Keppel Infrastructure Holdings (KI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate with Impact Electrons Siam (IES) and Envision Group on the development and supply of low-carbon electricity, storage and intermittency management solutions, as well as the pursuit of opportunities in Asean grid interconnectivity.
Leveraging the strengths of KI, with a track record of developing and operating large-scale sustainable energy infrastructure end-to-end, Envision, as a global green technology leader, and IES, as a leading renewable energy solutions provider in the Asia Pacific, the MOU seeks for the three partners to innovate and bring reliable and competitive renewable energy solutions to end-users in Asean, one of the world’s fastest growing regions.
The MOU seeks to support the aspiration that Asean member nations have set - a target of 23% of renewable energy in total primary energy supply by 2025. This MOU will see also all three parties leverage IES’s exclusive development rights issued by the Government of Lao PDR to increase the capacity of the current 600MW monsoon wind power project, which IES is developing in the Sekong and Attapeu provinces in Laos, by an additional 1,000MW.
Targeted to reach commercial operations by 2025, the monsoon project will be the largest wind farm in Asean. The project, including the expansion, could offset over 90 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout its lifetime. This collaboration for wind energy projects, which will include other potential renewables, like solar and biomass, will diversify Laos’ main source of renewable energy generation - hydropower, which is mainly generated during its wet season.
By building and integrating renewable sources with complementary generation profiles, coupled with energy and battery storage systems, this collaboration also seeks to supply stable and non-intermittent, yet flexible, low-carbon electricity to Asean nations evenly throughout the year.
This collaboration will also aspire to use state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and internet of things technologies as well as “digital twin” technology - comprising advanced control systems, data analysis, active performance control, and reliability prediction capabilities, to enhance performance and delivery of services.
This partnership is expected to catalyse regional power interconnectivity between Asean countries and cross-border multilateral electricity trading so that countries with rich natural resources and access to renewable energy can offer renewable electricity supply to other countries that need such resources. This will in turn accelerate Asean’s low carbon energy transition and net zero carbon future as greater regional cooperation for renewable energy export and import can support more efficient allocation of resources, achieve economies of scale, increase the use of renewable energy, as well as allow nations to reduce their reliance on carbon-based energy.
Cindy Lim, CEO of KI, says, “Developing large-scale renewable energy for cross-borders power trade in the region will be a significant step towards promoting greater energy security by diversifying energy supply sources as well as contributing to Asean’s plan for a sustainable energy future.”
“In alignment with Keppel’s Vision 2030, KI is intensifying our involvement in renewables and end-to-end decarbonisation solutions. Besides renewable electricity cross-border trading, and renewable energy certificates (RECs) and voluntary carbon credits to be utilised in ASEAN in the near future, KI is also exploring the development of low-carbon energy alternatives like hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS),” she adds.
See also: UOB signs MOU with Shanghai Gold Exchange to connect China’s gold supply chain to Asean markets
Shares in Keppel closed at $5.35 on Jan 26.
Photo: Bloomberg
