LNG, coal, hydropower to become main fuels
Bangkok Post, October 8, 2004
Yuthana Praiwan
Many experts believe liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and hydropower have the most potential to become the main fuels for electricity production in Asia .
Jeremy Bowden, midstream analyst of IHS Energy Singapore , said LNG was increasingly becoming an alternative fuel for electricity production in many countries in Asia thanks to its increasingly competitive cost.
Malaysia , Indonesia , countries in the Middle East, Australia and Russia are the main LNG suppliers while China , Korea and Japan are the key buyers.
Having anticipated flourishing trade in the future, Korea and Japan signed an agreement to jointly develop an LNG project 10 years ago. But the development was rather slow because the LNG price at that time was not attractive when compared with those of other fuels.
But technology has recently driven the cost down to an affordable level. China , Korea and Japan have thus co-invested in LNG infrastructure and facilities.
In China , most power plants use coal to produce electricity but it is still forced to use oil during the peak hours which adds to its production cost.
Scott Twose, senior marketing consultant of Australian-based Barlow Jonker Pty, said coal had become the main fuel source for electricity production in Asia, especially in Korea , Japan and Taiwan .
Coal accounted for 22% of total fuels used in electricity production last year in Japan , rising from 14% in 1995. It accounted for 37% last year in Korea , up from 30% in 1995, and 45% last year in Taiwan , up from 33% in 1995.
Indonesia , Australia and China are the main suppliers of coal in the region but coal produced in China is mostly used locally because the huge coal reserves could help stabilize electricity costs and coal is safer than other fuels.
Back to Newsclippings | To top
|
