Commentary

The world has woken up to the vast potential of renewables with nations across the globe ramping up their efforts to switch to renewable fuel sources to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. In fact, two-thirds of the world’s new generation capacity in 2018 came from renewables, with solar energy continuing to be the fastest growing renewable.

Taiwan is undoubtedly one of Asia's most exciting jurisdictions for offshore wind development right now. A well-regulated framework coupled with cost-reflective tariffs has allowed the island to attract some of the biggest names in the offshore wind sector.

Taiwan's ambitious offshore wind power programme is now well known. However, what lies in the road ahead? What are the issues that have arisen so far? Where will the challenges be for the nascent industry? In this first of a two-part series, John Yeap, James Harris and Nick Wang, energy and finance lawyers with Pinsent Masons recounts where we are currently in the development of Taiwan's offshore wind.

With Chinese thermal coal imports set to go into decline, coal exporters are depending on countries like Pakistan to pick up the slack.

Earlier in January, electricity retailer Red Dot Power (RDP) announced its exit from the electricity market, citing a “financial challenging period.”

Sri Lanka has been one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia in recent years. Following a 30-year civil war, Sri Lanka has seen a sharp rise in energy use and demand over the past decade as it transitions from a predominantly rural agricultural economy to an urban economy.

Governments around the world are putting policies in place to curb carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change. With a significant proportion of the urban population spending much of their time in commercial buildings, the onus is on the real estate industry to provide sustainable properties that will mitigate negative environment impacts. Many countries in the Asia Pacific region are implementing aggressive measures to address environment challenges such as rising carbon emissions, which is spurring the introduction of incentives to construct green buildings. Hong Kong is no different; it continues to make strides to protect its world class status through its sustainable development as a ‘smart city.’

For several years now, European OEMs Vestas and Siemens Gamesa have firmly held the top two positions in lists of the leading global turbine manufacturers. However, a number of Chinese suppliers are hot on their heels and have been increasing their market share through continued dominance in their domestic market and growth in wider Asian markets and further afield. As the market leader within China, Goldwind currently sits third in the global list and is joined in the top ten by United Power and Envision. With other global up-and-comers including Sinovel and Ming Yang Wind Power, the Chinese turbine market doesn’t lack for depth.

This article was co-authored by Ariel Huang and Billy Wu, Associates, LCS & Partners.

Indonesia currently has over 230 million inhabitants spread out in 34 provinces demanding basic supplies for domestic and industrial needs. Electricity now has been playing fundamental roles in the industrial, economic, and domestic activities of the country. In mid-2018, the country’s electrification ratio has reached 97.13%, as reported by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, whilst the national target ratio is 99.9% at the end of 2019.

Winston Churchill is famous for many reasons, one of which was his remarkable facility with the English language. Churchill’s pithy phrase about the power of mis-direction is worth keeping in mind for any analyst of the Indonesian power sector.

Just in the last four months, July to October 2018, seven earthquakes with magnitude greater than 5 have hit Indonesia. Two of them were very powerful and caused a lot of damages and fatalities. One with 6.9 magnitude occurred in Lombok Island on 5 August 2018 causing more than 500 fatalities, 1,300 injuries, widespread damages and displacing over 340,000 people. The other with 7.5 magnitude occurred in Central of Sulawesi Island on 29 September and eventually triggered a tsunami that caused more than 2,000 fatalities, 10,000 injuries, 5,000 people to be initially reported missing, and 70,000 homes destroyed.

This commentary submission was co-written with Natalie Lau (Reed Smith), Lucia Yiou and Mindy Huang (LCS & Partners). 

China’s reported trillion-dollar One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is something we have all heard a great deal of, over several years now. With certain projects already having been completed, and as others get underway or proceed towards completion, we consider the likely impact of the OBOR initiative on regional cooperation within Asia and the ASEAN region, and the potential diversification of trade routes for traditional energy sources. OBOR presents a tremendous opportunity for fostering regulatory, economic and legal cooperation amongst ASEAN states and beyond.

Widely known to have vast solar potential, Southeast Asian countries have used a variety of methods to drive solar deployment in the last several years. However, the timing and efficacy of each country’s initiatives have varied considerably, leading to vastly different levels of historical solar growth. Thailand, for example, implemented pioneering programs years ago, generating a considerable number of solar projects, but currently provides very little support for new solar. Vietnam and Malaysia, on the other hand, have just recently ramped up their solar efforts, but are doing so with what appears to be considerable success.

The future of offshore wind energy will combine the application of global experience and local expertise to deliver projects tailored to the needs of the market. As the industry expands beyond its origins in the European market, the power of this combination will become clearer to see.