AMLO to discuss power reform with US energy secretary
Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet with US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm in Mexico City this week to discuss his controversial electricity reform bill that sidelines private investors.
"We are going to discuss all the issues but, above all, we are going to inform her about the reasons behind the electricity reform," Lopez Obrador said at this daily press conference today.
Lopez Obrador sent a constitutional electricity reform bill to congress on 1 October that would restore state-owned power utility CFE's market dominance by prioritizing its dispatch and capping private-sector participation at 46pc.
The reform would revoke all private-sector generation permits — some 40,924MW, or 48pc, of Mexico's installed capacity — in a move industry lawyers say will violate the constitution and trade deals, including the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA).
US diplomats have voiced concerns about the reform and the issue was also raised ahead of a March 2021 meeting between US president Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart.
Mexico's government argues the reform does not breach free trade agreements as it draws on the state's constitutional right to prioritize the public interest over private-sector interests.
Mexico explicitly reserved its sovereign right to change the constitution and other legislation on energy matters in Chapter 8 of the USMCA, the government has said.
Lopez Obrador's Morena party is short of the two-thirds congressional majority required to pass the constitutional reform bill. The government is hoping to persuade opposition PRI party legislators to vote in favor of the bill in congressional forums that start today.
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Sheinbaum pledges $13bn for Mexican energy transition
Sheinbaum pledges $13bn for Mexican energy transition
Mexico City, 17 April (Argus) — Mexican presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to invest $13.6bn in electricity infrastructure through 2030, with a key focus on Mexico's energy transition. "We are going to accelerate the energy transition with new solar, wind and hydropower projects," Sheinbaum told a meeting of business associations in Merida, Yucatan, on 15 April. Former Mexico City mayor Sheinbaum is ahead of opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez for the 2 June presidential election, according to recent polls. While Sheinbaum is the continuity candidate for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Morena party, she has been a vocal supporter of clean energy development in contrast to Lopez Obrador's pursuit of conventional power projects and a restriction on private sector renewable energy development. "We are developing a national energy plan not just to 2030 but towards 2050 to coincide with our international climate change commitments," Sheinbaum said. Mexico committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35pc by 2030 from a 2000 baseline at the Cop 27 climate talks in 2022. Key projects through 2030 include 13.66GW of new power capacity across three hydropower plants, the third and fourth phases of the 1GW Puerto Penasco solar plant, two gas-fired combined cycle plants, cogeneration plants for the Cadereyta and Salina Cruz refineries, and additional wind and solar capacity. In addition to large scale electricity projects, Sheinbaum also committed to a build out of distributed generation, calling for the installation of solar panels in residential and commercial property. But while Sheinbaum pledged her "commitment to reaping the benefits of the historic moment Mexico is seeing in terms of foreign direct investment," she also recommitted to cap private sector electricity participation at 47pc. Foreign direct investment into Mexico hit $36.1bn in the fourth quarter of last year, 22pc above the same period in 2022, but investment into the energy sector has tanked under Lopez Obrador's statist energy policies, according to the latest statistics from the economy ministry. Lopez Obrador's government has largely focused on fossil fuel-based electricity generation, including the construction of new gas-fired combined cycle plants. But despite a commitment to build at least five combined cycle plants during his administration, Sheinbaum confirmed that only the Merida plant is due to launch by the end of this year. Launch dates for the Valladolid, San Luis Colorado, Gonzalez Ortega and Tuxpan plants have been pushed back to 2025-2030. By Rebecca Conan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Malaysia sets up cross-border renewable energy exchange
Malaysia sets up cross-border renewable energy exchange
Singapore, 17 April (Argus) — The Malaysian government is creating the Energy Exchange Malaysia (Enegem) to allow for cross-border "green electricity" sales to neighbouring countries, starting with pilot sales to Singapore. The auctioning process for cross-border sales of clean electricity will begin with a 100MW pilot run utilising the existing connection between peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, announced Malaysia's Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation on 15 April. The auction will be open to renewable energy bidders in Singapore that have import licences issued by Singapore's Energy Market Authority. This pilot phase of 100MW is to "make sure that it works, and then if it does work, hopefully it can be expanded to a gigawatt level," said the chairman of the Energy Commission Malaysia Rashdan Yusof at the Atozero conference in Singapore on 17 April. "On the demand side, there will also be an auction for suppliers of renewable energy into the exchange," said Rashdan, adding that the exchange will aggregate all the renewable energy sector participants, predominantly in the solar sector, and then provide the energy to Singapore, depending on requirements such as load factors, among other things. Malaysia aims to catalyse the development of the Asean regional electricity grid and cross-border energy trading. There are "tremendous discussions" on future interconnections, said Rashdan. Malaysian state-owned utility TNB has signed six agreements with utility counterparts in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, and has two feasibility studies planned with utilities in Indonesia and Singapore, he said, without providing additional details on these deals. There is great willingness to establish this regional power grid but one of the obstacles is that "each jurisdiction has different energy pricing systems," said Rashdan. There is a significant difference in energy pricing between Singapore and Malaysia, for example, as energy is largely subsidised in Malaysia. "These subsidies, I find, will be a core impediment in terms of the free flow of electrons," he added. "The energy exchange can level the economic and commercial playing field, so that money can flow. Once the money can flow, the electrons will flow. That's the aim of the energy exchange, to have that transparency and market-based system, without the distortion of price subsidies." There are a number of bilateral power agreements in the region, with some even crossing multiple borders, such as the Laos-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project, which connects renewable power supplies from Laos to Singapore. But Asean countries need to scale up to multilateral power trading to fully benefit from regional grid interconnectivity. Regional grid optimisation in Asean could cut the net present cost of full decarbonisation by 11pc from $7.2 trillion to $6.5 trillion, according to international classification society DNV's Asia-Pacific regional director for energy systems Brice Le Gallo last year. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
BHP to expand gas-fired West Australia power station
BHP to expand gas-fired West Australia power station
Sydney, 17 April (Argus) — Australian resources firm BHP plans to increase power generation at its 154MW Yarnima gas and diesel-fired facility near the Pilbara iron ore mining hub of Newman in Western Australia (WA) state. The proposal, according to documents filed with WA's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), will see output increase by 85MW to a total of 239MW through gas reciprocating engines and associated infrastructure with up to 120MW of nominal new capacity to be built in stages. Peak scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the project are predicted to be 480,030 t/yr of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), while scope 3 emissions related to supplying the gas are expected to be 37,260t CO2e/yr. Power demand at BHP's iron ore operations in the Pilbara is forecast to increase from 150MW currently to 1GW by 2040, as the company reduces its GHG emissions through electrification of its rail and mining fleets and must balance renewables with firmed generation. The iron ore mining sector is a large-scale producer of Australian GHG emissions through its Pilbara-based operations. Displacing liquid fuels such as diesel, which Australia consumes at an average rate of around 500,000 b/d by electrifying processes and switching to lower CO2-emitting sources such as gas, is expected to trend as Australia's largest polluters meet government mandates . Yarmina currently runs a 35MW diesel-fired temporary power station as part of its installed capacity. Canadian energy firm TransAlta earlier this year lodged plans to build a new 150MW gas-fired power station for BHP's Nickel West operations in WA's Northern Goldfields region. WA's domestic market is likely to be short on gas later this decade despite being Australia's largest LNG export state, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has warned in its Western Australia Gas Statement of Opportunities. Aemo's modelling released last year shows the closure of WA's state-owned coal-fired power stations will drive increased requirements for gas-fired electricity generation in the next decade. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
AES closes 276MW coal-fired power in Chile
AES closes 276MW coal-fired power in Chile
Santiago, 16 April (Argus) — US utility AES has disconnected its two Norgener coal-fired plants from Chile's national grid, removing 276MW of combined capacity almost two years earlier than scheduled. The plants in northern Chile's Antofagasta region were originally due to close on 31 December 2025. AES has 3.4GW of generation assets in Chile of which now more than half are renewable, it said. The early closure of Norgener 1 and 2, which began operations in 1995 and 1997, respectively, is part of the country's commitment to close all coal-fired plants by 2040. To date, it has closed 11 coal-fired plants with combined capacity of nearly 1.7GW, or 30pc of the 5.5GW in operation in 2019 when the phase-out plan was announced. A further four plants with a combined capacity of 873MW are scheduled to close in 2025, according to the energy ministry. A public-private decarbonization working group is developing a roadmap through 2030 to speed up the closure of Chile's remaining coal plants. By Emily Russell Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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