wiredinUSA February 2015

wiredInUSA - February 2015

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

INDEX

Iran is said to have reached an agreement

with Iraq for exporting high voltage cables

worth $40 million.

Managing director of Abhar Cable & Wire

Co,AlirezaKolahi, said inapressconference

that Iran has played an active role in the

development of Iraq’s electricity industry in

recent years. Kolahi added that Iran also

installed the 132kV power transmission line

in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Several countries, includingMalaysia, South

Korea, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Switzerland,

UAE and Saudi Arabia were bidding to

reach an agreement with Iraq for the

export of high voltage cables.

Iraq has less than two hours of electricity

each day, Kolahi said, adding that the

Iraqi electricity industry has the potential to

be worth $400 million by 2030.

Trade between

neighbors

Record investment in China’s state power

grid during 2015 is expected to boost

copper consumption in the power sector

by around nine percent. The forecast,

made by state-backed research firm

Antaike, followed a state media report that

the power grid plans to invest $67.6 billion

during the year, an increase of 24 percent

on 2014.

The power sector accounted for nearly

half of an estimated 8.7 million tonnes of

refined copper consumption last year.

“It definitely matters for your outlook on

(copper) demand growth, given they are

the largest consumer,” said trade analyst

Ivan Szpakowski.

Grid investment this year should push

copper consumption in the power sector

up 8.7 percent to 4.62 million tonnes,

picking up from 7.6 percent growth in 2014,

said Yang Changhua, a senior analyst at

Antaike. The investment should also lift

demand for aluminum, used in overhead

power cables, and zinc, used to galvanize

power pylons, he added.

Reflecting the demand, premiums for

bonded copper in Shanghai rose to about

$70-$90 a tonne over the LME cash prices,

from $55-$75 at the beginning of the year.

China’s copper

outlook

Telstra is to offer 100Gbps speeds across

a number of its ultra-long haul submarine

cables covering Asia and the Pacific as it

seeks to increase its presence in the Asian

market.

“Telstra’s 100G wavelength service was

designed to scale smartly and would also

help deliver the connectivity and capacity

needed to support market demand for

larger bandwidth applications, including

highdefinition video services andemerging

ultra high definition television,” said Darrin

Webb, COO of Telstra global enterprise

and services.

The cables being upgraded to 100Gbps

are the Asia America Gateway direct fiber

pair, which connects the mainland USA

with Hawaii; the 9,000km Reach North Asia

Loop, which covers Hong Kong, Taiwan,

Japan and South Korea; the 9,124kmTelstra

Endeavour, linking Sydney and Hawaii;

the 12,700km Australia-Japan cable; and

UNITY, a 9,6000km route between Japan

and the United States.

It is hoped that the upgrade will help Telstra

to compete with more established rivals

and become the first choice for Australian,

European and US businesses wanting to

connect with Asia.

Boosting Asian

service

Following a recent tour of the southern

Kuwait Al-Zoar power plant, Abdul-Aziz

Al-Ibrahim the minister of public works,

electricity and water, indicated that

expansion plans at the plant will add at

least 500MW to the national grid. The

minister added that similar plans are in

hand for the Al-Sabbiya power plant,

adding 500MW to the grid before the start

of the summer.

Current expansion at the northern Al-Zoar

power plant, almost 70 percent completed,

will provide 230MW to the national grid

and the estimation is that the plant will be

operational by July. The minister stressed,

however, that conservation of power

should continue to be a priority, “for the

benefit of the general good.”

Regarding the use of solar energy to

produce electric power, the ministry of

electricity and water’s undersecretary,

Iyad Al-Falah, said in a statement that

since the success of the experiment with

setting up solar panels on the roofs of

some government buildings, the ministry

he works for is studying the feasibility of

installing solar panels on its water reservoirs

in 20 locations around the country. It is

estimated that these panels will produce

about 300MW of electric power.

Conservation urged,

despite power increases