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Singapore's Tuas Power to raise biomass-fired capacity

  • Spanish Market: Biomass
  • 07/10/25

Singapore-based independent power producer (IPP) Tuas Power will increase its biomass-fired capacity in or by 2027 by converting some of the co-fired boilers to burn solely biomass, market participants told Argus.

Tuas Power meets about 20pc of Singapore's total electricity demand and sells other services such as steam, high-grade industrial water and wastewater treatment through its Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex (TMUC).

The company, owned by China's Huaneng Power International, is likely converting its key biomass-clean coal cogeneration plant at the TMUC facility to a 100pc biomass-fired unit, the market participants said. It currently co-fires coal and biomass.

The facility will use imported palm kernel shells (PKS) and domestic wood waste for biomass fuel after the conversion, a trader said, adding that Tuas Power has likely reached out to several trading houses and PKS suppliers for the cargoes.

The utility plans to procure more than 1mn t/yr of imported PKS from southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, and around 300,000 t/yr of domestic wood waste derived from horticultural activities in Singapore, according to market participants.

TMUC's co-fired plant will likely burn more than 1.3mn t/yr of biomass to generate 135MW of power and produce high-pressured steam for industrial sale. The converted units could start operations from around 2027-28, the market participants added.

Argus has approached Tuas Power for comment but it has not responded to queries.

Certification

The project could disrupt the future PKS market dynamics because it could lead to a sharp increase in demand for certified cargoes, according to market participants.

Historically, Tuas Power has never had a mandate for procured PKS to go through third-party certification bodies. But it could be buying certified PKS after the conversion because nearly all market volumes have undergone some level of certification, with very little uncertified spot cargoes left.

This comes as Japanese demand in the certified PKS market records steady growth this year. Meanwhile, consumption is also projected to rise next year because of the many new Japanese power plants coming on line until the end of 2026.


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13/11/25

Cop: Brazil draws R8.8bn to Climate Fund

Cop: Brazil draws R8.8bn to Climate Fund

Sao Paulo, 13 November (Argus) — Brazil's development bank Bndes and environmental ministry (MMA) drew R8.84bn ($1.67bn) in reimbursement resources to its Climate Fund, the bank said at the UN Cop 30 climate summit in Belem,Brazil, on Wednesday night. European banks Germany's Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, France's Agence Francaise de Developpement and Italy's Cassa Depositi e Prestiti committed to invest €1bn ($1.16bn) by 2027 through reimbursement aimed at climate financing. The Interamerican Development Bank will contribute with another $500mn for the fund in the same period. A foreign finance commission under Brazil's planning ministry and each institution must approve before the resources before signing financing agreements. Bndes's Climate Fund is a financial mechanism focused on climate actions, such as energy transition and sustainable development projects, especially for small- and medium-sized companies. New operations for forests Bndes and MMA also announced five new credit operations totaling R912mn to restore native vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, in the tropical savanna biome known as Cerrado and in the coastline Atlantic Forest. Brazilian private-owned companies focused on recovering degraded lands and promoting sustainable agriculture practices will restore over 86,000 hectare (ha), but Bndes did not specify any timeframes. Scale forest restoring company Re.green holds the largest fund, with R250mn, to restore around 19,000ha along the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest. The Climate Fund has already granted other R187mn to the firm in 2024, targeted at preventing the emission of 1.27mn metric tonnes (t)/yr of CO2 equivalent. Other projects include Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual's ecological subsidiary Camapua, investments holding Lorinvest's forestry subsidiary Tree+, public projects developer Ibema group and investment group Patria. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Cop: Enviroment groups slam Brazil's TFFF


07/11/25
07/11/25

Cop: Enviroment groups slam Brazil's TFFF

Belem, 7 November (Argus) — Over 100 international environment groups have criticised Brazil's Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), pointing out flaws to the plan, formally launched this week just ahead of the UN Cop 30 climate summit. Brazil, which has a "very strong policy of public participation when drafting climate policies", did not follow that process when designing the fund , Victor Menotti, a senior fellow at environmental think-tank Oakland Institute, told Argus . Menotti is also the US co-ordinator of a global climate justice campaign. The organisations criticising the TFFF say that the fund does not address the impacts of agriculture, mining or hydrocarbon extraction — adding that these are the "true structural causes of forest destruction". And TFFF's profitability is not guaranteed, the groups said. They also slammed the fund for being a "greenwashing mechanism... and a distraction from the effective fight against deforestation". They raised concerns that "developing countries and civil society will have no decision-making power" on the fund. TFFF would help pay around 80 developing countries $4/hectare (ha) for preserved tropical forests, Brazil has said. "If you own land and you're deciding whether to grow soy or [farm] cattle, is $4/ha enough?", Menotti said. "I don't know where they got that figure." TFFF's main investment plan comes from emerging country bonds, he added. "So that means [individual people] are paying for it." Several countries have endorsed TFFF so far , with Norway, Indonesia and France pledging a combined $4.5bn, Brazilian government officials said on Thursday. Colombia pledged $250mn, the Global Strategic Communications Council said. And Brazil pledged $1bn to the fund in September . Portugal and the Netherlands made smaller contributions to cover the fund's operational costs. Germany has said it will contribute to the fund, but is yet to announce how much. Deforestation will be a key topic at Cop 30, which begins on 10 November in Belem, northern Brazil. The issue was addressed at the Cop 26 and Cop 27 summits, in 2021 and 2022, but beyond the pledges, the EU's deforestation regulation is most likely to have direct consequences, particularly for agricultural commodity producers. By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan's firms to cut CO2 emissions at Cirebon plant


21/10/25
21/10/25

Japan's firms to cut CO2 emissions at Cirebon plant

Tokyo, 21 October (Argus) — Japan's largest power producer by capacity Jera and trading house Marubeni plan to reduce CO2 emissions at the 1GW No.2 unit of the Cirebon coal-fired power generation plant in Indonesia. Jera and Marubeni agreed on 3 October to study decarbonisation measures for the Cirebon No.2 unit with Indonesian state-owned power utility PLN, as part of the third ministerial-level meeting of the Japan-led decarbonisation platform Asia Zero Emission Community (Azec), Jera told Argus on 21 October. Cirebon Electric Power, the power plant operating firm funded by Jera , Marubeni, as well as other Indonesian and South Korean companies, and PLN are considering exploring potential implementation of decarbonisation measures like biomass co-firing, ammonia co-firing, and carbon capture and storage or carbon capture, use and storage. Jera is unsure which measure has the most potential. The firms plan to conduct research for the next two years. But the schedule after 2027 and details of its CO2 reduction goal are not clear. The No.2 Cirebon unit, which is equipped with an ultra-supercritical generator — a piece of advanced technology to improve power generation efficiency — started its operations in May 2023. It consumed coal from Indonesia. The 660MW No.1 Cirebon coal-fired power generation unit may be retired early with the Indonesian government's push. Jakarta is aiming to remove up to 6.7GW of coal-fired generation capacity by 2040 and to completely remove coal-fired power plants from its overall generation mix by 2058, in pursuit of its net zero target by 2060. The Japanese government is eager to promote both economic growth and decarbonisation in Asia-Pacific countries, instead of focusing only on decarbonisation. The ministerial-level meeting concluded with a joint statement reaffirming Azec's "one goal, various pathways" approach, which recognises country-specific decarbonisation strategies. It also endorsed a "triple breakthrough" framework aimed at achieving climate mitigation, inclusive growth and energy security. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Brazil to generate carbon credits through forests


20/10/25
20/10/25

Brazil to generate carbon credits through forests

Sao Paulo, 20 October (Argus) — Brazil will generate carbon credits through conservation and restoration projects in public forest concessions, the government said. Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree on 17 October that allows projects to adopt internationally recognized certification methodologies to generate credits in the Brazilian emissions trading system (SBCE). With this law, private initiatives managing public forests will be able to choose the certification method under the reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) framework, instead of just the national regulation system. The certification enables international recognition to transfer carbon credits in the global market without renouncing national regulations, according to the environment ministry. It also allows for predictability and legal security that can help draw private investments into Brazil's climate agenda. Brazil established the extraordinary secretariat for the carbon market within the finance ministry on 15 October. The secretariat aims to promote sustainable development and consolidate the decarbonization market by 2030, but faces hurdles such as establishing criteria for carbon credits and guidelines for monitoring. Brazil's nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement aims to end deforestation and restore 12mn hectares of degenerated forests by 2030. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Deforestation spike in 2024 risks 2030 goal


15/10/25
15/10/25

Deforestation spike in 2024 risks 2030 goal

Sao Paulo, 15 October (Argus) — Global deforestation last year rose by 27pc and was 63pc above the projected pathway to zero deforestation by 2030, according to the annual Forest Declaration Assessment, published this week by a climate-focused coalition of the same name. Global deforestation in 2024 rose to 8.1mn hectares (ha), equivalent to the territory of the Czech Republic and up by 27pc from 6.37mn ha in 2023, the report said. Agricultural expansion and recurring wildfires, especially in tropical forests, were responsible for deforestation exceeding the target set under the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework to halt forest loss and restore nature, which was signed by 196 nations at the UN biodiversity summit in 2022. But at least 10.6mn ha of degraded forests were under restoration projects as of September, although the report lacks data to accurately estimate if the recovering areas follow required scaling processes to reach set goals. The projected restoration area, which represents nearly 5.4pc of global reforestation potential, is 30pc behind targets set under the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework. The global deforestation curve "has not begun to bend" with about five years to reach the 2030 goal, the report said. But the EU's Green New Deal and Brazil's Tropical Forest Forever Facility initiative — to be officially launched in Cop 30 — may be promising for forest conservation if both overcome political pushback and legislation hurdles. Separately from the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, more than 140 countries committed to halt deforestation by 2030 at the UN Cop 26 climate summit in Glasgow, with a wider target to restore around 350mn ha of degraded lands by then. Tropical urgency Around 8.8mn ha of tropical moist forests were degraded in 2024, which is more than triple the projected level on the pathway to zero degradation by 2030 laid out in Cop 26. Large-scale wildfires in the Amazon basin emitted 791mn metric tonnes of CO2 last year, exceeding Germany's greenhouse gas emissions in the same period, according to the latest Forest Declaration Assessment. The report did not provide a comparison with 2023 emissions. Around 17-38pc of the Amazon rainforest is already degraded, and the report expects as much as 47pc degradation in the basin by 2050 because of land-use change, extreme droughts and wildfires. Bolivia lost 9pc of its remaining intact tropical moist forests last year, accounting for 32pc of global degradation emissions. Brazil lost less than 1pc of its forest area in the period but represented half of all tropical moist forest degradation in the Amazon basin at 1.66mn ha. Venezuela's degradation last year jumped 19-fold from the five-year average, while forest degradation rose six-fold from the five-year average in the Guiana Shield countries — which comprises Guyana, Suriname, France's French Guiana, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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