(EnergyAsia, January 15) — India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has reported significant growth in the country’s production and use of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass and hydropower. Renewable energy is being used to meet a range of daily needs including cooking, lighting, heating and commercial and industrial applications. The ministry...
(EnergyAsia, January 15) — Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd, will spearhead the Asia Pacific expansion of Phanix SonnenStrom AG, a leading European photovoltaic (PV) solar systems integrator. Phoenix Solar, the regional subsidiary of Phanix SonnenStrom AG, will focus on the fast-growing Asia-Pacific markets, on which regional governments are placing increasing priority. Phoenix Solar designs and...
(EnergyAsia, January 15) — US-based Solar EnerTech Corp said it and China’s Shanghai University have launched their joint research and development (R&D) laboratory facilities at the premises of the university and the company’s manufacturing facility. Officials from the local Shanghai government, the US embassy, US and Canadian investment groups and the university attended the...
(EnergyAsia, January 15) — The Philippine government is looking to step up the cultivation of sugarcane as a feedstock for the production of ethanol. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said that the move will boost employment in the country’s farmland as well as reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil. Ethanol will also be a...
(EnergyAsia, January 15) — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has signed into law the Biofuels Act (RA 9367) mandating that liquid fuels for vehicles sold in the country must contain biofuel blends. The new law calls for the introduction of a 10% blend within the first four years, starting with a 1% biodiesel blend within...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — US biofuels producer New Century Lubricants said it will team up with India’s oil companies and the Pune-based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) to build a biodiesel plant using a new technology that will significantly lower the cost of fuel production. New Century Lubricants, which won the exclusive licence to NCL’s patented...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — The village of Higashidori in northern Japan experienced power failure early this week after an unusual incident involving the collapse of a 69-metre wind power generator. Eurus Energy Iwaya reported that one of its 25 wind power generators on its wind farm in Aomori prefecture had toppled over after it...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Australia’s oil companies are not using sufficient volume of biofuels, critics charge. The companies have failed to achieve even their own modest targets for 2006 which called for between 89 million to 124 million litres of ethanol and biodiesel to be used, said Queensland state’s Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce. ...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Investment in fuel ethanol distilleries has soared since the late-2005 oil price hikes, but data collection in this fast-changing sector has fallen behind. Because of inadequate data collection on the number of new plants under construction, the quantity of grain that will be needed for fuel ethanol distilleries has been vastly...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Thai upstream company PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) said it has found more oil at the offshore Nang Nuan field when an exploration well encountered an average flow rate of 9,050 barrels per day. The NNN-A04ST exploration well was spudded last December 4 and drilled to a total depth of...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Super Gas, a Hyderabad, India-basedLPG distributor and part of the $19 billion SHV Holding’s group of Holland, said it has gone live on mySAP ERP, in its quest to improve its operational efficiencies and streamline its business processes. Super Gas will leverage mySAP ERP to enhance its expertise in providing...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Planners in Dubai are designing a rotating residential tower building at a cost of Dh400 million that will be powered exclusively through solar energy. (US$1=Dh3.6). There are a number of rotating tower projects planned in Dubai but this one would be the first to rely on solar energy to power...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — The Indian government is considering some key changes to encourage more investment into the country’s hydroelectric sector. One measure under consideration is to exempt new hydro projects from tariff-based competitive bidding. Such an exemption would attract a number of private firms and investors to the sector, officials believe. However,...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — The Pakistani government has announced the country’s first policies on renewable energy. Like other countries, it is aiming to attract investors into developing renewable energy projects. The ‘Policy for Development of Renewable Energy for Power Generation Ð 2006’ has just been approved by the Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee, said Federal...
(EnergyAsia, January 12) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited said it is on time and budget to deliver its first completed project in 2007. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard Ltd, will deliver the floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) Polvo is to valued customer, Prosafe Production (Prosafe), next month....
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — Hong Kong-listed Huaneng Power International Inc said it has increased the capital base of subsidiary Sichuan Hydropower and raised its stakes in Qinbei Power Plant. The moves have been approved by the relevant state authorities, said Huaneng. The relevant equity transfer and capital increase have been generally completed and the...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — The Indian government plans to work with private oil companies to set up strategic stockpile facilities to store five million tonnes of oil. Details of the joint storage will be released by April, said Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan. This new stockpile will complement the 45 days of inventory of crude...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — China is reviewing its corn-based biofuels strategy as the proliferation of ethanol plants could soon threaten food supply for its growing population. In recent years, China has been looking to ethanol and crop-based fuels to reduce its reliance on coal and expensive oil imports. However, corn’s importance as a food...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — Philippine power firm First Gen Hydro Power Corp said it is looking at plans to expand and upgrade two power plants at the Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric complex. The company recently raised US$170 million from its initial public offering to help finance the expansions and upgrade, which could cost up to US$25...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — Renewable energy now accounts for more than 7% of India’s electricity supply, said the ministry of new and renewable energy. Wind power was the main renewable energy source, providing more than 6,000 megawatt (MW) while biomass plants contributed just over 1,000 (MW). India has the fourth largest wind power...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — China and Myanmar have agreed to build a 600-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric power project. The plant will be sited on the Shweli River in northeastern Myanmar near the Chinese border. Most of the electricity will be sold to consumers in Myanmar which is suffering from chronic power shortages. Myanmar’s installed...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — South Korean bioethanol producer LBL Network wants to build a plant in West Java that would turn yam into ethanol. The plant will produce 200 million litres of ethanol a year, the largest such plant in Indonesia. It will cost US$100 million to build and require some 1.2 million tonnes/year...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — Palm-oil based biodiesel is set to play an ever bigger role in Malaysia. Five biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of 258,000 tonnes per year have started up or are about to start up in different parts of the country. Malaysia is also successfully developing the technology to build biodiesel...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — The city authority of New Delhi has approved a Rs6,000 subsidy for each household to purchase and install solar-based water heaters (US$1=Rs44). The subsidies are aimed at encouraging homeowners to replace existing electric-based water heating systems which use up huge amounts of energy. City officials said that much of New...
(EnergyAsia, January 11) — The Indian government is studying proposals for 82 hydro-electric projects with a combined capacity of more than 30,600MW. Forty-five of the projects with a capacity of almost 17,000 MW have so far been cleared by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The government is keen on developing the hydro-electric power...