HELUKABEL News in January 2024: Trending domestic and international news

According to VnExpress, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to import wind power from Laos and make additional planning for transmission lines to reduce the risk of power shortages in the North.

This recommendation comes from EVN's calculation that the Central and Southern regions will basically have enough electricity if new sources from Power Plan VIII are ensured. Meanwhile, electricity supply in the North in the period 2024-2030 is considered very challenging, with a potential risk of electricity shortage in the last two months of the dry season (May - July every year) and from 2025. Therefore, EVN concludes that electricity sources from Laos will meet demanding needs, reducing the risk of electricity shortages in the coming years.

In addition, according to Power Plan VIII, the proportion of low-cost power sources - such as hydropower, will gradually decrease and give way to high-cost sources (LNG gas power, block B gas, offshore wind power). Increasing electricity imports from Laos also helps reduce purchase costs and ensure electricity supply security.

2024 is considered to be the year when there are many unfavorable factors and difficulties for electricity supply, such as no major source operating, decreased amount of gas supplied for power generation from existing gas sources, and slow-progressed new gas sources.

For that reason, to have enough electricity for production and consumption, the Ministry of Industry and Trade asked EVN to calculate and propose investing in new transmission lines from Laos to Vietnam to increase domestic supply.

According to Financial Times, by the end of 2023, copper prices reached 8,600 USD/ton, an increase of 2.5% compared to the beginning of the year. The reason came from mine supply problems in Latin America, along with signs of improvement in the Chinese economy.

The closure of a giant mine in Panama and a sharp decline in copper output removed 750,000 tonnes, or 3%, of global supply in 2024 from previous estimates. Vale and Rio Tinto also recently forecast that output would not meet expectations.

The rebound in copper prices at the end of 2023 took place during the strong interest rate-hiking campaign of the Federal Reserve System (FED). Investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted that copper prices would reach 10,000 USD/ton in the next 12 months, thanks to forecasts of reduced supply and dovish FED policy in mid-December 2023.

The second container terminal at Tianjin Port, operational from the end of 2021, is the world's first smart zero-carbon terminal. By using wind turbines and solar power, the terminal has significantly reduced carbon emissions by about 75,000 tons/year.

Currently, the terminal is undergoing a smart logistics revolution using artificial intelligence transport robots. Engineers here are optimizing container handling, aiming at increasing operational efficiency and reducing operating costs.

Ms. Wang Tong, Business Process Administrator of the Operational Department at the port, explained: “We maintain a similar layout to most traditional terminals, yet the smart system helps calculate the optimal routes and significantly reduces container delivery times, thereby improving efficiency in the terminal”.

According to China Daily, this groundbreaking technology not only positions Tianjin as a global logistics leader, but also emphasizes the city's commitment to innovative and smart solutions.

In a first and important step forward for the aviation industry, a large cargo aircraft completed a 12-minute flight test with no one on board last November.

This test was approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and conducted with a Cessna 208B Caravan aircraft through the control of the automation systems company Reliable Robotics. Specifically, a pilot was responsible for monitoring the flight process remotely at a control center more than 80km away.

The autopilot system allows the ground-based pilot to control the aircraft remotely, enhancing safety by fully automating all operational phases, including taxiing, takeoff and landing. Remote pilots will utilize the system overseeing one aircraft at a time rather than one pilot managing multiple autonomous flights.

Projections indicate that such advanced automation systems could prevent more than 70% of general aviation accidents in the US.

Electric vehicles accounted for more than 47.6% of all new passenger car registrations in the EU between January and November 2023, The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said. New car registrations in November alone increased 6.7%, marking the 16th consecutive month of growth, with a 13.3% increase over the same period in 2022 in electric vehicle registrations.

In the electrified market, consumers continued to prefer hybrid-electric vehicles, with an increase of 28.7% over the same period in 2022, while demand for plug-in hybrid vehicles decreased by 22.1%. As of December 20, 2023, the number of hybrid-electric car registrations in Germany, France and Italy was more than 1.5 million out of a total of nearly 2.5 million vehicles in the EU.

Despite the rise of electric vehicles, ACEA said that the electric vehicle sector in Europe risks falling behind the electric vehicle industry in other regions without a strong strategy. This comment was made amid China's dominance of the supply chain and U.S. incentives for its automakers.