(EnergyAsia, January 10) — NYSE-listed Huaneng Power International Inc said two of its indirectly-owned hydropower plants in China’s Sichuan province successfully completed trial runs late last month. Huaneng’s 60%-owned Sichuan Hydropower Co Ltd owns a 68% interest in the 80MW hydropower generating units 1 and 2 at the Qiaoqi hydropower station. Huaneng also announced that...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — The Indian government said its new hydropower policy will help attract investments to exploit the country’s vast hydroelectric potential, said senior state adviser RangarajanVadodara. Much of India’s hydro power potential of about 150,000 MW is concentrated in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. ...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — China National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC) and Hong Kong Energy Ltd have signed an agreement with Indonesia’s palm oil producer PT SMART to develop a biofuels business on Papua and Kalimantan provinces. The partners will invest a total of $5.5 billion to produce crude palm oil-based bio-diesel and sugarcane or cassava-based...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — NYSE-listed Ormat Technologies Inc said that two of its subsidiaries have won supply, engineering, procurement and construction contracts with Ngawha Generation Ltd, a subsidiary of Top Energy Limited, for a new geothermal power plant in Ngawha in New Zealand. The US$20 million contracts are expected to be completed within 20 months...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — UK’s Cairn Energy PLC said that trading in the shares of its Indian subsidiary, Cairn India Limited, has started on the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE). DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, as stabilising agent, has over-allocated 33 million further Cairn India shares. The...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — India’s auto manufacturers, oil companies and farmers are facing a long wait from the government on whether it will mandate the use of crop-blended fuels from 2012 as this is unlikely to be spelt out in the National Policy on Biofuels. The government has been widely criticised for failing to...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — China will amend its tax policies to favour industries that are energy efficient and protects the environment, said its Finance Minister, Jin Renqing. Up to now, energy efficient and environmentally friendly industries have not been accorded any significant advantage by the state. These industries, mostly in the high-technology sector, will soon...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — Australia’s Green Party said the government should not sell uranium to China and India as there is insufficient guarantee and safeguards it would not fall into the hands of terrorists for making nuclear weapons. Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said Prime Minister John Howard should focus instead on sell renewable energy technology...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — Taiwan is preparing to produce biofuels from yam and sweet potatoes while continuing with similar experiments using soybeans, sunflower and rapeseed, said the Council of Agriculture (COA). The council’s Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) said it is working with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy (BOE) to...
(EnergyAsia, January 10) — GE of the US and Japan’s Hitachi Ltd said they have signed a letter of intent to negotiate the formation of a global alliance that will combine their new nuclear power plant and services businesses with the goal of strengthening their existing operations, accelerating the development of new products and services,...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — US-based Shaw Group Inc (NYSE: SGR) said a consortium of its Shaw Stone & Webster unit and CTCI Corp of Taiwan has been awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) services to HMC Polymers Company Limited for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant to be located in Map...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) said it has found a “promising” amount of petroleum at the M9 field in neighbouring Myanmar. It said the exploration well ZawtikaÐ1A was spudded on December 4 and drilled to a total depth of 3,567 meters, yielding a natural gas formation. Three flow...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited said it has completed and delivered 26 newbuilds and conversions totalling about S$2 billion, on time or ahead of time and within budget in 2006. (US$1=S$1.53). The company said its success reflects its excellent project execution in an exceptionally busy year. Tong Chong Heong,...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — China Certification and Inspection Company (CCIC) has set up a company in Singapore to provide inspection and certification services to the oil and petrochemical industries. The Beijing-headquartered company has named Edman Fernandez, formerly of Inspectorate as deputy general manager. CCIC has an extensive network of 37 domestic and 26 overseas subsidaries and more...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Taiwanese authorities have arrested three army officers suspected of involvement in the theft of military fuel. The officers and five civilians allegedly conspired to steal some 400,000 gallons of fuel from the Suao Harbor military base in eastern Taiwan. They gained access to the base while pretending to bid for...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Philippine police recently arrested eight men suspected of stealing oil products from trucks and oil depots. The suspects are part of an organised crime syndicate that was preying on oil depots in Batangas province. Police said the gang was caught while stealing oil from a delivery tanker owned by Pilipinas...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — There was no US$100 oil last year. It didn’t even breach US$80 a barrel in July when oil was at the height of its bull run from the torrent of headlines about geo-political conflicts, the approach of hurricane season in the US and BP’s shutdown of its giant Alaska crude oil...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Australia’s AGL Energy has confirmed that it has made a preliminary merger approach to Origin Energy with the view to forming an integrated energy major. AGL Energy managing director Paul Anthony said: “For some months we have been assessing and analysing the business benefits in putting the two entities together....
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, SPC Cambodia Ltd, and partners Thailand’s PTTEP International Limited (PTTEPI) and Resourceful Petroleum Limited (RPL), have jointly exercised their pre-emption rights to acquire the entire 10% participating interest in Block B belonging to CE Cambodia B Ltd. Block B is located...
(EnergyAsia, January 9) — The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that biomass-based industries in developing countries like the Philippines will create “a significant number of rural jobs”, stimulate economic activity in poverty-stricken areas and providing huge amount of electricity. The IFPRI said that biomass production is labour intensive even in industrialised countries...
(EnergyAsia, January 8) — The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has made a $50 million equity investment in PNOC Energy Development Corporation as part of the state-owned enterprise’s initial public offering on the Philippines Stock Exchange, which took place last month. The IFC said the investment supports...
(EnergyAsia, January 8) — Japan’s Sanyo Electric said it will expand the HIT solar photovoltaic cell production capacity at its Nishikinohama plant in Osaka and Shimane in response to the huge and growing demand for solar photovoltaic systems. Sanyo produces its HIT solar photovoltaic cells at two major locations in Nishikinohama and Shimane with...
(EnergyAsia, January 8) — Sixteen years ago, India was on the brink of financial collapse when the first Gulf War drove oil prices to then new highs of more than US$40 a barrel. The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell below US$1 billion — not enough to pay for a month’s worth of imports — while...
(EnergyAsia, January 8) — The Indian government plans to encourage coal production in 41 blocks in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh that are estimated to hold a total reserve of 16 billion tons. The coal ministry has invited private power firms and state companies to help develop the reserves. A total...
(EnergyAsia, January 8) — US-based Invensys Process Systems and Argentina’s INVAP S.E. said they have renewed an existing business agreement for an additional three years. They have agreed to continue to work together to provide mutual customers with comprehensive, world-class product and service solutions for the design, engineering, construction, control, protection and maintenance of nuclear facilities....