BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

By: Dr. Chee Ming Lim of Universiti Brunei Darussalam

1. INTRODUCTION

Brunei Darussalam is a net energy exporting country where over 70% of its GDP is contributed by the oil and gas sector. In its newly launched energy white paper, renewable energy will be part of the energy mix of the country, and it is expected to be at least 10% of its total power generation mix by 2035. There is also a significant drive to improve energy efficiency as reflected by the commitment to reduce energy consumption by 63% of 2009 level by 2035. A restructuring of energy subsidies is being studied, as subsidies plays a significant role in influencing energy efficiency, and help lower market barriers for renewable energy. This leads to the development of feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism. The balance has to be established between FIT and energy subsidies for the purpose of lowering the barriers for technology to come on-line, particularly to create incentives for investments in renewable energy. Currently there are no large scale renewable energy power and fuel production plants being installed. An experimental solar photo-voltaic of peak capacity of 1.2 MW exists. There are considerations being made now for the establishment of commercial renewable power generation by photo-voltaic and bio-mass, with a total estimated peak capacity of 15 MW.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

There is no policy or projectinvolving ocean energy. The national university Universiti Brunei Darussalam, has worked on a small scale, the analytics of harvesting off-shore wind energy. There are evidences of potential hot-spots for off-shore wind.

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

The government encourages R&D activities by allocating a central research fund managed by the Brunei Research Council. The disbursement of research fund in the renewable energy sector is toward the study of renewable energy potentials in Brunei Darussalam, policy development for alternative energy, and in more specific areas like dye-sensitized solar cells and low wind speed turbines.

Participation in Collaborative International Projects

The main collaborative international projects are being initiated which includes thin-film pervoskite solar cell, solar fuel, and renewable energy mapping. The universities involved are Institute of Material Research & Engineering (IMRE), Singapore, Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Korea University, and Caltech.

4. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

Operational Ocean Energy Projects

There is currently no operational ocean energy project. Prototype turbines for low wind speed have been manufactured and will be ready for testing in 2 weeks.

New Developments: Renewable resource mapping for Borneo.

The study includes off-shore wind mapping, and possible add in tidal and wave mapping. The project has been proposed to 11 universities in Borneo.

 

MALAYSIA

by: Professor Omar Yaakob and Ms. Farah Ellyza Binti Hashim of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Dr. Lim Yun Seng and Ms. Lim Khim Yan  of University Tunku Abdul Rahman

1. INTRODUCTION

According to Five-Fuel Diversification Strategy 1999, the energy mix in Malaysia is contributed by five main sources, namely natural gas, coal, oil, hydro and renewable energy. In the last few decades, various locations all over the world have been investigated for the availability of ocean renewable energy such as Baltic Sea, United Kingdom, Korea, Japan and etc. In view that Malaysia is a country mostly surrounded by water, it may have several potential locations for marine renewable energy, particularly in wave power energy. Several potential locations have been identified throughout researches and surveys.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

For this purpose, The 10th Malaysian Plan (RMK-10) has introduced several Renewable Energy Policies and Government Bodies which aims to lead a strategic development of new energy sources including renewable energy.

1. National Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan (2009)

The policy is aiming to enhance the utilization of indigenous renewable energy (RE) resources to contribute towards national electricity supply security and sustainable socioeconomic development.

2. Ocean Renewable Energy Roadmap 2010-2020

The National Oceanography Directorate (NOD) as the national focal point for all oceanographic and marine science activities has been tasked to spearhead the preparation of National Roadmap in Renewable Energy (RE) in accordance with National RE Policy prepared by Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA). The roadmap lasts for 10 years and aims to set the direction of Research and Development (R&D) and Technology Development of Renewable Energy in Malaysia.

3. Renewable Energy Act 2011

The Act is to provide for the establishment and implementation of a special tariff system to catalyst the generation of renewable energy and other relevant matters.

4. Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Act 2011

The Act is to provide for the establishment of the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) of Malaysia and to elaborate its functions and powers.

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Government-Funded R&D

The Government through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has provided a grant called ScienceFund with the quantum of funding for each project is up to RM 500,000.00. The grant allows R&D projects that can contribute to the discovery of new ideas and the advancement of knowledge in applied science, focusing in high impact and innovative research to be carried out. Most researches carried out in Malaysia were funded under this grant. Besides, the TechnoFund provides a grant scheme which aims to stimulate the growth and successful innovation of Malaysian Enterprises by increasing the level of R&D and its commercialization. The scheme provides quantum of funding between RM 1,500,000.00 to RM 3,000,000.00 for technology development, up to pre-commercialization stage depending on the merit proposal. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) also has allocated RM 200 Million under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) to fund the fundamental research projects in Public of Higher Education Institutions.

4. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

Wave Energy

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as the premier university in engineering and Research University has developed and conducted several studies on the wave energy converter.

  Tidal Current

The tidal current projects are being conducted mainly by Unversiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Most of the researches are focusing on research and development of marine current turbines.

                                         

Figure 3: An example of tidal current device concept at UTM

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

A study of OTEC is being conducted mainly by UTM Ocean Thermal Energy Center (UTM-OTEC) as the center of excellence. The study and research of renewable energy source offers multiple synergistic products, such as hydrogen production, cooling, fresh water, agriculture and aquaculture. The center claimed that 1 MW of power from OTEC could be generated off the Sabah Trough.

Others university and organizations that are also involved in Renewable Energy Research and Development are:

Organisations	Research Areas
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia	Resource Assessment, Wave and Current Devices
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu	Resource Assessment, Wave Energy Devices
Universiti Malaya	Tidal Current Devices
Universiti Tunku Abd Rahman (UTAR)	tidal and wave study, Distributed Energy Storage Systems with Fuzzy Controller
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)	marine algae and wave energy study
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)	ocean energy devices design and development, and intensive study on power from ocean wave
Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP)	mechanical wave energy device
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)	ocean salinity and OTEC study
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)	ocean wave/tidal energy study
Universiti Teknikal Melaka (UTeM)	wave energy device

MYANMAR

by: Mr. Htun Naing Aung of Myanmar Industries Association and Dr. Myat Lwin of Myanmar Maritime University

1. INTRODUCTION

Myanmar is one of the member countries of ASEAN, located between two giant countries of China and India with an area of 676,577Km2 and an approximate population of 52 million. It has 1930Km coastal line along Bay of Bangal and Andaman Sea.

With the political changes of the country, Myanmar has become the shining star for the business development and so called last frontier in ASEAN. The main sources of energy are biomass, oil & gas and hydro power with the energy share of 70%, 20% and 10% respectively.

As the country changed its political system to be democratic country, the newly elected government revises all existing laws and also enacted new laws to be in line with other democratic countries. At the same time, private enterprises are being encouraged to be at the leading role of the nation’s main economic reform.

With this reform process, the business investments from both local and overseas dramatically increase, and power demand is growing higher than before. This makes renewable energy and energy conservation more important in Myanmar.

Previous study shows in Myanmar that there are many promising potential of renewable energies such as biomass, biogas, hydro power, solar energy and tidal etc.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

Myanmar has formulated and adopted Myanmar Agenda 21, which is published by the National Commission for Environmental Affairs (NCEA) with the general aim of facilitating the integration of environmental and sustainable development. It also formed National Energy Management Committee (NEMC) and Energy Development Committee (EDC).

In terms of ocean energy, although Myanmar has long coastal line of 1930 km, there is no specific policy yet on the ocean renewable energy although there are already R&D activities happening in the country. For example is the construction of 2KW tidal power generating plant at “Kanbalar” village, Ayeyarwaddy Division in 2008 which won the 1st runners up of ASEAN Energy Awards. However, the tidal and ocean energy are encouraged to develop as it stands for Renewable Energy.

This small scale projects make use of the 1930Km of coastline through numerous small creeks for harnessing tidal energy (1m-6m difference). With the application of appropriate technology, tidal energy would be capable in the electrification of rural remote villages.

Strategy and National Targets

Support Initiatives and Market Stimulation Incentives

The import tax and free permit to import device and equipment for renewable energy is the major initiative and incentive to market stimulation.

Main Public Funding Mechanisms

Relevant Legislation and Regulation

Although there is no specific law yet in the ocean energy sector, there are some relevant policies and laws for the energy sector such as Myanmar Electric Law (1982), Electicity Act 1948 (as amended in 1967), and Electricity Rules (1985). The Petroleum Act (1937 as amended in 1946), the National Environment Policy (1994) and The Environmental Law (2012) and newly enacted the Environmental Regulation (2014).

With the help of UNIDO, ADB and PROMEEC Myanmar is on its way to promote the energy efficiency and conservation master plan. It could successfully implement the training of trainers program collaboration among PROMEEC, MOI, MOE and MES with the outcome of 50 energy managers throughout the country.

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Myanmar Science & Technology Research & Development is focal of R&D in Myanmar organized by the Ministry of Science & Technology.

The R&D on the development of “tar-free biomass gasifier” is underway with the cooperation among MSTRD, MIA and KKS.

4. PARTICIPATION IN COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

Myanmar joined Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC) in 1997. Myanmar signed an agreement on the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Energy in 1999 together with eight other ASEAN countries. PROMEEC (Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Conservation) is a programme coordinated on by ASEAN to facilitate capacity building and exchange of information between the ASEAN countries.

Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Economic Cooperation with six member countries was launched with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank in 1992. Its economic cooperation in energy sector includes: regional power interconnection & power trade agreements; sub-regional strategy for the utilization of natural gas; and sub-regional strategy for cooperation in renewable energy. The inter government agreement on regional power trade in the GMS was signed in 2002 and the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC) was created in 2002 to coordinate, promote and implement regional power trade development.

In 2005 Myanmar and Thailand signed an MOU on cooperation in renewable energy and energy saving sectors.

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) goals submitted to the 5th East Asia Summit Energy Ministrial Meeting held on 20 September 2011 in Brunei Darussalam, stated that the country uses TPES as the EE Indicator and aims at 5% reduction by 2020 from 2005 level and 10% reduction by 2030 from 2005 level. However the action plans submitted were from 2009 and not concrete.

Myanmar ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 25th November 1994 and its Kyoto Protocol on 13th August 2003.

5. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION 

Operational Ocean Energy Projects

The dam is 3m high and 10m long with a wooden gate (0.35m height x 0.35m width x 8m length)was connected the turbine casing through outlet gate. The draft tube was installed at the outlet of turbine. As there are 2 tide cycles in a day and with the size of the dam and reservoir, 2kW micro hydro turbine consume only 1/12 of stored water in 12-hour operation time in one tide cycle. It is found out the availability of more micro hydro turbines at this plant. The cost estimate of turbine is US$500 and the construction of dam and power plant is carried by the villagers in volunteer basic.

New Developments

One organization will tentatively formed among Myanmar Industries Association (MIA), Myanmar Maritime University (MMU) and Myanmar Engineering Society (MES) to study jointly on Ocean Renewable Energy in Myanmar.

PHILIPPINES

by: Dr. Louis Angelo Danao of University of the Philippines Diliman

1. INTRODUCTION

The Renewable Energy Act of the Philippines (Republic Act 9513) was passed in 2008 to exploit the country’s renewable energy potential such as geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, biomass and ocean. To manage the full implementation of the law, the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) was launched on 14 June 2011 with the targets set under to strengthen its energy security plan. Specifically, the NREP seeks to increase the country’s renewable energy-based capacity by 2030. Installed capacity target for all types of renewable energy sources identified is set to more than 1,500 MW. However, none is allocated to ocean renewable energies. All of these are in the pre-feasibility / technical concept stages with some advancement in resource assessment.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

Strategy and National Targets

 Resource assessment for ocean energy is targeted at 71MW potential. However, strategic planned activities that will lead to installed capacities are not in place.

Support Initiatives and Market Stimulation Incentives

RA 9513 provides the following incentives to renewable energy developers:

• Income tax holiday for the first 7 years of commercial operations
• Duty free importation of RE machinery, equipment and materials within the first 10 years upon issuance of certification as an RE developer
• Special realty tax rates on civil works, equipment, machinery and other improvements shall not exceed 1.5%
• Corporate tax of 10% after tax holiday
• Accelerated depreciation
• Zero percent VAT
• Cash incentive of 50% of the universal charge for missionary electrification
• Tax exemption of carbon credits

Main Public Funding Mechanisms

Under RA 9513, the Renewable Energy Trust Fund was established to enhance the development and greater utilisation of RE. It is aimed to finance R&D, demonstration, and promotion of RE systems, to support RE resources to improve their competitiveness in the market, to conduct nationwide resource and market studies for applications of RE systems, to propagate RE knowledge by tapping and providing benefits to institutions which can the promotion and dissemination of the benefits of RE.

Relevant Legislation and Regulation

In a nutshell, the Republic Act 9513 provides the framework for the accelerated development and advancement of renewable energy resources and the development of a strategic program to increase its utilisation.

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Government Funded R&D 

The Tidal Current Energy Integrated Resource Assessment and Spatial Planning Tool Project of the University of the Philippines – Department of Geodetic Engineering in collaboration with different units within the university has received a research grant in the amount of US$ 445K from the Department of Science and Technology to generate initially a resource map of tidal currents for the entire country and include suitability studies and device matching as a decision making tool.

Participation in Collaborative International Projects

There are plan to avail of the Newton Fund for R&D collaboration between the University of the Philippines with a UK institution and travel grants for Filipino researchers to increase capability in ocean energy systems through visits to UK partners.

SINGAPORE

by: Dr. Srikanth Narasimalu, Dr. Michael Abundo and Ms. Mary Ann Joy Quirapas of Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N) and Dr. Pavel Tkalich of Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), National University of Singapore (NUS)

1. INTRODUCTION

Despite being a small country, Singapore has significant interest in renewable energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D). Noteworthy milestones in Singapore’s ocean renewable energy (ORE) activities include the development of various marine renewable energy test-bedding sites, and collaborative projects between academic research institutes and industry, all of which benefit from the support of public agencies.

Evidence of this collaboration is seen through the establishment of the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator-Singapore (REIDS), an initiative led by NTU and supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and National Environment Agency (NEA), which will be the first hybrid micro-grid in the tropics. REIDS will test and demonstrate the integration of different renewable energy sources including wind and tidal and ensure these energy sources operate well together.

At the regional level, the Southeast Asian Collaboration for Ocean Renewable Energy (SEAcORE) was initiated by ERI@N with partners from Southeast Asia to promote renewables and create new markets for partner industrial firms (ERI@N Report, 2012-2014). The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) has recognised ERI@N’s efforts in creating the SEAcORE Network, making it its official technical working group on ORE in the Southeast Asia region.

On the commercial front, developments in tidal energy have been championed by Atlantis Resources Corporation whose headquarters is located in Singapore with sizable projects around the world. Wave energy efforts have been spearheaded by Hann-Ocean Pte Ltd, which had developed the Drakoo (Dragon King of Ocean) wave energy converter for commercial deployment in Singapore waters.

While the technical and economic feasibility of ocean energy in Singapore waters is still being studied, a number of projects, currently in various stages of completion, are being carried out country wide. These projects, together with the enabling ecosystem of Singapore, form the basis of this report.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

Strategy and National Targets

To further enhance the energy efficiency across all sectors of the Singapore economy, Singapore aims to “achieve a 35% reduction in economy-wide energy intensity by 2030 (i.e. the amount of energy required to produce each S$GDP) (NCCS, 2012). Singapore is determined to embark on energy efficiency measures to achieve this national target.

With regards to policy tools for renewable energy (RE), the government has set clear rules on the deployment of RE, and provided support to attract RE investments to develop Singapore to be the research and development (R&D) centre for RE in the region (IPSOS Consulting, 2012). To that end, the government has been supporting RE-related research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects through government grants and other local funding schemes. These also include efforts to aid the industry’s capability development on potentially promising renewable technologies in Singapore.

Singapore has made significant investments in research and innovation in the sustainability domain. Since 2011, Singapore has announced more than S$800 million of new public sector R&D funding for energy, water, green buildings and addressing land scarcity, a national strategic imperative for a small island^[1].

Relevant Legislation and Regulation

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) continues to proactively enhance Singapore’s market and regulatory framework so as to facilitate the deployment of RE sources.
For example, in July 2014, EMA issued a Final Determination paper, making several enhancements to the market and regulatory framework for intermittent generation sources, such as solar energy.

The “Final Determination Paper” on “Enhancements to the Regulatory Framework for Intermittent Generation Sources in (IGS) the National Electricity Market of Singapore” (Energy Market Authority) deals with the feedback from different industry players (specifically on solar), electricity market licensees, companies and the public on how to improve the handling of IGS in Singapore.

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

The Energy Research Institute at the Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N), inaugurated in June 2010, is supported mainly by the Economic Development Board (EDB) to develop industry-oriented innovations and train specialists in clean energy. ERI@N focuses on areas such as wind and marine renewables, green buildings, e-mobility, energy storage and fuel cells, and has been actively leading efforts related to ORE for Singapore and beyond.

ERI@N’s dedicated Wind & Marine Team forms the core group that serves as the ember for Singapore’s ORE RD&D. Among the key research, development, and demonstration efforts of the team are the following: 1) Ocean / Marine Renewable Energy (e.g. Tidal Currents, Wave) Resource Assessment in Singapore and South East Asia, 2) Ocean / Marine Renewable Energy Test Bedding Activites (e.g. Sentosa Tidal Test Site, Tanah Merah Wave Energy Test Site) , 3) Advanced Materials and Coatings Development , 4) Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator-Singapore (REIDS) - Offshore and 5) Standards Formation for ORE .

ORE is now among the emerging fields in the Singapore Maritime Institute’s R&D 2025 roadmap (SMI, 2014). SMI would closely track developments on the following ORE aspects: “tidal energy, study of tidal patterns, offshore support (installation) vessel, transportations of energy back to land and integration of RE to the existing power grid.”

Government Funded R&D

The Singapore government has awarded S$15 million worth of research grants to develop energy generation and micro-grid systems to researchers in the country (Economic Development Board, 2014). This funding initiative aims to promote interdisciplinary and commercially-relevant R&D in the energy sector. One of the projects funded is the “DG-TISE: Flexible Distributed Generation using tidal in-stream energy system for remote island applications” by ERI@N’s Wind and Marine Renewables Team. This project aims to develop “a novel sensing and signal analysis system which will provide a tidal energy resource measurement method to account for the geographical sea bed conditions and tidal current measurements”. Subsequently, a turbine will be developed for tropical sea waters, which have lower tidal flows than tidal energy hotspots such as Canada and the Northern European regions.

Besides this grant, a number of ERI@N’s on-going projects that have the government agencies’ support are detailed below. Aside from ERI@N, the Tropical Marine Studies Institute (TMSI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) has also done studies on the marine renewable energy research and development ecosystem; the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) also supports marine renewable value chain in Singapore and beyond.

Tidal In-Stream Energy (TISE) Resource Assessment in Singapore

A macro-level tidal in-stream energy assessment in Singapore waters has been done by ERI@N using data from the TMSI. Theoretically, the available Tidal In-Stream Energy (TISE) potential of Singapore is about 3 TWh annually. Technically, the extractable energy with today’s TISE harvesting technology (capacity factor of around 30% to 40%) is about 900 to 1,200 GWh/yr. Practically, the limit of extractable energy from Singapore waters, without damaging the environment (using a Significant Impact Factor of 10%-20%), is about 300-600 GWh per year. The actual potential will need to be determined through a detailed resource assessment and environmental studies.

Marked out in the tidal in-stream energy density map shown in Figure 1 are candidate sites where potential is relatively high and site characteristics (depth, navigation & shipping traffic, etc.) are technically suitable (subject to permitting and consenting requirements). The potential peak power output of tidal power plants developed in the respective locations are tabulated giving a total of 250MW peak power corresponding to about 364 GWh of energy per year. That said, any deployment of tidal power plants would also be subject to policy, planning and economic considerations.

Together with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Centre in Singapore, ERI@N has estimated that a total installed capacity of 250 MW of tidal power leads to achievable CO2 emission reduction of roughly 250 kt/yr (or 1.5 %) for electricity production and the calculated marginal abatement cost is about 75 S$/tCO2.

Sentosa-ERI@N Tidal Test Site

Supported by Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Core Innovation Fund, a joint collaboration between Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) and ERI@N was set up. This Sentosa Tidal Test Site project aims to build up the competency of R&D in NTU and Singapore on the harvesting of tidal energy, by providing the opportunities to develop local technologies able to harness the energy available in the narrow channel between Singapore and Sentosa.

The Sentosa tidal project aims to showcase tidal energy extraction as a feasible and sustainable energy generating technology in Singapore. The location selected was the water passage between mainland Singapore and Sentosa island (Figure 2).

Figure 5: Location of the Turbine deployment: Boardwalk bet. Singapore main land & the island resort of Sentosa.

The project commenced with an in depth energy assessment of the region where the device was to be situated. After the energy potential of various locations was studied, the team, taking into account deployment factors and accessibility, determined the final location where the device could be located. Velocity spectrum data was then used in the optimisation of the turbine design, initially through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and later verified by water tunnel tests and towing tank measurements.

The final design shown in Figure 4 was based on a high solidity aerofoil design with measured power coefficient (Cp) around 0.35. Construction of the floating platform is completed (see Figure 4), and the 1/3 scale (0.5kW) turbine shown in Figure 4 was installed in March 2013.

Figure 7: Floating hinged turbine support frame (Left) & Scaled (1:3) tidal turbine in tow tank (Right)

In November 2013, ERI@N and SDC officially launched the Sentosa Tidal Test Site (NTU, 2013).

Marine Renewable Energy at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal

The ERI@N Wind and Marine Renewables Team has also embarked on the “Tidal-In Stream and Wave Energy Resource Assessment” project that includes a feasibility study, device development and prototype installation at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore. This project was funded under the Maritime Clean Energy Research Programme (MCERP) between the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) and NTU.

This project aims to investigate the potential marine renewable energy sources available at Singapore’s jetties. Together with Singapore Cruise Centre which operates a number of ferry terminals including Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, ERI@N’s Wind and Marine Team performed a resource assessment of the marine renewable energy that can be harnessed in a terminal or jetty setting. The tidal energy potential (using tidal barrage technology) at the terminal is 36 MWh/yr with a pool area of 18,000 sq. m. The wave energy potential is at least 28 MWh/yr for a 100m capture line.

ERI@N envisions that energy harvested from marine renewables in such ports/jetties in Singapore can result in (1) self-powered jetties/ports, (2) provision of excess power to nearby installation, and (3) shore power to berthing boats.

Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator-Singapore (REIDS)

REIDS will be the first hybrid micro-grid in the region which will incorporate power generation from different renewable energy sources, including solar photovoltaics (PV), wind, tidal-current, diesel, storage and power-to-gas technologies, and ensure these energy sources operate well together (NTU, 2014). The micro-grid will be located offshore at Semakau Landfill and it is expected to produce power in the megawatt (MW) range. The scale of the micro-grid (~1 MWp), which could power around 250 households, will be suitable for small islands, isolated villages and to function as a backup emergency power supply (NTU, 2014).

REIDS is a partnership, structured as a consortium between: (i) Singapore public agencies; (ii) corporations active in the energy field with a focus on integration of broad range of energy sources, end-uses and storage; and, (iii) academia and public research institutes. The consortium will be led by ERI@N, with the support of the Economic Development Board. Ten energy and clean tech industry leaders are involved in the project: Accenture, Alstom, ClassNK, DLRE, GDF Suez, Renewable Energy Corporation, Schneider Electric, Trina Solar, Varta and Vestas. REIDS is expected to “attract $20 million worth of projects over the next five years, in addition to the initial $8 million investment in infrastructure on the Semakau Landfill” (NTU, 2014).  REIDS was officially launched by Minister S Iswaran during the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) in October 2014.

Standards Formation Participation for Ocean Renewable Energy

ERI@N has also initiated participation in the International Electrotechnical Commission’s “Marine energy - Wave, tidal and other water current converters” standards technical committee IEC-TC114 through SPRING, the official body responsible for standards within Singapore. As a result, standards for ORE would be formulated to account for tropical conditions. Marine energy converters developed in regions outside the tropics may need some tweaking to suit the tropical environment, e.g. relatively lower resources (ie. tidal currents, tidal ranges, wave heights), spatially distributed resources and load centers (e.g. island ecosystem); with some modifications, the systems and complementary technologies – including deployment and installation methods – will somewhat vary across the whole value chain.

Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI): Part of the Marine RE R&D Ecosystem        

The TMSI of the National University of Singapore (NUS) is leading the national research effort in hydrodynamic and wind wave modeling. TMSI is building a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database of bathymetry (Figure 8) and other information important for estimation of tidal, wave, and ocean energy.

Figure 11: Bathymetry of Singapore Strait (left pane) and the adjacent seas (right pane).

The recently developed tidal hydrodynamic forecasting system^[4] is useful for the estimation of tidal power capacity in Singapore Strait (Figure 9).The extended regional version is under development. Regional wind-wave model has been fitted to cover entire Sunda Shelf.

Figure 12: Computed current velocities and vortices near St John’s island (Singapore) at flood tide (left) & ebb tide (right).

The models are indispensable tools for optimal placing of tidal power and wave energy harvesting farms. Other ocean energy resources-exploiting ocean currents, salinity and temperature gradients – can also be analysed using well-calibrated regional ocean models. (Figure 10).

Figure 13: Computed climatological oceantemperature (C0) in July: surface (left pane) and at 500 m (right pane).

DHI: Supporting the Marine RE Value Chain in Singapore & Beyond

DHI Water & Environment (Singapore) Pte Ltd has been assisting tidal power developers in Singapore to assess the overall potential, and a number of sites have carried this through into an environmental scoping study. The Singapore straits are strongly tide-driven in terms of hydrodynamics(see Figure 11 below), but are also heavily used for industrial, shipping and recreational activities. As an extension to these studies a number of array optimisation tools and web-based online decision support systems have been developed (screen shot below).

Figure 14: Tidal flows in Singapore’s waters.

The tidal currents of Singapore are very well mapped due to extensive monitoring over the past eight years using an array of Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs)– presently 14 instruments are deployed and maintained as part of other ongoing commercial and research activities. Potential for resources have also been identified in and around the industrial estate of Jurong Island with a total discharge of cooling water above 1mill m3/hr.

DHI, which is active in Singapore providing a variety of services to the Maritime Port Authority, is collaborating with ERI@N in the development of a novel Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) software for ORE, particularly with device dependent energy assessment for various types of ORE resources.

Participation in Collaborative International Projects

EMEC, ERI@N, and ClassNK

European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and ERI@N will be collaborating to support the further development of the marine renewable energy industry in Southeast Asia. ERI@N will work together with EMEC and ClassNK to set up scale test facilities in Singapore which offers a different climate and sea conditions to EMEC’s own scale test sites in Orkney. This collaboration would be beneficial to both parties by leveraging the strengths of each – “EMEC in boosting the development of international markets and common standards and NTU’s with its strong expertise in sustainability research and its strategic location in Singapore, acts as a gateway to Southeast Asia” (EMEC, 2013).

Southeast Asian Collaboration for Ocean Renewable Energy (SEAcORE)

To understand the regional energy needs and ocean energy technology challenges specific to tropical conditions, ERI@N set up the Southeast Asian Collaboration for Ocean Renewable Energy (SEAcORE) with neighbouring countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. This collaboration is envisioned to be a platform for the exchange of ideas, initiatives, and experiences from R&D, policymakers, and industry. It forms a collated and active core network of expertise and technical know-how in Southeast Asia (SEA) to set, assist, augment, and facilitate the adoption of ORE in the region. It also promotes the diffusion of renewables and creates new markets for partner industrial firms. Joint projects in resource mapping and assessment are now being discussed.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Centre for Energy (ACE) has recognised the efforts of ERI@N in leading the SEAcORE initiative and officially made it as ACE’s technical working group for ocean renewable energy in the region. ERI@N-SEAcORE together with ACE will drive projects, activities and events that lead to increasing awareness and the uptake of ocean renewables in Southeast Asia.

Joint Industry Programme (JIP)

The Joint Industry Programme is managed by ERI@N and involves PhD students, NTU professors, and local and multi-national companies who are engaged in cutting-edge research into various aspects of Offshore Renewable Energy. Today, 23 doctoral projects are in progress with research topics spanning resource forecasting, sub-structure studies, power generation, transmission, grid, installation, and maintenance.

Regional Network and International Conferences towards increasing ORE Uptake in SEA

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) of Singapore organises the annual Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). In 2013, a roundtable discussion on the role of government in the increase of uptake in ocean renewable energy was organised at SIEW.

ERI@N conducted its annual conference on offshore renewables (includes different sessions on offshore wind, and marine renewables, e.g. ocean thermal energy conversion, wave, and tidal energy) at the Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES) 2014 in October 2014. This conference provided an opportunity for marine energy experts, industries and organisations both within and beyond Singapore to gather and share new and cutting-edge research and developments in the field of marine renewable energy. ACES 2014 attracted 200 experts worldwide to participate in the thee-day event, and will continue to be featured at SIEW 2015.

As a further development, Singapore has been chosen to be the next location for the Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (AWTEC) in 2016 (AWTEC, 2014). It will be the first time that an international ocean renewable energy conference is held in Southeast Asia. ERI@N, along with experts from Japan, Korea, UK and Australia, will run the conference, focussing on the clean energy needs of SEA countries and other tropical regions.

3. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

Hann-Ocean delivers the world’s first wave energy convertor array for small waves in Singapore

With the support of SPRING Singapore’s Technology Innovation Grant, Hann-Ocean Energy (HOE) has been developing a twin-chamber wave energy convertor (WEC) “Drakoo” (Dragon King of Ocean) since 2008. Drakoo is capable of generating economic electricity from all scales of waves (0.2m – 5.5m) and is hence deployable in both shallow water and deep seas.

Figure 16: Testing of Drakoo in Singapore waters in November 2012.^[5]

The internationally patented WEC transforms waves into a continuous water jet driving a hydro turbine generator onboard. Drakoo has been tested successfully in NTU lab tests and in deep wave flume test verified by Narec UK.  The current Drakoo model has an overall conversion efficiency (waves to electricity) of up to 55%.^[6]

Hann-Ocean successfully obtained the first commercial order to supply four units of Drakoo-B0004 wave energy convertors to Jurong Shipyard Pte. Ltd in June 2012. The Wave Energy Converter (WEC) array (Drakoo-B0016) has been installed (see Figure 13) at the new Jurong Mega yard at Tuas View Sea, Singapore in August 2013. The Drakoo-B0004 module is the world’s first WEC that works under very small wave conditions (0.2m ~ 0.6m). This technology, which is fully developed in Singapore, will demonstrate the economic feasibility of generating electricity using small wave energy resources.

Atlantis, Singapore’s Home-Grown Company, Leading the Tidal Power Industry

For more than a decade, Atlantis has been actively involved in the commercialisation of tidal power technology and the development of tidal power projects around the world. Atlantis established operations and set up its headquarters in Singapore in 2006, attracted by high quality R&D capabilities, as well as the robustness of the intellectual property protection regime. In 2011, EDB Investments (EDBI) became a stakeholder in Atlantis.

“Atlantis’ expanded presence in its Singapore headquarters will allow it to further leverage on Singapore’s vibrant clean technology ecosystem and well-established local engineering capabilities to accelerate its product commercialisation and grow its business internationally.^[7]”

Figure 17: Atlantis’ Solon Tidal Turbine Testing in Singapore (Left) and AR1000 – 1MW unit (Right)^[8]

Over the past few years, Atlantis has been focussing on business strategy, project, and technology development. Today, Atlantis dominates the tidal market by being the owner of the MeyGen project – with an overall goal to deliver a fully operational renewable energy plant of almost 400MW powered purely by tidal energy. Other projects of Atlantis include tidal power development in FORCE, Nova Scotia, Canada, where a developmental Feed-in-Tariff of C$530 (around S$590) per megawatt hour (MWh) was awarded, which provides revenue support for Atlantis to deploy and operate up to three state-of-the art AR-1500 turbines at FORCE. Atlantis also has projects in India, China and other parts of the world.

Sources:

[1]More information can be found on http://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/industries/industries/alternative-energy.html

[2] http://www.ntu.edu.sg/AboutNTU/Pages/AcademicHighlights.aspx

[3] http://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/news-and-events/news/2014-news/southeast-asias-first-and-largest-micro-grid-testbed-to-be-built-on-singapores-semakau-landfill.html

[4] For more information, please see: http://www.porl.nus.edu.sg/forecast/public/

[5] For more information, please see: http://www.hann-ocean.com/drakoo-b0016-array-launched-tuas-view-sea-singapore/

[6] For more information, please see: http://www.hann-ocean.com/products/drakoo-wave-energy-converter/specifications/

[7] For more information, please see: http://atlantisresourcesltd.com/about-atlantis/strategic-partners/edbi.html

[8] For more information, please see: http://atlantisresourcesltd.com/about-atlantis/history.html

THAILAND

by Dr. Chaiwat Ekkawatpanit and Dr. Duangrudee Kositgittiwong of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

1. INTRODUCTION

The energy conservation has been an important policy for the Thai government since the enforcement of the Energy Conservation Promotion Act in 1992. Recently, the economic in Thailand has been increasing, especially in 2010. an economic growth rate of 7.8% was found because of the rising up of a world economic growth rate. Due to this reason, the energy consumption in Thailand was found increasing continuously at an annual average rate of 4.4%. In that year, the recorded actual power demand increased significantly higher than the forecast and tended to grow continuously. Although there has been continuous discovery of oil and gas in Thailand, the domestic demand for energy still has been growing resulting in energy import. Thailand has to mainly rely on 60 percent of energy import. It was, then, realized that in Thailand, there are potentials of natural energy resources in all parts of Thailand, for example solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, etc. These make Thailand renewable energy potentials are at very good level with opportunities to be promoted as energy sources and create the promising country energy security. Renewable energy would be a target fuel expected to substitute natural gas for power generation.

2. OCEAN ENERGY POLICY

Strategy and National Targets

 In 1992, cogeneration and the production of power from renewable energy was introduced and implemented under the announcement of Small Power Producer Program (SPP regulation). The SPP program allowed private investment in the generation of electricity using the cogeneration system and generation of electricity using renewable energy. Later on, it became a very effective policy instrument in promoting investment in renewable energy and cogeneration. In order to reduce some of the costs for SPP, the government in 2001 introduced the Very Small Power Producer Program (VSPP) which allowed SPP with sale into the grid of less than 1 MW (Amranand, 2008). Moreover, there are 3 important policies from governments that lead a strategic development of renewable energy (Energy Policy and Planning Office, 2012).

 Relevant Legislation and Regulation

• Thailand Power Development Plan 2010 – 2030 (PDP2010: Revision 3)

At the end of 2030, total capacity of renewable energy will be around 20,546.3 MW (or 29 percent of total generating capacity in the power system) comprising total existing capacity amounting 6,340.2 MW, total added capacity of renewable energy of 14,580.4 MW and deduction of the retired capacity of renewable energy totaling 374.3 MW. The 20,546.3 MW capacity of renewable energy can be classified into domestic renewable energy of 13,688 MW and renewable energy from neighbouring countries of 6,858 MW.

• The 20-Year Energy Efficiency Development Plan 2011 – 2030 (EEDP 2011 – 2030)

This policy is targeting on 25 percent reduction of energy intensity (ratio of energy consumption to GDP) of the country within 20 years (2011 – 2030), resulting in the decrease of country’s power demand projection on account of energy saving programs and energy efficiency promotions.

• Alternative Energy Development Plan: AEDP 2012-2021

It is regarded to use renewable energy and alternative energy by 25 percent instead of fossil fuels by 2021. It is also committed to the development of low-carbon society.

For all policies about renewable energy mentioned above, the Alternative Energy Development Plan: AEDP 2012-2021, seems to have the clearest Strategy to promote renewable and alternative energy development for 25% in 10 years. Energy Ministry by the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) had the study work on new energy resources capable for electricity generation with an expected potential in commercial development for the future through the following six strategic issues as follow;

• Promoting the community to collaborate in broaden producing and consuming renewable energy.
• Adjusting the incentive measure on investment from private sector appropriated with the situation.
• Amending the laws and regulations which do not benefit to renewable energy development.
• Improving the infrastructure as system of transmission line, power distribution line, including a development towards Smart Grid System.
• Public relations and building up comprehensive knowledge for the people.
• Promoting the research work as mechanism to develop the integrated renewable energy industry.

Relevant documents released

 Tidal and current energy is categorized as a new energy resource for power generation as shown in Figure 1. The target of tidal and current energy is at 2 MW but there is currently still no power generation. The most important problems and barriers in development and promotion of energy from ocean wave and tidal current are lacking of data and assessment on wave and tidal energy potentials. Therefore, to solve this problem, it is necessary to speed up the study and research in order to capably identify the sources and technology types that can be applied for ocean energy production in Thailand. It is expected primarily that potential areas are located under the Sarasin Bridge in Phuket and surrounding areas of Koh Sa Mui – Pa Ngan and Koh Tan. It is also important to assess the development potential and readiness preparation for the pilot projects development in those potential areas (The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, 2013).

Figure 18: Target of renewable energy by AEDP 2012-2021

(The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, 2013)

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Government Funded R&D

Researchers from Mahidol University found that the installation of 4 units of power generators at 400 m far from coastal area can generate 1.2 kW of electric power (Phokharatkul, 2011). Researchers from Mahidol University, again, used a permanent magnet rotary generator drive to generate near shore sea waves in the Gulf of Thailand. A hydraulic system consists of a 1.2 m diameter floating buoy with vertical movement drives the 320 watts permanent magnetic. The maximum power generation can be developed by using the appropriate coupled mechanic models for generator and hydraulic system. A 1 kW prototype power unit has been performed at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park Phetchaburi (Phaiboon and Phokharatkul, 2012).            Researchers from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi developed coast wave’s power generation by using the prototype in the laboratory. Then, the suitable size was installed as a role model at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Phetchaburi, and Ao Manao, Narathiwat, Thailand. The prototype machine size was 1.5 m wide, 1.4 m long, and 1.5 m high, buoy up and down according to sea wave as shown in Figure 2. It was found that generator started generating electric with the wave height of 0.1 m to 0.6 m which is very suitable in Thailand because the average wave height is 0.4 m. The field test of 217.56 watts was found with the condition of no load, while the highest electric power of 32.5 watts was found under the load condition of 50 watts (Phomkaeo and Punyasompun, 2013).

Figure 19: Wave power generator prototype

The collaborated project between the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Geo-Informatics Technology and Development Agency (GISTDA) is the development of Thailand’s coastal radar system. This project mainly aims to develop a measurement system for wave and current pattern for monitoring the direction of water mass that flows into the Gulf of Thailand. The data will be used to support the water and flood management in areas covered downstream to the coast. There are currently 18 stations, 13 HF radar systems and 5 X-band systems, in the Gulf of Thailand as shown in Figure 3. The data products are wave characters, current, bathymetry, and data in ASCII for the analysis.

Figure 20: Radar system stations in the Gulf of Thailand

(Prukpitikul, 2013)

VIETNAM

Compiled from the works of Institute of Energy Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and Hanoi University of Science and Technology

Vietnam has a population of 87.84 million as of 2011 and GDP growth of 122 billion US dollars. Their primary energy consumption is 58, 370 KTOE and final energy consumption of 46,774 KTOE as of 2009. Vietnam’s electricity consumption is 108 billion kWh (2011). As for their energy export, 12.68 mill tons are from crude oil, coal is 24.99 mill tons and electricity (to Cambodia) is 1087 GWh (2011). Energy import (2009) composed of petroleum products is 13.37 mill tons, coal is 0.908 mill ton and electricity from China 5 bill kWh (2011).[1]

Vietnam has areas with high potential for ocean renewable energy. As early as 1996, wave energy and tidal energy have been considered as potential energy sources in the country due to its wave, wind and geography conditions[2]. Foreign investors have already shown interest in developing tidal power projects particularly in Binh Thuan Province[3]. For wave energy, Truong Sa (Khanh Hoa), Phu Quy (Binh Thuan), Cu Lao Cham (Quang Nam), Con Co (Quang Tri), and Hon Me (Thanh Hoa) were identified as potential sites.[4]

On recent reports, the country plans to increase its use of renewable energy from 5 per cent in 2020 to 11 per cent by 2050. One of the concrete initiatives to pursue the use of renewable energy in Vietnam is in Da Nang city where the city carried out a renewable energy pilot project back in 2007 to 2011. They cut 12,000 tons of carbon emission through the city’s pilot project and saved VND 12 billion according to Da Nang’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment. It was also mentioned in the report that the city “has high potential for new energy sources, with a 90km coastline and over 2,000 hours of sun per year and with average wind speed of 3m per second available for wind power stations.” [5]

The city has yet to develop projects to use energy from ocean waves and tides and could extract 4.2 million cubic metres of biogas from rural areas. Du Van Toan from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Institute of Sea and Islands agreed that Da Nang has favourable natural conditions for green energy. "The city can build power plants using wave and tidal power along the long coastline," he said. "These plants also can play a role as tourist destinations."

Vietnam’s high economic and population growth rate has continued to increase its energy demand. Policies on reducing environmental impact have driven the development of renewable energy that has a potential estimated at 11.73 TWh/year. Vietnam’s target for RE share in the total national primary energy consumption is 5% for 2020 and 11% for 2050[6]. In the power sector, the target for RE share is 4.5% by 2030 and 6% by 2050[7]. Although Vietnam is gearing towards the development of biofuels, research institutions and academic organizations still pursue studies on the ORE potential of selected areas in Vietnam.

Sources:

[1] Pham, Hoang-Luong. Renewable Energy Technologies in Vietnam – Current status and their development perspectives. A paper presented in 5th Regional Conference on New and Renewable Energy 2012, Vietnam.

[2] “Binh Thuan keen on tidal energy development.” VietNamNet Bridge, July 1, 2011, accessed June 18, 2013, http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/environment/10128/binh-thuan-keen-on-tidal-energy-development.html and Van NC. A study of the potential of renewable energy sources and its application in Vietnam. Renewable Energy Research Center, Hanoi University of Technology. Renewable Energy, Volume 9, Issues 1-4, September-December 1996.

[3] . Institute of Mechanics., Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. “Study and Assessment the Potential of Ocean Energy in Vietnam and Proposing Some Solution to Use. National Project on Marine Technologies”. (Vietnam: Ministry of Science and Technology), 2010. and Institute of Mechanics, VAST. “Studies and Assessing the Potential on Using Marine Energy Resource in Vietnam.” VAST Project, 2003.

[4] “Binh Thuan keen on tidal energy development.” VietNamNet Bridge, July 1, 2011, accessed June 18, 2013, http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/environment/10128/binh-thuan-keen-on-tidal-energy-development.html

[5] Conference Explores Renewable Energy. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/social-issues/230188/conference-explores-renewable-energy.html

[6] 7. ASEAN-German Mini Hydro Project. Renewable Energy in Vietnam. http://agmhp.aseanenergy.org/focus-countries/2009/07/01/renewable-energy-in-vietnam. July 2009. And Do, TM, Sharma D. Vietnam’s energy sector: A review of current energy policies and strategies.

[7] . Dr. Pham, Hoang Luong. “Presentation on Current Status of ORE in Vietnam.” (paper presented in Southeast Asian Collaboration for Ocean Renewable Energy Workshop, Feb 25-26, 2013).