Global Headlines

Asia/Oceania

India’s Jammu & Kashmir could see 2,000 MW of hydro capacity developed

Officials from Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. met in late December to discuss financing nine hydroelectric power projects in the Indian state of J&K that could have a combined installed capacity of about 2,000 MW.

The estimated cost to complete all nine projects is about US$3.7 billion.

Reports indicate senior executives said the two institutions will collaborate to manage the endeavor that would be a 50-50 partnership initially spanning a three-year period.

J&K Finance Minister Haseeb Ahmed Drabu said J&K has about 20,000 MW of unexploited hydropower and a partnership like this could develop projects that would allow the state to export power.

Africa

Israeli wave energy developer signs MOU for project in Ghana

Yam Pro Energy has signed a US$180 million memorandum of understanding with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to build the first phase of a 150-MW marine energy facility on the coastline of Accra, Ghana.

Yam Pro says its system captures energy from the ocean’s waves via floaters designed specifically per the geographical region.

Yam Pro said the initial 10-MW phase 1 of the project is scheduled for completion within the next three years. About US$8 million has been invested in developing the company’s technology, which captures energy from the ocean’s waves via floaters. Incoming waves lift and drop the floaters and this continual motion generates energy. A test project deployed at the port of Jaffa in Israel has been in operation for more than two years.

Yam Pro is a wave energy development company based in Israel. Shapoorji Pallonji is an Indian business conglomerate that has annual revenue estimated at about $4.2 billion.

North America

Final report details reasons behind Oroville Dam spillway incident

In its final official report surrounding the spillway incidents that occurred in February 2017 at Oroville Dam in California, U.S., the Oroville Dam Spillway Incident Independent Forensic Team said there was no single root cause of the incident, nor was there a simple chain of events leading ultimately to the necessity of the evacuation order.

According to the report, “the incident was caused by a complex interaction of relatively common physical, human, organizational, and industry factors, starting with the design of the project and continuing until the incident.”

The incident’s physical factors were placed in two general categories: inherent vulnerabilities in the spillway design and as-constructed conditions, and subsequent chute slab deterioration; and poor spillway foundation conditions in some locations.

The report cited human, organizational and industry factors as: “Normalization” of drain flows and cracking in repeated inspections (starting in the early 1970s after initial slab cracking and high drain flows in the late 1960s); and a decision (in February 2017) to accept use of emergency spillway against civil/geological advice.

In the end, the team determined, “There were many opportunities to intervene and prevent the incident, but the overall system of interconnected factors operated in a way that these opportunities were missed.”

Latin America

Colombian developer receives US$1 billion loan for Ituango

The Inter-American Development Bank’s private sector financing branch IDB Invest has announced it will provide a US$1 billion loan to Colombian utility Empresas Publicas de Medellin.

The money will be applied to the construction of EPM’s 2.4-GW Ituango hydroelectric plant, which received $510 million via the Colombian utility’s 2018 budget announced in December.

IDB’s financing will come in the form of two tranches – each carrying a 12-year term and each coming with a four-year disbursement. The loan will be co-financed by a number of other international lenders, including Chinese, Canadian, German, Argentinian, Japanese and Spanish development banks.

The first turbine unit at Ituango is expected to begin operating later this year. Alstom won a contract to outfit the plant, and the infrastructure itself is being built by Brazil’s Camargo Correa and Colombia’s Concocreto and Coninsa.

Ituango is located on the Cauca River in Antioquia. The plant will be Colombia’s largest when it enters full operation.

Europe

Statkraft focuses on hydropower, other renewables, exits offshore wind energy

In its strategy to exit offshore wind energy, Statkraft has sold its 30% stake in Dudgeon Offshore Wind Ltd. to a consortium led by China Resources (Holdings) Company Ltd. for US$742 million.

Statkraft made the announcement Dec. 20, saying it sold the 402-MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm located off the coast of Norfolk in the UK.

Statkraft said, due to limited financial capacity, its strategy has been to exit the offshore wind industry. With this agreement, Statkraft has divested all its holdings in offshore wind and is focusing on growth in renewables like hydropower, onshore wind, solar, district heating and other new renewable energy technologies.