Mainland China’s first high – speed rail Public Private Partnership opened for business last month. Built at a cost of ¥45 billion / US$7.1 billion under a 30 – year concession,  it is now serving nine stations between Hangzhou – Shaoxing – Taizhou in Zhejiang province with trains traveling at up to 350 kph over […]

The FT reports that the UK government wants to buy back the properties still remaining from the Ministry of Defence housing portfolio that it sold back in 1996. Commenting on LinkedIn, Andrew points out that trying to exit a bad bargain adds political risk to the UK as an investment destination. Having pioneered so many […]

The FT reports ahead of tomorrow’s opening with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn where the link is no longer current so here are both pieces: FT re Laos rail 2 Dec 21 Laos will open a $6bn Chinese-built railway on Friday, the biggest public works project in its history, which analysts warn could expose the […]

The FT reports on COP 26 with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn. Energy transition involves acknowledging a loss. This falls to national governments which need to share risk and responsibility. In order to do so, they should invoke project finance techniques – even if it means adding a few zeros.

Writing in the South China Morning Post, Andrew argues that, rather than calling for the private sector to develop three new zones, Ocean Park should think much more ambitiously and convert into a government – funded, fully – fledged cutting – edge zoo to rival Sydney (pictured) or Singapore. Note that in its editing, the […]

See here on LinkedIn and here on Logie Group back in April.

Writing in Power Engineering Int’l magazine, Andrew next takes the message to the engineers: if energy transmission is to actually happen – i.e. coal – fired power plants are retired early – the cost of doing so needs to be shared around. This is particularly so in Asia where the plant is bigger and younger […]

An update from William and Mary in the FT with commentary from Andrew on LinkedIn. Leaving aside the lack of transparency, the issue is not whether China is indulging in debt trap diplomacy – it isn’t particularly. Rather i) are the often sub-sovereign borrowers able to repay? ii) which in turns depends on how they […]

28 and 29 September see Enlit Asia’s digital festival marking the 76th Indonesia National Electricity Day. Today, Enlit published Andrew’s recent article on how, ahead of COP26 in November, the energy transition might be financed. And he chaired a pre-recorded panel session on Piecing Together the Finance Puzzle and the Availability of Capital in a […]

Yes, we need to migrate from coal fired power to renewables; and yes, Australia, with its wealth and scientific leadership, should be leading the way. But let’s not lose sight of the cost of doing so. Transgrid in Australia is looking to build the 500 kV Humelink interconnector across rural NSW so as to deliver […]

Andrew was recently interviewed by Proximo re Energy Transition Mechanisms i.e. how to finance the early retirement of coal fired power plants and the coal mines which supply them. There is a cost to doing this which needs to be shared around, particularly in Asia where the plant is bigger and younger than in the […]

We all know that there is a gap between how much infrastructure is needed and how much is planned; and that, no matter what your underlying assumptions are, that gap is a very large number. Now, for perhaps the first time, comes an estimate of the cost of not building that infrastructure. And that number […]

I wrote last week on how the pain needed to be shared if we are to migrate the planet away from coal fired power plants. These power plants are predominantly in Asia and predominantly in China and India. Both countries have their own coal to burn but they also import heaps of it, predominantly from […]

Journalist and one – time Bernie Sanders speechwriter David Sirota once said of Barack Obama that he campaigned in climate poetry then governed in fossil fuel prose. On a bigger stage, COP 26 is less than three months away and it is time to move beyond poetic announcements involving eye – catching targets for climate […]

Andrew sat down recently with Enlit Asia’s Melissa Fitzgerald to discuss the new normal facing the financing of the huge investment necessary in the power sector across the region. He has been a member of the advisory board to Enlit Asia (previously PowerGen Asia) since 2009 and Enlit’s upcoming conference is currently scheduled for 28 […]