World’s largest independent power producer Engie is laying out natural gas and renewable power projects in the Asia Pacific – including a solar-hydrogen storage in the Philippines – as it prepares its exit from coal power generation in the region.
“We will go to low carbon solutions … it’s not sure that coal power plants will remain sustainable for (the next) 30 years,” Engie Asia Pacific’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jan Flachet said in a report by Reuters.
Aside from the Philippines, Engie is looking to build solar-hydrogen storage projects in Indonesia and Australia that are competitive enough to replace diesel generators, Flachet said.
The French company is also eyeing a 150 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power project in Riau province in Indonesia. A 100 MW geothermal plant in Muara Laboh, west Sumatra is expected to begin construction next year.
Engie is looking to capitalize on huge growth potential for electricity in Myanmar. However, the country will have to install a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal first, Flachet stressed.
An Engie owned 50 MW wind power project stands in Mongolia, he added.
In Australia, Engie is looking to sell its 70 percent stake in the 1000 MW Loy Yang B plant and may shut down its 50 year old Hazelwoord unit, Flachet said.
Renewable energy sources accounted for more than half of the net annual additions in power capacity, overtaking coal in cumulative installed capacity for the first time in 2015, the International Energy Agency said.
“This market evolution has had a huge impact on the energy market,” Flachet said.