an independent energy consultant and founder of Tokyo-based Mathyos Japan, told DW.

Projects to harness Japan's geothermal resources lag behind the solar sector, he agreed, "but the potential is enormous in a country that sits atop the 'Ring of Fire'" - the meeting point of tectonic plates around the Pacific Rim that is infamous for seismic activity, volcanoes and naturally heated water rising from deep within the earth's crust.

"All of Japan is colored in red on the University of Tokyo's seismological map," O'Sullivan said. "The potential is just remarkable." An estimated 70 gigawatts of geothermal energy lie directly below Japan, sufficient to supply more than one third of the nation's power needs, O'Sullivan said.

Japanese companies want to tap into the underdeveloped energy source
which lie under the country's feet

But there are also hurdles. In the same way as people in other countries are protesting the exploitation of shale gas deposits, many in Japan are resisting the deep boring that is required to access geothermal energy. Even the operators of the nation's famous "onsen" hot spring resorts are concerned that the power industry will deprive them of the resource they rely on.

High development costs

Development costs are also high, critics point out, with a 20 megawatt geothermal plant requiring an initial 7 million US dollars to assess and then a further investment of between $20 million and $40 million to complete the drilling.

The typical seven years from discovery to commercial operation of a geothermal plant is another concern for potential investors. A solar farm, for example, can be returning an income in as little as 12 months, O'Sullivan points out.

Japan's first geothermal plant (article picture) opened on the island of Hachijojima in 1999 and, to date, geothermal projects here have been relatively small-scale affairs, in part to ensure the support of local residents.

Since the Fukushima disaster, however, the national government has introduced a feed-in tariff system to encourage investment in the geothermal sector and a further 20 sites across the country are presently being assessed for the suitability for projects.

Rival energy sources

But Yoko Ito, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, believes that more attention is still being focused on other potential sources of renewable energy.

"The feed-in tariffs were introduced in July 2012 as the government believed they would help to increase the amount of geothermal energy being supplied, but the total amount that has been added so far is disappointing," she said.

The 17 plants currently in operation provide a modest 520 megawatts, although this puts Japan in eighth place in the world in terms of geothermal electricity, according to the Geothermal Energy Association.

"Many of Japan's projects are quite small, for a limited local area and not suitable for commercial operations," Ito said.

Supporters of alternatives to Japan's reliance on nuclear energy or polluting fossil fuels hope that small-scale geothermal projects will eventually encourage investors to sink their money into larger schemes that may make the most of the nation's underground opportunity.

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"Connecting The Dots" - Feb 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version) 

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

13 die in Goa in collapse of building under construction

Google – AFP, 4 January 2014

File picture of buildings under construction in New Delhi last year (AFP/File,

Prakash Singh)

Panaji — Thirteen bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building under construction that collapsed "like a house of cards" in a coastal village in the Indian tourist state of Goa on Saturday, authorities said.

The residential building caved in around mid-afternoon, when some 50 daily wage labourers, were working on the site, police said.

"We have got 13 bodies from the wreckage. We expect the death toll to rise," Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told AFP.

A witness said the building collapsed like "a pack of cards".

Fire and emergency service crews rushed to the spot. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands, struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the trapped labourers.

Hundreds of onlookers stood watching the rescue efforts as police sought to shoo them away from the site, saying they were hampering access for machinery.

"The current priority is to rescue people trapped under the rubble and the government has also taken help of the army to clear the debris," Parikkar told the Press Trust of India separately.

Parrikar had been near the village to attend a state-sponsored folklore festival that was later cancelled by the government.

The building collapse, the latest in a string of deadly construction cave-ins in India recently, occurred in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the capital city of Panaji.

Initial reports said that the structure was five-storey apartment residence.

"We will immediately arrest the builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site," the chief minister said.

"I am personally monitoring the situation," he added.

He said that police had already filed complaints against those people involved in the construction of the building.

The bodies were shifted to a morgue at a nearby hospital.

Last September, a rundown five-storey residential block in India's financial hub Mumbai collapsed, killing 60 people.

The building had been listed by municipal authorities as needing "urgent repairs", according to local media reports.

Last April, another building collapse in Mumbai killed 74 people.

The incidents have highlighted shoddy construction and violations of the building code, amid burgeoning demand for housing in many parts of India and endemic corruption.

Falling buildings are a nationwide problem in India.

The British daily, The Guardian, collected statistics showing that 2,651 people were killed across India in 2012 due to the collapse of 2,737 structures, including houses and bridges.

Real estate experts say that many buildings collapse because construction codes are not followed and there is no attention to building safety.

In another of the worst recent Indian cases, 69 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a building collapse in the capital New Delhi in 2010.

Related Article:

Building collapses in India, killing several people and trapping others

Indonesia calls for solar power project investment

Dawn.com, 2013-11-06

JAKARTA: The government is tendering as many as 80 projects related to the development of solar power plants in an attempt to boost the country’s renewable energy supplies.

The 80 projects will have a combined capacity of up to 140 megawatts (MW), according to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for renewable energy Rida Mulyana.

The ministry opened the tender starting last Thursday and is expected to announce the winners of the projects by this December.

“The solar plants’ construction will take about six months. Therefore, we will see the plants commence operation in the middle of next year,” Rida said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He added most of the solar power plants would be located in eastern Indonesia, such as in Papua, West Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara. Most of the power plants will have a 1 MW capacity while the biggest project will be located in Jayapura, Papua, with a 6 MW capacity.

According to Rida, at least nine units of power plants would be offered for development in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with a total capacity of 14 MW. He said seven locations in Papua would host solar power plants with a 14.5 MW capacity, six locations in North Maluku with a combined capacity of 7.5 MW, six developments in Maluku with 9.5 MW and another six projects in North Sulawesi with 13 MW.

There will also be three locations in Aceh hosting 4 MW solar power plants, six units in Riau with an 8.5 MW capacity, seven units in West Kalimantan with a 9.5 MW capacity, five unit plants in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) with 17 MW and four units in East Java with a 4 MW capacity.

The 140 MW projects will need roughly 2.8 trillion rupiah in investment. Earlier this year, the government inaugurated the largest capacity solar power plant in Karangasem, Bali. The plant has a 1 MW capacity and cost 26 billion rupiah in investment.

The government has put aside 400 billion rupiah on the development of solar power plants this year.

According to the announcement on the renewable energy directorate’s website, the tenders of power plant projects have been open for development in Kupang, NTT and in North Lombok, NTB, with 5 MW and 2 MW capacities, respectively.

Despite abundant potential in renewable energy, the country remains heavily dependent on the fossil fuel for its electricity supply.

According to a report in the renewable energy directorate general, the country’s solar power plants’ installed capacity had reached 59 MW as of early November.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said the country had a solar energy potential of 50,000 MW. “A number of companies came to us and said they wanted to build plants,” Jero said at an event recently.

Attempting to boost solar power plant development, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued last June Ministerial Decree no. 17 2013, which regulates the purchasing of electricity produced by photovoltaic solar power plants by state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

– By arrangement with the ANN/The Jakarta Post –

Philippines a Symbol for Local Geothermal

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara, November 6, 2013

The geothermal power power plants in Mount Apo in Mindanao, Philippines,
help to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. (JG Photo/Dion Bisara)

Indonesia does not have to look very far to find the best way to tap geothermal energy, which potentially is located in protected, remote forests.

As Indonesia struggles to find a balance between the development of geothermal resources, forest conservation, and development, the Philippines has shown how that can be achieved.

The Philippines gets 14 percent of its electricity supply from geothermal power plants and the nation is the second-largest producer in the world of such energy by capacity, after the United States.

Indonesia can only tap 1.4 percent of its estimated 28,994 megawatts in reserves — the largest in the world — as the country is yet to resolve issues such as conflicting laws that forbid geothermal exploitation in conservation areas, pricing, and opposition from indigenous people.

Agnes de Jesus, senior vice president for environment and external relations at the Energy Development Corporation — the Philippines’ largest geothermal power producer — recalled similar challenges in 1988 when the Philippine government decided to build geothermal power plants in the middle of Mount Apo Natural Park following the El Nino weather phenomenon that reduced hydropower generation.

The plan was highly controversial at that time, de Jesus said, citing the lack of legal basis to establish plants in a conservation area, which is also an ancestral domain for indigenous people.

“We conducted scientific surveys on the site to asses the environmental impact and held many consultations with stakeholders to explain about the project,” she said. It took four years for the project to start after securing approval from indigenous people and a presidential decree that granted exploitation permits in the forested area.

The EDC currently operates two generators in Mount Apo — a dormant volcano on Mindanao island, which is in the southern Philippines — with total capacity at 106 megawatts. The power plants use about 15,000 metric tons of steam tapped from underground reservoirs to power the generators, and as much as 40 percent of the steam escapes to the air because of evaporation.

Steam generation

The steam is captured through pipes that go through the turbines, and the steam then goes through a series of pipes that condense the vapor into water, which is then cycled back into the underground reservoir to produce more steam.

That steam loss cannot be converted back into water through this process, so conservation remains critical for the Mount Apo geothermal project because the forest captures rainwater and replenishes the reservoir, de Jesus said.

“The key to Mount Apo’s geothermal coexistence with the protected area or park was to locate it in less critical sites of the forest — in the openings or amongst secondary vegetation,” she said.

The company’s conservation efforts range from forest patrols to reforestation using native species of plants, de Jesus said.

Mount Apo is considered to be one of the richest botanical mountains in Southeast Asia, hosting hundreds of rare, endemic and threatened species of flora. It is being proposed as a world heritage site by Unesco.

Since the geothermal project commenced in Mount Apo, the national park was better protected from encroachment, thanks to increasing efforts from the EDC and the government in securing the geothermal plant site, said Eduardo Ragaza, chief of protected areas and wildlife division at the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The geothermal project also benefits indigenous people.

Samuel Asicam Sr., chairman of the Cotabato Consultative Tribal Council, which represents some indigenous people in Mount Apo, remembered the days when the natives’ houses were only made by wood, bamboo splits and banana leaves.

“Now we have good houses, many have refrigerators,” Asicam said. “But the best thing is we can have access to education, and we believe it will change our lives.”

The EDC projects provide support for indigenous people, including scholarships, free electricity, emergency health care and assistance in developing livelihoods for them.

Divina Sillador, manager at Lake Agco Hot Spring, which is the only resort within the park, said the arrival of EDC provided jobs. She also said the indigenous Ilomavis tribe benefited from the subsidy on their electricity bills — meaning that the cost for electricity at less than 650 pesos ($15) was free. Divina is an Ilomavis.

All children go to school now, she said, and most of them return to work with the EDC project. Last year, 259 people worked at the facility.

“I hope some day the indigenous people can lead the project,” she said.

Mario C. Marasigan, a renewable energy management director at the Philippine Department of Energy, said success at Mount Apo provided a platform for the country to continue tapping its geothermal potential. The Philippines aims to be the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy by 2030, increasing its installed capacity from 1,848 MW to 3,293 MW, Marasigan said.

“We want to achieve energy self-reliance,” Marasigan said, “Unlike Indonesia, which has coal and fuel, we have very [little] of it.”

Investment incentives

In order to achieve its goal, the Philippines provides generous incentives for companies to develop geothermal in the country, including an income tax holiday lasting seven years; a 10-year duty-free import period on machinery, equipment and materials; and a 10 percent corporate tax after the end of the seven-year tax holiday, which is lower than the normal 30 percent corporate tax, Marasigan said.

And thanks to a market-driven electricity pricing policy in the Philippines, companies like EDC are able to take risks in exploring for new resources while having sound assurance on profitability, Marasigan said.

Such incentives may be small compared to the 17 million barrels of fuel-oil-equivalent — valued at $1.6 billion at current rates — that the country saves annually from having geothermal power plants.

Only 5 percent of the Philippines’ energy sources comes from fuel — which is mostly imported — and that has helped keep the country’s current account balance in the surplus for the last 15 quarters.

By comparison, Indonesia’s current account reached a record deficit of 4.4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in the second quarter, after seven consecutive quarters being in the red as reliance of fuel imports grows amid its declining oil production.

Indra Sari Wardani, WWF-Indonesia Ring of Fire coordinator, said EDC’s geothermal project in Mount Apo shows that engagement with indigenous people and forest conservation can be achieved.

“As one of the geothermal projects located within in conservation forest, EDC has one of the best practices,” Sari said.

Ring of Fire is a WWF program launched in 2011 to promote sustainable production and use of geothermal energy in the Philippines and Indonesia. WWF identified challenges in Indonesia’s geothermal energy, including a subsidy policy that distorts the market price for electricity, and the law on conservation forests that prohibits mining activities — under which geothermal energy is categorized.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has estimated that 42 percent of the country’s geothermal resources are located in protected forest areas.

Bambang Purbiyantoro, head of preparation and evaluation for geothermal work area division at the energy ministry, said the government is now working on revising the geothermal law to resolve the issues.

“In the end the main challenge is the politics,” Bambang said.

The Jakarta Globe was invited by the WWF’s Ring of Fire project to observe the Mount Apo geothermal project in the Philippines last week.

Related Article:

Geothermal Bill Step Closer to Law

Geothermal Bill Step Closer to Law

Jakarta Globe, Tito Summa Siahaan, October 22, 2013

Trucks at Patuha Geothermal plant in Bandung, West Java. Indonesia holds
40 percent of world’s geothermal potential. (JG Photo/Reza Estily)

A special committee at the House of Representatives approved on Monday the geothermal bill proposed by the government, which would make it a step closer to becoming law, as the nation seeks to wean itself from reliance on fossil fuel to produce electricity.

All of the nine factions in the committee supported the bill, and all of the speakers highlighted the country’s enormous geothermal potential, the need to attract investment, and the inadequacy of the current geothermal law.

Should the bill become law, it will replace the existing law on geothermal issued in 2003.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said the aim of the bill is to optimize the country’s geothermal potential.

“Indonesia holds 40 percent of the world’s geothermal potential, or 28,617 megawatts, but only 1,341 megawatts, or 4.6 percent of that amount had been harnessed,” he said.

Jero said that one of the key points in the proposed bill is the removal of the words “mining activities” in the definition of geothermal activities. Inclusion of such wording could create unnecessary complication in the exploitation of geothermal energy.

Another law bans any form of “mining activities” to be performed in areas of conservation, according to the minister.

“Most of our geothermal potential is located within conservation areas,” Jero said.

Such overlapping policies in Indonesia have, in many cases, created disadvantages for investors — especially among international investors that want to invest in the country’s energy business.

Aside from that, regulation on conservation areas had been widely blamed as the main reason as to why development of many geothermal projects has stalled.

Ali Kasela, a lawmaker for People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), said that his party supported the bill as it would bring more benefits from geothermal energy to regional development.

Jero said that the problem is rooted in the misunderstanding of the impact of geothermal projects.

“Unlike mining operations, a geothermal power plant takes only little space within a protected forested area,” Jero said.

State utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara estimated that Indonesia would need at least $77.3 billion in new investment to produce 13,000 megawatts of renewable energy, including geothermal, to the country’s electricity grid until 2021.

Tisnaldi, the director for geothermal at the Energy Ministry, said that another highlight in the proposed bill is the obligation for geothermal concession holders to sell a 10 percent interest to regionally owned enterprises or state-owned enterprises after it enters the exploitation stage.

“It aims to share the benefits of the geothermal project to local governments,” Trisnaldi said.

Jero said that the government is also looking to use geothermal to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuel and help the objective in carbon emission reduction.

Milton Pakpahan, the chairman of the special committee, said that the bill is scheduled to be approved by the House plenary meeting in April 2014.

The National Energy Council (DEN) forecast early this year that the country may not achieve its target to have a more balanced energy mix by 2025, which is designed to reduce the country’s oil consumption and carbon emissions.

Based on the council’s projections, Indonesia’s energy consumption in 2025 would be made up of 23.9 percent oil, 19.7 percent natural gas, 30.7 percent coal and 25.7 percent renewables.

In 2010, the country’s energy mix was 49.8 percent oil, 24.5 percent coal, 20 percent gas and 5.7 percent renewables.

Related Article:

The Future of Sustainable Energy in a Growing Asia Pacific Is a Common, Very Necessary Goal

The Future of Sustainable Energy in a Growing Asia Pacific Is a Common, Very Necessary Goal

Jakarta Globe, Noeleen Heyzer, October 18, 2013

Indonesia has only exploited around five percent of its world-leading
geothermal potential (JG Photo/Rezza Estily)

The world is at a critical juncture, with energy consumption rising dramatically. Even allowing for the positive impacts of the policy commitments and plans announced by countries to address global climate change, total primary energy demand in Asia and the Pacific alone is expected to nearly double between 2010 and 2030.

How will the Asia Pacific region meet this demand? How will we grow in a sustainable way that is both equitable and efficient? How can universal energy access be achieved?

These are some of the key questions being addressed at the 22nd World Energy Congress in Daegu, South Korea, which begins on Sunday.

The world faces two main energy challenges: providing enough light, warmth and power for every household — and at the same time shifting to cleaner energy sources to protect our increasingly fragile natural environment.

Just over a year ago, at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, 191 member states and observers recognized the critical role that energy plays in development.

This is why the UN General Assembly declared 2014-2024 the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for All” and why UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative in 2011, focusing on three major goals: improving energy access, energy efficiency and the share of renewable sources in our energy mix. Ensuring sustainable energy for all is additionally challenging in Asia and the Pacific.

Despite great progress in improving peoples’ lives, the Asia Pacific region still has 628 million people without access to electricity and 1.8 billion who still use traditional fuels such as wood, charcoal, agricultural residue and animal waste.

Widespread energy poverty condemns billions to darkness, ill health and missed opportunities: children cannot study at night, clinics and hospitals cannot offer quality health care and many people cannot make use of the opportunities and information accessible through modern technology.

We must end this inequality, but we need to do so in a way that is intelligent and sustainable, utilizing natural resources while preserving the integrity of the ecosystems on which we depend.

In addition to the hundreds of millions without access to modern energy services, the Asia Pacific region also has some of the highest levels of carbon intensity. Our primary energy intensity is among the highest in the world, despite rapid and significant reductions in recent decades. This limits long-term national and regional competitiveness, jeopardizing employment opportunities and income levels.

The Asia Pacific region has some of the largest exporters and importers of fossil fuels, as well as the highest rates of fossil fuel subsidies. Worldwide, these subsidies were six times greater than the financial support for renewable energy.

The increasing dependency on fossil fuel imports in both the largest economies and the most vulnerable small island states exposes our region to the risks of oil price volatility and the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events.

Rebalancing our mix is therefore critical. The countries in our region have some of the fastest growing rates of investment in and added capacity for renewable energy, taking advantage of our ample supplies of solar, hydroelectric, wind, biomass, geothermal and ocean energies.

Still, the current energy mix remains mostly fossil fuel-based — especially coal — with renewable resources, including hydro, accounting for only 16 per cent of total electricity production.

These additional challenges are why a comprehensive, long-term understanding of “enhanced energy security” is evolving in the Asia Pacific region. This concept moves beyond calculations of supply and demand alone towards a holistic consideration of multiple aspects, including access, efficiency, renewables, environment, economics, trade and investment and, last but not least, connectivity.

As early as 2008, member states of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) were developing a regional framework to address these challenges, passing a resolution at the its annual session on promoting renewables for energy security and sustainable development.

In a lecture last year to the Energy Market Authority in Singapore, I also proposed that the region should explore the creation of a game-changing Asian Energy Highway — an integrated regional “smart grid.”

These discussions culminated in May, when Escap organized the Asian and Pacific Energy Forum, the first conference of energy ministers held under the auspices of the UN in the region.

Hosted by the Russian Federation, 34 countries met in Vladivostok and adopted a groundbreaking framework — a Ministerial Declaration and five-year plan of action on regional cooperation for enhanced energy security and the sustainable use of energy.

One key area of action is to develop common infrastructure and to promote energy policies that accelerate regional economic integration.

Energy connectivity is not something new here. The Asean Power Grid (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the SAME or Saarc Market for Electricity (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and the GMS Power Market (Greater Mekong Subregion), are key instances of initiatives that could be linked and expanded under a common goal.

The lesson of these initiatives is that regional cooperation works best when it is based on a unified vision.

As evidenced by the Asia Pacific countries in Vladivostok, our region is committed to shaping the regional energy future we want: one of equity, efficiency and resilience, to benefit our people and our planet.

Noeleen Heyzer is the under secretary general of the United Nations, executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and special adviser of the UN secretary general for East Timor.

A solar investment in California’s Imperial Valley: Google

Google Green Blog, 10/10/13

We’re celebrating Halloween early with our “lucky thirteenth” renewable energy investment: a $103 million commitment to Mount Signal Solar, a 265.7 MW solar photovoltaic plant in Imperial County, CA. The project will generate enough energy to power 80,000 homes.

Like many states, California has a goal of increasing the amount of energy procured from renewable sources. The energy from Mount Signal Solar, which has been contracted to San Diego Gas & Electric, will help California meet this goal. The project, which is owned and operated by Silver Ridge Power (formerly AES Solar), will also create over 900 construction jobs in a part of the state that suffers from high unemployment.

Thirteen renewable energy investments in three years! That’s a lot of energy—the over $1 billion we’ve committed to these projects will generate enough electricity each year to power more than 500,000 U.S. homes. Why are we making these investments? It’s simple: we believe in a clean energy future, and we think that companies like ours can help make it happen. We invest in these projects because they make business sense, because they help put more renewable energy on the grid, and because they have a positive impact on the local economies where they operate.

The Mount Signal Solar project in Imperial County, CA

 Posted by Kojo Ako-Asare, Head of Corporate Finance

Joko Wants Solar Panels for Jakarta Low-Cost Apartments

Jakarta Globe, SP/Deti Mega P. on 5:06 pm October 8, 2013

People walk across a yard inside the Pinus Elok low-cost apartment
complex in East Jakarta on Sept. 30, 2013. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said on Tuesday that he wanted to install solar panels on the 100 low-cost apartment towers that his administration planned to construct next year.

“I think we need to apply an environmentally friendly concept for next year’s low-cost apartment construction,” Joko said on the sidelines of a visit to electronics manufacturer Panasonic Gobel’s plant in East Jakarta. “So solar panels should be installed on all the low-cost apartments that will be built next year.”

Joko said he was aware that solar panels would boost the upfront construction cost, but emphasized the savings that would be made over the longer term.

Yonathan Pasodung, the head of Jakarta Housing and Building Agency, said last month the Jakarta administration was ready to build 100 low-cost apartment towers next year in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Housing.

Each tower would consist of six floors and was planned to host 100 apartment units, with construction cost set at between Rp 20 billion ($1.7 million) and Rp 22 billion per tower.

The towers will be built across five Jakarta municipalities and offered for rent at Rp 150,000 per month per unit to low-income residents.

“That will include those displaced by [Jakarta's] river normalization project,” Yonathan said, according to Indonesian news portal tempo.co.

He added the towers would use precast concrete to make them more resistant to earthquakes.

Australian building giant in graft scandal

Google – AFP, 3 October 2013

Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings is at the centre of a

 corruption scandal with allegations of bribery among senior executives 

(AFP/File, Greg Wood)

Sydney — Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings, which operates in more than 20 countries, said Thursday it was "deeply concerned" by allegations of bribery and widespread corruption within the company.

A six-month investigation by Fairfax Media, which obtained hundreds of confidential company documents, exposed what it said were "plans to pay alleged multi-million dollar kickbacks in Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere, along with other serious corporate misconduct".

In one case, it alleged, former chief executive Wal King approved a Aus$42 million (US$39 million) bribe to a firm in Monaco nominated by Iraqi officials who gave Leighton an Aus$750 million oil pipeline contract.

Fairfax cited a memo written on November 23, 2010 by then-acting chief executive David Stewart, in which Leighton International managing director David Savage had revealed he and King knew of the massive kickback.

"I asked did Wal K approve this? And he said 'yes'," the memo reportedly said.

King, who was the company's chief executive for 23 years before retiring in late 2010, refuted the allegations.

"Well, I deny the allegations that I had any prior knowledge of circumstances in Iraq. I've never visited Iraq," he told ABC radio, adding that he could not comment further because he was bound by confidentiality agreements with Leighton.

Leighton is a US$7 billion company active around the world in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources and environmental services industries.

The revelations hit its share price hard, with the stock down more than 10 percent in late afternoon trade at Aus$17.60.

In a three-page statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Leighton said it "takes these accusations seriously and is deeply concerned about the suggestions of impropriety", but added that the allegations were "exceptional instances".

It said that in 2011 Leighton voluntarily reported to Australian police a possible breach of its code of ethics relating to accusations of bribery in Iraq, and this was still under investigation.

"We are not aware of any new allegations or instances of breach of our ethics," it said.

The statement added that a senior executive was dismissed in 2012 and "over recent years, Leighton Holdings has continued to strengthen and improve its corporate governance and risk management processes".

"The directors of Leighton's subsidiary companies and of Leighton Holdings are aware of their responsibilities and have at all times executed their duties with the appropriate care and diligence, and in the best interests of each relevant company," it added.

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Indonesia Allocates $302 Million to Back Geothermal Exploration

Jakarta Globe, Fitri Wulandari,  June 18, 2013.

Indonesia started a fund to finance the exploration of geothermal energy resources as the nation seeks to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels for electricity.

The finance ministry’s investment agency will manage Rp 3 trillion ($302 million) this year for geothermal exploration, Saritaon Siregar, the agency’s chairman, said in an interview at a conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Local governments that have geothermal areas can use the fund to determine their potential, he said.

“If exploration shows good results, the local government can put the area for bidding and investors that win can repay the exploration funds to us,” Siregar said.

The energy source produces 1,341 megawatts, or less than 5 percent of Indonesia’s potential geothermal generating capacity of 29,038 megawatts, according to data from the energy and mineral resources ministry.

Private investors can also apply for loans for geothermal exploration, Siregar said. The agency hasn’t started distributing funds, he said.

Bloomberg

China Invests $17b in Indonesian Power Project

Jakarta Globe, Tito Summa Siahaan, May 29, 2013

China Power will harness the power of North Kalimantan’s Tayan River for
Indonesia’s largest power project. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

Chinese companies China Power Investment Corporation and Anhui Conch Cement announced more than $17 billion of investments in Indonesia, underscoring the attractiveness and allure of the Southeast Asian nation to foreign investors.

China Power, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, has been granted permission by the Indonesian government to build what could be the archipelago’s largest-ever power plant project.

Xia Zhong, a vice president of China Power, met with Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik late on Monday to discuss the company’s plan to develop 7,000 megawatts from hydropower plants on Kalimantan island.

The project will harness the power of the Tayan River in the newly created North Kalimantan province.

Jero told reporters in Jakarta on Monday that the Chinese firm will invest a total of $17 billion for hydroelectric plants in North Kalimantan.

“Construction will take seven years to be completed and will be divided into five phases,” he added.

China Power has concluded the preliminary study of the project and will proceed with its feasibility and environmental assessment impact study, Jero said.

“We expect to see the groundbreaking next year,” the minister added. “Construction for the first phase will be completed in one-and-a-half years. By 2015, the power plant will generate 700 megawatts of electricity,” said Jero.

The minister said that the government will not provide additional incentives.

The government has set the price level for renewable energy like hydropower considerably high to entice more investors. In comparison, the price for coal-fired power plants is around 4 to 9 cents per kilowatt-hour.

“They did not request for incentives. They think that the 24 cents per kilowatt-hour power purchase price for hydropower plant is good.”

In Indonesia, independent power producers must sell their electricity to state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara, based on the government’s approved pricing.

China Power is also looking into the possibility of building a smelter for bauxite, according to Jero. “But they have yet to make any estimations,” he added.

Electricity generation is China Power’s core business and in total has power plants with a capacity to generate 80,074 MW of electricity.

Currently, the firm is building a 6,000 MW hydropower plant in Myanmar, from which the electricity will be channeled to mainland China.

China Power also has coal and aluminum assets.

Anhui announced its plan to build a cement plant in South Sulawesi at total investment of 2 billion yuan ($327 million), Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Anhui’s main business in the manufacturing and selling clinkers and cement products. It distributes cement and clinkers under the brand named Conch.

ILO Prepares Building Safety Guidelines for Indonesian Garment Factories

Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, May 28, 2013

Workers set up a tent as they demand for better pay in front of a garment factory
in Tangerang, Banten, in this April 10, 2013 file photo. (JG Photo/Fajrin Raharjo)

The Indonesian office of the International Labor Organization on Tuesday said it was preparing new infrastructure safety assessment guidelines for Indonesian garment factories in the wake of a building collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people.

The ILO said it was drafting the new infrastructure assessment criteria under its Better Work Indonesia program, and would use it to appeal to Indonesian garment makers to ensure the safety of their factories.

“In a country that is prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters, it is imperative that employers ensure their buildings are structurally sound by regularly making sure that their buildings are in line with government regulations,” BWI program manager Simon Field said in a press statement on Tuesday.

BWI senior enterprise adviser Muhammad Anis Nugroho said that Indonesia already has comprehensive regulations on building safety, but admitted that implementation was always an issue.

“A public works minister regulation on this [building safety], for example, is quite detailed — there should be regular inspections, and so on,” Anis said. “But it uses phrases only experts on the matter can comprehend.”

The new ILO guidelines, Anis said, are expected to help factories comply with the existing regulations by translating the technical terms into “practicable” guidelines.

He said that it was still unclear how well the government has followed its own regulations.

However, he added, companies should want to improve the safety of their work environments following the collapse of the eight-story building that housed five garment factories in Bangladesh, dubbed the world’s worst garment industry disaster.

“We will involve the government in the creation of the guidelines,” Anis said. “In the end, we want this to help the government carry out inspections.”

Indonesia earned $12.5 billion from textile exports last year. The figure is expected to increase to $13.5 billion this year, with the United States and Europe remaining the country’s main markets.

In comparison, Bangladesh, the world’s second largest apparel exporter after China, records $20 billion annually from textile exports.

Jakarta Passes Sweeping Waste Management Regulation

Jakarta Globe, Lenny Tristia Tambun, May 21, 2013

Scavengers collect recyclable plastics at Bantargebang garbage dump
in Bekasi, West Java on March 29. (EPA Photo/Mast Irham)

A new regulation in Jakarta imposes fines of up to Rp 50 million ($5,120) on illegal dumping, while also implementing stricter mandates on eco-friendly bags, biodegradable packaging, littering and waste management.

Unu Nurdin, the head of the Jakarta Cleanliness Office, said the new rule, approved by the Jakarta Legislative Council on Tuesday, mandates that rubbish be put in designated locations and companies manage their waste, especially that which can lead to pollution and environmental degradation.

“If residents and companies do not meet their obligations, as arranged in the regulations, they will face sanctions. The sanctions range from administrative ones to fines of between Rp 500,000 to Rp 50 million,” Unu said after a plenary meeting of the City Council.

Article 126 of the regulation prohibits dumping waste into waterways and water reservoirs, streets, parks and public areas. It also says that waste must be disposed in integrated waste dumps (TPST) and final dump sites (TPA) between 6 a.m to 9 p.m.

“It is also prohibited to dispose waste at the TPST or TPA without a permit, burn waste that pollutes the environment, throw waste from a vehicle, use parts of streets as temporary waste dumps, manage waste that leads to pollution or environmental degradation,” Unu said.

Neighborhood units known as Rukun Warga were also given the authority to slap administrative sanctions on those households which fail to separate their waste into organic and inorganic.

Those responsible over the management of residential, commercial, industrial and other special areas, who are found negligent in providing facilities for waste management will also incur administrative sanctions and fines of between Rp 10 million to Rp 50 million.

Operators of public and social facilities which fail to provide facility for waste separation will incur administrative sanctions and fines of between Rp 1 million to Rp 5 million.

Manufacturers which fail to display matters related to reducing waster or waste handling on their packaging, or use packaging that cannot naturally decompose, may face administrative sanctions as well as fines of Rp 25 million to Rp 50 million.

Shopping center operators who do not use environmentally-friendly shopping bags will also face administrative sanctions as well as fine of between Rp 5 million and Rp 25 million.

“The governor can issue administrative sanctions, including fines, on individuals who intentionally dump waste outside of the allowed time, of up to Rp 100,000,” Uno said.

Litterers, including dumping waste into water ways and reservoirs, on the streets, in parks or in public areas, face a fine of Rp 500,000

Those caught littering from vehicles will also face the same fine. Salvagers working on piles or mounds of waste can also face a fine of a similar amount if they spread the waste.

“These fines will be sent to the regional treasury in line with the regulations and laws. We want the public to be waste conscious, so that we can also reduce floods in Jakarta,” he said.