5 October

Japan’s Trade and Industry Ministry (Meti) has sought an increase in its budget to assist the country’s shift to low-carbon energy. Japan has also started phasing out coal-fired power plants, as cuts to greenhouse gas emissions as a result of Covid-19 have pushed the country’s decarbonisation strategy forward. Meti seeks a budget increase to $4.65bn (JPY490.2bn) in the 21-22 fiscal year, an increase of $620m (JPY64.3bn) over what its original allocation.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corp has signed an agreement with Shuaa Energy 3 to provide $70.5m for the development of the fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, UAE. The deal was sponsored by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, ACWA Power and the Gulf Investment Corp. The $564m 900MW solar photovoltaic plant forms part of Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 as well as Clean Energy Strategy 2050.

The Indian city of Delhi has almost reached its pre-Covid-19 of power demand, as economic activity increases under its ‘Unlock’ process. In September 2020, power demand was 5.9% lower than in September 2019. Power distribution company officials were quoted by PTI as saying: “In April, during the height of the Covid-19-induced lockdown, there was around 40% difference in comparison to the peak power demand of 2019. This gap reduced to just about 5.9% in September. The peak power demand in September 2019 was 6,626 MW, while it was 6,231 MW this year.”