Energy demand in Asia is expected to almost double by 2030. India, for instance, has a current installed capacity of approximately 365 gigawatts (GW) is expected to grow five-fold in the next 30 years to a whopping 2,300 GW. Hence, investment in new gas power projects is see surge 64% in the next five years amid escalating energy demand.
“We anticipate that the spending on gas-fired projects will surpass coal investment as spending is driven by sustainability goals, financing issues and government regulations,” said Narsingh Chaudhary, Executive Vice President, Asia Power Business, Black & Veatch.
To promote energy security and access, Asian utilities are integrating their generation, transmission and distribution assets. According to Mr Chaudhary, “this approach helps them overcome the pitfalls of aging infrastructure assets while meeting rising customer demand for energy that is renewable and reliable.”
Debt financing is also forthcoming for projects in fast-growing Asian markets – both from commercial and development banks. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), for example, recently provided $305 million for the Jawa-1 project, Indonesia’s largest combined cycle gas turbine power plant (1,760 MW). The integrated LNG-to-power project is expected to supply electricity to 11 million homes from 2021.
In Thailand, Black & Veatch in consortium with Marubeni Corp recently provided EPC services to Glow Energy for the completion of a combined-cycle cogeneration plant near Rayong, Thailand. Glow Phase-5 delivers up to a nominal 382 MW of electricity when operating in full condensing mode, and 342 MW in cogeneration mode.
To identify opportunities in complexities and sustainability, the energy leaders in region are teaming up with business partners that provide quality engineering, procurement and construction solutions at varying scales.
According to Black & Veatch, global EPC firms and project financiers can offer local utilities consistent execution and safety practices to make LNG import and power generation projects more bankable and revenue more certain. On the other hand, international project developers are relying on regional experts to mitigate business risks and overcome complexity from planning and development to construction and operations.