Staff Reporter

With a rapid economic growth (GDP projected to grow at about 8 to 9 percent during 2006-2010), the power demand in Vietnam is forecast to grow at an average of 16 percent per year during the next five years. During the January 2008 to May 2008 period, the national consumption surged by 19 percent, with the southern region (home to the country's industrial hub), jumping 28 percent, up from an average growth of nearly 14 percent in the same period of 2007.

Skyrocketing coal prices and the Chinese government's decision to cap electricity tariffs have China's power generation companies' shares dropping left and right. And some analysts think it's going to get worse before it gets any better.

Last month we examined what ails the distribution segment of the electricity business in India and the challenges facing the Distribution Companies (Discoms, in common parlance). Over the past two decades India has been struggling to reform the distribution sector managed by more than a hundred utilities in 35 States and Territories. Electricity is a concurrent subject in India which means although there are federal laws, States are empowered to enact their own amendments to the basic laws. Thus several States passed their own legislation and tried out different models for privatising and restructuring. Some models yielded less than desired results and some others were spectacular failures driving the sector into even deeper crisis.

The "9th Regulators and Policy Maker Retreat" at the Hotel Marriot Resort in Goa was an astonishing event. Organised by the IPPAI (Independent Power producers Association of India), endorsed and supported by the IPPF, this was beyond the intimate compact gathering implied by the word "Retreat". It was a full blown conference of major proportions incorporating key themes of vital importance. Subtitled "Pan-Asian Perspective on Regulatory Convergence Across Key Infrastructure Sectors". Under this cross-sector banner, the IPPAI's Goa conference drew an amazing array of top experts from three key sectors: power, oil & gas, energy, etc., telecommunications and aviation.

Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM), which has lit up the lightbulbs in Territory of Macau for more than a century, and its CEO Franklin Willemyns speaks to Asian Power about CEM's strategies in battling rising fuel costs and increasing tariffs. Willemyns, is also the Chairman of 17th Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry (CEPSI), which Macau hosts this year.

Over the last two decades, China’s unprecedented economic growth has led to rapid growth in electricity demand. Supply has not always kept pace with demand growth. Power shortages occurred frequently during 2002-2005, notably in the high economic growth regions, such as the provinces of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian, Anhui and Guangdong. A return to a more balanced supply and demand situation was achieved in most regions in 2006 and continued into 2007, as capacity expanded by approximately 200 GW over the last two years. A few regions still face potential shortages, due to transmission constraints or severe weather conditions.

Zhang Yimou's acclaimed Chinese film Hero starring Jet Li seems to have more to do with cross-straits relations than meets the eye. Yimou's use of the sensitive wording ‘Our Land' at the climax of Hero was widely criticised by Taiwanese academics and celebrities alike for what they say gives gravitas to the doctrine that Taiwan is still ruled by the People's Republic of China despite Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang officially breaking away from the mainland in 1949 into what Taiwanese now know as the Republic of China.

 

The priority of Asia’s power plant operators have been reshaped by surging fuel prices and tight supply of replacement parts, says ABB Vice President Frenk Withoos, who oversees the company’s operations for Power Systems in the South Asia Pacific region. It is a dramatic turnaround from the situation just two years back when Asian Power last caught up with Mr. Withoos. At the time, Chinese equipment vendors were making serious inroads in Asia and fuel prices were low, replacement parts in plentiful supply and operators were little concerned with efficiency.

China Resources Power's total net generation on a consolidated basis in July 2009 increased by 13.5 percent to 6,806,236 MWh from 5,997,499 MWh from last year.

CLP has agreed to acquire the Mainland Chinese wind farm portfolio of Roaring 40s Renewable Energy Pty Ltd (Roaring 40s). A joint venture between CLP and Hydro Tasmania, Roaring 40s was formed in September 2005 to undertake renewable energy projects in Australia and Asia.