Letter to HSBC to Cancel Investment in Coal from its Energy Policy


12 April 2019

Mr. John Michael Flint, Group Chief Executive
HSBC, 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ, United Kingdom 

We are writing you from Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) on an issue which is crucially important for us. 

In the London AGM of HSBC in 2018, you announced that the institution had revised its energy policy to "stop financing new coal-fired power plant in all countries around the world". Thanks go to shareholders and Board of Directors of HSBC for this timely revision in line with Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards a green earth for the next generations. But we are disappointed to see the last words of the sentence which is "... apart from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.”  

As organisations and citizens of Bangladesh, we consider this incredibly disappointing and urge that HSBC, at or before its April 2019 AGM, announce it will stop funding new coal everywhere effective immediately.  

A recent study of Harvard University researchers projects that pollution from coal-fired power plants could result in 43,620 excess deaths in Indonesia and Vietnam every year by 2030. Coal plants in our countries not only harm us but are projected to cause significant deaths in China, Thailand, Myanmar and throughout the rest of East Asia. We hope Bangladesh never experiences the consequences of coal to this extent. 

In order to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency has warned that “we have no room to build anything that emits CO2 emissions.” Oxford University researchers estimated that even if the entire global pipeline of power generation was cancelled, “up to 20% of global fossil-fuel generation capacity would still have be stranded (that is, prematurely decommissioned, underutilized, or subject to costly retrofitting) if humanity is to meet the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement.” 

Modelling from University of Technology Sydney researchers finds that for a two-thirds chance of limiting warming below 1.5°C the equivalent of 30% of global coal-fired power capacity "must end operation by 2025". Despite the weight of evidence and HSBC’s rhetorical acknowledgement of climate change, the bank continues to actively support new and expanded coal projects in developing countries. 


According to local media, there are plans for five coal-fired power plants in areas adjacent to the port. These plants have raised human rights concerns, notably regarding farming and fishing livelihoods being impacted, and land being grabbed without compensation. The coal imported through Payra Port would supply these power stations. Therefore, HSBC plays a critical role in enabling impacts associated with them. 


HSBC sits in stark contrast with competitor bank Standard Chartered which last year ruled out funding new coal-fired power plants globally. According to Chairman José Viñals; “To pull millions out of poverty, we need reliable and affordable electricity and, up until now, that has meant burning coal – almost nine billion tonnes of it every year. This cannot continue: as former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said about climate action, "there is no plan B because there is no planet B". Standard Chartered’s policy is proof there’s simply no excuse left for banks like HSBC to contemplate funding new coal power anywhere. 

When will HSBC recognise that developing countries such as Bangladesh have as much as right as their developed counterparts to clean energy and clean air? 

We call on HSBC to: 
  1. Stop financing Dredging and other construction in Payra Port area which facilitate coal fire power plants in ecologically fragile areas. 
  2. Stop funding new coal-fired power plants globally; 
  3. End the refinancing of coal projects and the financing of coal infrastructure by 2020; and  
  4. Prohibit general corporate financing, underwriting and advisory services to companies that are highly dependent on coal mining, power and infrastructure. 

Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt

BWGED's Appeal to Japan Prime Minister for Cancelling Coal Power Plants


Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED) joined in campaign against coal financing of Japan with other like-minded international organizations and networks.The appeal was published in Asian Financial Times on 17 April 2019.

Summit starts power generation at new 149MW plant

The Daily Observer | 16 July 2018
 -----------------------
An aerial view of 149 MW HFO-fueled Summit power plant, at Kodda, Gazipur
Summit, Bangladesh's independent power producer , has begun power generation at another 149 MW HFO-fueled power plant, at Kodda, Gazipur, says a press release. 

Summit Gazipur I Power Limited (also known as Ace Alliance Power Limited) was assigned by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Division of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. 

With addition of this new power plant, the total generation capacity of Summit now stands at 1,941 MW. Only about two months earlier (on 9th May 2018) Summit Gazipur II Power (300MW) started power generation on record time. 

Summit Gazipur I Power is supplying power in the national grid at 132 KV through PGCB's Kodda grid sub-stations. Summit Gazipur I (149MW) and Gazipur II (300MW) power plants are located adjacent to each other in Kodda, Gazipur about 30 km away from Dhaka city. 

Link: https://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=148160

Biggest pvt investment coming in power, LNG

The Daily Star | 11 July 2018 
-------------------------- 


The largest ever private investment in Bangladesh’s power and energy sectors worth US $3 billion – around Tk 24,000 crore – is coming to facelift the country’s basic infrastructure. 

Local Summit Group, Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation and US-based General Electric Company inked an initial agreement to this effect at a programme in Dhaka city today. 

Tetsuji Nakagawa, senior vice-president of the infrastructure business division of Mitsubishi Corporation, Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, and Russell Stokes, president and CEO of GE Power, inked the agreement. 

It has been official that Summit will be the majority owner of the integrated project. 

GE will invest in equity and technology in the four 600MW-each combined cycle power plants with a total capacity of 2,400MW. Mitsubishi will be the partner for the complete integrated project, according to a statement of Summit Group. 

With implementation of the project in 2023, Summit will be doubling its power generation capacity. 

The combined cycle power plants will be powered by GE’s flagship 9HA gas turbines. The project includes two units of onshore LNG terminal with total capacity of 380,000-cubic metre, and oil terminals with 100,000 tonnes capacity – all to be located in Matarbari, Cox’s Bazar. 

The location of the 300MW heavy fuel-based power plant hasn’t been finalised yet. 

The project will be using world’s most efficient and environment-friendly technology. The LNG terminal will be using cutting-edge technology so that there is no boil-off, utilising all the gas for electricity generation, said Khan at the signing ceremony. 

Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, and Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister, were present at the signing ceremony. 

Summit Power to invest US$6bn in Bangladesh

Newsbase.com | 12 March 2019 
-------------------------

Singapore’s Summit Power International aims to invest US$6 billion in expanding its generating portfolio in Bangladesh by at least 3,000 MW. 

The company currently operates 1,940 MW of capacity in Bangladesh at more than 12 sites, supplying 9% of the country’s electricity. 

Summit seeks to raise capacity in a bid to meet 20% of power demand, Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan told the Dhaka Tribune. 

Summit, the biggest private power generator in Bangladesh, is “working with the government” in Dhaka to secure more plant development contracts, he said, but gave no details. The firm said it wanted to add another 3,000 MW of capacity. 

Its latest projects put into operation are a 300-MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) unit and a 149-MW gas-fired thermal power plant (TPP), both at Kodda. 

The majority of power plants in Bangladesh are fuelled by natural gas, but domestic offshore production cannot keep up with demand. The country is building more coal-fired TPPs as well as installing an FSRU to bring in LNG. 

Summit said it was also involved in the development of an FSRU, which is linked to a 590-MW gas fired TPP being built by Summit at Meghnaghat. 

Bangladesh has only 20,000 MW of installed capacity for a population of 165 million. The government has said it wants to double capacity to 40,000 MW by 2030. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina plans to visit China in March or April during which she will seek financial assistance to improve Bangladesh’s transmission infrastructure. 

The government has also urged industry to help avoid power cuts and shortages by operating more in off-peak hours. 

Summit has calculated that Bangladesh’s installed generating capacity per million people was less than half that of Indonesia and only 20% of that in Vietnam. 

Bangladesh Announces LNG Power Plants as Part of Generation Expansion

Darrell Proctor | Powermag.com | 1 December 2017 
---------------------------------------
Floating terminals will supply LNG. Texas-based Excelerate Energy is building a floating storage regasification unit offshore Bangladesh, one of three units currently planned to increase the amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by the country. Courtesy: Excelerate Energy
The state-owned North-West Power Generation Co. Ltd. (NWPGCL) in Bangladesh in early November announced plans to build a 3,600-MW regasification liquefied natural gas (LNG) combined cycle power plant in the Patuakhali district, on the heels of an earlier agreement to construct a similar 750-to-850-MW plant in Khulna. 

The new plants are part of a concerted effort to increase generation capacity in a country that traditionally has relied on gas-fired power. Bangladesh’s ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL), has said upgrading the country’s energy infrastructure is critical to increasing security and lessening the need to import power from neighboring countries. Officials are working with many countries, including Russia, on energy initiatives. 

Analysts said the country had 15,821 MW of generation capacity as of November 2017, and the country’s Power Division has said capacity must be increased to 24,000 MW—a 52% jump—by 2021, according to its most recent Power Sector Master Plan. Analysts have said electricity demand in Bangladesh is likely to reach 30,000 MW by 2030. Senior government officials have said Bangladesh expects to import at least 25% of its electricity from India for the next few years. 

Other large power generation projects underway in Bangladesh include the country’s first nuclear facility, a 2,400-MW plant at Rooppur, and a 1,320-MW coal-fired facility in Rampal, being built by India’s NTPC. The nuclear plant, expected to enter commercial operation in 2023, will utilize two VVER-1200 reactors (water-water energetic reactors), each producing the equivalent of 1,200 MW. It is being built by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp. 

In addition to adding coal, nuclear, and natural gas-fired generation, the country’s government also has a goal to produce at least 10% of its power from renewable sources by 2020. 

Khurshedul Alam, NWPGCL’s managing director, said his group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Siemens AG to build the Patuakhali facility. He said the site was chosen because it has a port into which the LNG can be imported. 

Alam told the Dhaka Tribune in late October that NWPGCL already had agreements in place “to import around 125 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day equivalent of regasified LNG at [the] Bangladesh-India border through an offshore LNG terminal from India’s West Bengal to the plant in Khulna.” He said Bangladesh has “opted to import LNG as the country is reeling from an acute gas crisis because the current reserves are depleting very fast.” 

The two NWPGCL projects are in addition to a 500-to-600-MW regasification LNG combined cycle power plant being built in Matarbari, in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Bangladesh. That project is a joint venture of Japan’s MITSUI and the Coal Power Generation Co. Bangladesh Ltd. 

NWPGCL has three operating power plants in Bangladesh: a 360-MW dual-fuel facility in Bheramara that began operation in September 2017; a 225-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Sirajganj that began commercial operation with 150 MW of generation capacity in December 2012, and was upgraded to 225 MW in July 2014; and a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in Khulna that began commercial operation with 150 MW of generation capacity in 2013, and was upgraded to 225 MW in June 2016. 

State-owned Petrobangla, also known as Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corp., in mid-October signed an agreement for the use of an LNG regasification terminal with a consortium of local Hong Kong Shanghai Manjala Power Ltd., Malaysia’s Global LNG, and Petronas LNG Ltd. The terminal—a floating storage and fixed jetty based regasification unit (FSRU)—will be set up by the consortium at Kutubdia Island in Cox’s Bazar. 

It is the third LNG floating terminal planned to supply Bangladesh through Petrobangla. The first, being built by Texas-based Excelerate Energy, is a 500 million cubic feet per day FSRU (Figure 1) that is expected to begin service in April 2018. A second terminal with similar capacity is being built by Summit Group, a Bangladesh company headquartered in Dhaka; it is expected to come online by year-end 2018. Each terminal will import LNG from Switzerland, Oman, and Qatar. 

Summit's Aziz 34th richest in Singapore: Forbes

The Daily Star | 16 August 2018 
---------------------------
Muhammad Aziz Khan

Bangladesh's entrepreneur Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, was named as the 34th richest man in Singapore in the Forbes' list for 2018. 

His net worth was $910 million as of July 25, said Forbes on its website. 

“I am very pleased and happy to be making to the list,” Khan said, according to his company. 

Forbes has taken into consideration only the power assets worth $910 million, according to Mohsena Hassan, head of public relations of Summit Corporation.  

All of Khan and his family's assets, which are all in Bangladesh, worth about $1.5 billion, she said in an email. 

Khan, a 63-year-old entrepreneur, is one of the pioneers in the power industry of Bangladesh with more than 36 years of experience. 

Summit Group is one of the leading private sector conglomerates of Bangladesh, comprising more than 20 business units. It has interests in power, ports, fibre optics, real estate and liquefied natural gas. 

A Singapore permanent resident, Khan is planning to list power unit Summit Power International (SPI) on the Singapore exchange. 

He ventured into businesses in 1973, at a time when there was hardly any track record of the country producing successful entrepreneurs. 

But in the course of the last four decades, Khan has gone on to cement his name among the country's most illustrious businessmen. 

He set up Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation in 1985, aiming to develop the country's infrastructure. 

Today, Summit's subsidiaries are the country's first private sector power generator, a port owner and operator, and provider of information communication connectivity via fibre optic. 

Set up in 1997, the SPI is the largest independent power producer in the country. 

It has 17 power plants with total generating capacity exceeding 1,644-megawatt. 

In July, Summit signed an agreement with Mitsubishi and GE to invest $3 billion to establish five power plants, two LNG terminals and one oil terminal. 

Summit set up the country's first private off-dock port facility, Ocean Containers Ltd, now known as Summit Alliance Ports Ltd, which handles about 30 percent of the country's export volume and about 10 percent of the country's import volume, according to Summit Power Ltd's audit report of 2016-17. 

Summit Communications, the first company to lay a nationwide telecommunication transmission network, covers 70 percent of Bangladesh and connects Bangladesh to India and Myanmar through terrestrial fibre optics. 

Summit Group employs more than 5,000 people. 

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)