OPINION
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ecertainlynowcoverthewaterfront. The Independent Power Producers Forum (IPPF)’s “63” Functional Committees and Focus Groups include every possible aspect of the exponentially expanding diversitites of the constantly evolving energy and power game. This is the first of a series of essays, editorials and industry updates drawn from the experience and expertise of the IPPFs’ over 350 individual members within the organisation’s forty member firms. We list below five game changing subjects most of which will be dealt with in future articles from our IPPF members and colleagues in greater detail what follows is a sampler. Inquiries and comments are very much desired and must be sent to info@ ippfpowerasia.com IoT / AI / Blockchain / Cloud Energy and beyond First on the list is the tidal wave of I.T. convergence with energy and power. IBM makes a big deal about “managing complexities” via the Internet of Things. This of course begs the question of where are all the I.T. informed new energy people going to come from? Finding the right people at the right time Traditional headhunters really have no clue as to what they should be looking for on behalf of energy/power clients struggling to stay ahead of the game. The IPPF has just added a new Focus Group/Committee ( “HR / Recruiting”) that would focus on this subject.
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decided to stop my recipes on PV projects this month. We all seem to enjoy seeing more and more of programmes about cooking on TV, but we should also have some change to it. I would like to go back to a topic that I have addressed in one of my earlier articles: PV rooftops. Utilities are particularly worried with the rooftops and specially when no subsidies are involved as it is the case right now in most countries. Utilities fear the cannibalisation of their revenues and in particular for most of the Asian countries (and not only in Asia) that the slice of the paying consumers better-off will be the ones interested in installing PV rooftops due to expensive electricity bills. This happens mostly due to cross subsidies and without actually removing them, the problem is not on PV rooftops, but on the structure of subsidies. Let us look at 3 reasons why PV rooftops are a good opportunity for utilities. On-grid support Reason 1: PV rooftops only work with on-grid support as off-grid or fully autonomous systems are much more expensive. That means that the legacy of the transmission and the grid has a value and so any household will need grid support and that has a value. Customers will not go away. The legacy network in the utilities is one that will also not go away or be replaced by optical fibers as it was the case of the telecommunication, where the ubiquitous copper wire bode farewell when the optical fibres penetrated the last mile or even wireless came up. Electricity will be on cables and 42 ASIAN POWER
Joel Laykin
Game changers in the power industry Keep up with the changes Once the right people are in the right slot the next big challenge is to be sure that they remain “up to snuff”. Constant re-education, training and technical updates have to be produced, then distributed in a manner to make maximum impact with targeted executives and operational staff. An IPPF member, Fintrade-Mercer, has a solution in partnership with the Mobie Group (Finland). They offer “next generation training software for energy and power and related sectors with just-in-time training and operating manuals in a media-rich interactive format. Follow the Yellow Brick Road So much has been written and yammered on about OBOE (AKA-BRI), its reasons, impact and objectives. At the recent, PGA 2017 in Bangkok (September 19th – 21st), Colin Tam (IPPF Chairman) led a panel of six experts on the subject. One such expert, Prof. William Hickey, has just published a book on the subject. “Energy and
HDR in Developing Countries: Towards Effective Localization” (or “All you want to know but have been afraid to ask on how to get big bucks out of China”. It is “new kind of multilateralism” by Xi Jin Ping, a cornucopia of investments into infrastructure, ports, energy, power and its distribution, airports, schools, whatever. BRI will further cement China’s global leadership position. Read Hickey’s book. https://www.amazon.com/ Energy-Resource-Development-DevelopingCountries/dp/1137576308 More on this with a subheading “be careful what you wish for” in a future article from the IPPF. The resurrection of carbon About half a decade ago, China’s National Development and Reform Commission began rumbling about “carbon” as a way of “producing alternate revenue streams for its emerging renewable energy players, many of whom were having a very tough time.
Agostinho Miguel Garcia
3 reasons why PV rooftops should not worry utilities
having it without cables is a nightmare of radiation and health issues that obliterate the discussion on mobile 4G effects. So, bank on your legacy for the service that makes a solar rooftop work. Investing into new transmission lines Reason 2: PV rooftops will avoid utilities having to invest into new transmission lines or even upgrade your network. If you have generation at the end of your distribution network, why should you be bothered to increase the capacity of your backbone? That saves you money, trouble and time also. Rights of way (ROW) in cities are a nightmare for anyone who has been involved in doing it. Now imagine going for larger towers, lower sagging of lines when the previous setup was already an issue! So, maintain the grid, let the consumers do the generation and make sure that you provide them with the service they are looking for: grid, reliability and back-up power supply. Reason 3: PV rooftops may be cheaper than your grid based electricity. The utilities must understand
the opportunity of buying cheaper power and reselling it to other customers. That can be done through solar or green tariffs, which can even go for a premium. If solar is more expensive than the grid, no PV rooftops will work unless subsidies are provided. That covers the utilities in the first instance, but is usually followed by the downside effect leading to a stagnation in the market. It is also the point where utilities must also embrace the age of the platforms. Consumers will buy and sell power through the utility platform (and if utilities do not get this, another UBER will surface). An owner of a flat in the centre of a city will have no chance of having a PV rooftop enough for its consumption, so that is where bigger rooftop owners come into the picture, more likely not in the centre of the city, but around it. The same person in an office may be selling power to the building where that same person is working. For that you need a platform and the wiring. Utilities have the latter and usually all paid for already.