INGENIEUR
The Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project ( LTMS-PIP ) will import up to 100 megawatts of renewable hydropower using existing interconnections , marking the first multilateral cross-border electricity trade involving four ASEAN countries .
This is equivalent to about 1.5 % of Singapore ’ s peak electricity demand in 2020 , enough to power about 144,000 four-room HDB flats for a year .
The project will benefit all four countries involved by facilitating the development of a regional market for electricity trading , promoting investments , and enhancing regional electricity supply security and cost-competitiveness , the agencies said .
The LTMS-PIP serves as a “ pathfinder ” towards realising the broader vision of an ASEAN power grid ( APG ), the agencies said .
An APG would enable multilateral electricity trading beyond neighbouring countries in the region . It is “ a key regional initiative to enhance interconnectivity , energy security and sustainability through existing electricity interconnections ”, the joint statement added .
“ This provides opportunities to tap on lowcarbon and renewable energy sources in the region and contributes towards economic development and improving energy security and stability .”
The LTMS-PIP is one of the trials that the Energy Market Authority has been working on as part of the nation ’ s goal to import up to four gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035 , which will make up about 30 % of Singapore ’ s electricity supply in that year .
The project also demonstrates the feasibility of multilateral power collaboration , as technical , commercial , legal and regulatory arrangements were finalised among various parties with the support from the Governments of the four ASEAN countries .
Maritime connectivity , trade and growth – Routledge
The UNCTAD liner shipping bilateral connectivity index ( LSBCI ), which is defined as a normalised average of five container transport measures , can be viewed as an index of not only maritime connections but also economic connections in a broader sense . The five component measures that are melded together to comprise the LSBCI are : ( 1 ) The minimum number of transhipments needed for shipment between two countries ;
( 2 ) The total number of common direct services that countries have with third countries . Consequently , this is equal to the number of options at the disposal of a shipper for transferring cargo from country to country with one transhipment ;
( 3 ) The geometric average of the total number of direct connections . This variable expresses the average of the two countries ’ position in the international shipping network ;
( 4 ) The degree of competition , as reflected by the total number of carriers that provide services on the shipping connection between the two countries ; and
( 5 ) The size , measured in TEU , of the largest vessel operating on the shipping route between the country pair .
The components are likely to correlate with trade and production due to the transport costs . Low numbers of transhipments or high numbers of direct connections indicate scale economies at the level of the firm , as it implies a lower number of distance-independent ( fixed ) transaction costs in the cost function . This reduces average costs and puts downward pressure on prices in a competitive market for most market structures of interest . As shipping is capacity-driven and characterised by quantity competition of some kind , an increased number of service providers is also likely to push prices downward from the demand side , as greater competition is associated with less markup pricing .
Increasing the number of direct connections lowers average costs for similar reasons , but a high number of direct connections also indicates market segmentation , which is associated with gains from product variation and market heterogeneity according to the new trade theory in the tradition of Paul Krugman . This is likely to spur information spillovers and self-reinforcing accumulation of knowledge according to the new growth theory in the tradition of Paul Romer . New growth theory suggests that knowledge spillovers can increase production and growth . To the
30 VOL 92 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2022