Month: June 2019

Following prime ministerial level bilateral agreement between India and Bhutan, both the countries have finally signed tariff protocol for the output of 720 Megawatt Mangdechhu hydropower project. First yield of this Rs 4,500-crore Bhutan project is set to get into India’s national power pool by May-June this year.

The agreement was signed by Bhutan’s economic affairs secretary, Dasho Yeshi Wangdi and the power secretary of India, Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu.

Prior to this protocol finalisation, basic tariff structure was agreed upon by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering in December last year.

As per the finalised protocol detail provided by Bhutan Government’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, the starting tariff for a term of 35 years is Ngultrum 4.21 (Eqv. INR 4.21) per unit. That will go up at a rate of 10% every 5 years till Bhutan’s loan for the project is repaid and 5% afterward. Government of ..

Source:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/india-bhutan-sign-rs-4500-crore-mangdechhu-hydro-projects-power-tariff-protocol/articleshow/69053103.cms

Traffic congestion is the bane of all commuters in cities around the world, and Yangon is no exception. According to calculations by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), there are roughly 2.8 million commuters in Yangon. About 70,000 of these ride the trains, while very few people take the water buses that run along Yangon River.

The situation can be enough to raise the blood pressure, at times. It has needed attention, and now efforts are under way to curb the congestion.

Yangon Regional Government has launched multi-transport projects in Pazundaung and Kyeemyindaing Townships. To accomplish the goal of reducing traffic snarls and delays, they plan to integrate three different means of transport: trains, cars and ships.

“In order to provide more efficient, effective, and convenient transportation, we will try to integrate road and waterway transport,” U Phyo Min Thein, Chief Minister of Yangon, said. “We are currently doing feasibility studies for these projects, in the hopes of easing traffic congestion.”

Currently, water buses run along the Yangon River, and plans are in the works to expand the service in Ngamoeyeik Creek, following feasibility studies of the projects and their safety. Plans are in the works to dismantle the old bridge.

The regional government chose Kyeemindaing and Pazundaung Townships because they are located at the juncture of road and waterway transport routes. Plans to improve them in both the short and long term are in the works.

Daw Ni Lar Kyaw, Regional Minister for the Ministry of Electricity, said: “Now, we are building jetties along the bank of Ngamoeyeik Creek for ships. Moreover, projects to renovate the circular railway are nearly complete in western areas. We will connect the waterway and railway.”

Source:https://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/yangon-region-launch-projects-ease-traffic-two-townships-0

US-based Capstone Turbine Corporation (Nasdaq: CPST) has announced today that it has secured an order for two C600 Signature Series microturbines to provide 1.2 megawatts (MW) of energy to power a triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration facility in the Basra region of Southern Iraq.

The order also includes Capstone’s new self-cleaning pulse filtration system which will allow the microturbines to endure the remote and sandy conditions with minimal maintenance. The order was secured by Technical Solutions to Industry FZE (TSI), Capstone’s authorized distributor to Iraq and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Fueled by available raw gas, Capstone’s two C600S microturbines will power 100% of the new dehydration facility. The new facility is part of a larger 25-year joint venture between local gas and leading oil producer’s efforts to capture, treat and monetize associated gas currently being flared from three southern Iraq oilfields.

Capstone recently developed a new line of self-cleanable severe environment air filtration systems for its Signature Series line of microturbine products to facilitate its expansion into the oil and gas business in the Middle East as part of its overall double digit revenue growth strategy.

The company announced its intentions to expand its business into the Middle East a couple of years ago and has previously delivered successful projects in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Capstone expects that higher oil prices and the move towards reduced gas flaring will continue to drive demand and should provide a positive backdrop for Capstone’s low emission microturbine solutions.

Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone, said:

“Flaring is the traditional way to dispose of unwanted gas produced during oil exploration activities, but the long standing practice creates an immense amount of carbon dioxide emissions and adds to climate change.

“In Iraq alone, 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas is flared annually, making it a wasted resource that could instead provide electricity or other benefits to meet the predicted doubling demand by 2030.”

Iraq is one of the world’s biggest energy producers and is set to become the fourth-largest oil-producer by 2030 behind the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia according to the IEA report, Iraq’s Energy Sector: A Roadmap to a Brighter Future 2019.

At the same time, 60-70% of gas produced is being flared due to the lack on infrastructure causing Iraq to import natural gas from the neighboring country of Iran. To improve efficiency and help with shortfalls due to rising electricity demand, the Iraqi government is working with international gas companies to capture and utilize its resources versus flaring.

Jim Crouse, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Capstone, said:

“As pressure for more efficient and environmentally conscious oil and gas production increases, we continue to see an increased demand for microturbines for flare reduction applications.

“Capstone, through its distributor network, is committed to do its part by educating and working with producers and local operators for a more profitable production. Flare reduction applications like this in Basra can have a payback as short as one year which makes it an economic win as well as an environmental win.”

Source:http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2019/06/05/capstone-wins-order-to-microturbines-in-basra/

Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi highlighted the importance of bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries and said Tehran has taken major strides to strengthen ties with Baghdad.

“We are trying to boost our relations with Iraq in all areas,” Masjedi said, addressing an appreciation ceremony for the outgoing Iranian consuls in the Iraqi cities of Sulaymaniyah and Karbala.

“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Baghdad, as well as the affiliated organizations and consulates and other governmental agencies of Iran in Iraq, have taken invaluable strides and actions at various political, economic and security levels to strengthen relations between the two countries in recent years,” the diplomat noted.

Masjedi further pointed to historical, cultural and ideological commonalities of the two countries and said closer ties in all fields are in line with the interests of both Iran and Iraq.

Iran and Iraq enjoy cordial political, security and cultural ties but due to some internal and regional problems including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorism in Iraq, they have not been able to increase their trade volume.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently paid an official visit to Iraq to boost ties with the Arab country in the sanctions era.

US President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans in March to extend a 90-day waiver for the second time to let Iraq continue energy imports from Iran.

(Source: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2019/06/07/invaluable-steps-to-cement-ties-with-iraq/)

The chairman of Iran-South Korea Joint Chamber of Commerce said following last year’s move by the US to renew sanctions against the Islamic Republic, some Korean companies went bankrupt.

Speaking to Tasnim, Hossein Tanhayee pointed to the 70 percent fall in bilateral trade between Iran and South Korea after the re-imposition of the US sanctions and said the reduction of exchanges have been against the will of the Korean companies.

After the anti-Tehran sanctions, major Korean corporations were forced to look at their trade relations with Iran with great consideration, the official said.

Two major banks of the East Asian country had also many problems in their cooperation with the Islamic Republic due to the embargoes, he added,

Tanhayee went on to say that all of these problems led to the decline in Iran-South Korea economic relations, causing the bankruptcy of many so-called SMEs or small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea that had ties with Iran.

Back in February, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha voiced Seoul’s willingness to sustain the age-old relations with Iran regardless of the Western sanctions against Tehran.

Earlier, South Korean Ambassador to Tehran Ryu Jeong-hyun said that despite many European companies leaving Iran under the pressure of the US sanctions, South Korean firms understand the significance of the Iranian market and have chosen to stay.

In response to US sanctions, Iran and its trade partners have been negotiating the reduction of the US dollar’s share in mutual trade.

Russia, Turkey, India, Iraq, Qatar, China, and others have been actively taking steps to switch to national currencies in settlements in order to bypass Washington’s pressure.

Source:http://www.iran-bn.com/2019/04/18/korean-smes-go-bankrupt-due-to-sanctions-on-iran/