(EnergyAsia, February 15) — India will focus on developing the contribution of hydro-electric and nuclear energy in its power generation mix as it seeks to reduce dependence on oil, gas and coal. Over the next few years, power generation capacity will go up to 800,000 megawatts (MW) from around 130,000 MW. It would...
(EnergyAsia, February 15) — Russia has agreed to build four nuclear reactors in India following President Putin’s visit to New Delhi last month. The two countries signed a letter of intent for the construction of four reactors at India’s Kundankulam nuclear power complex on the Indian Ocean where Russia is already building two 1,000...
(EnergyAsia, February 15) — Qatar’s SEEF Ltd officially inaugurated its US$300 million linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant in Mesaieed this week. The plant is situated adjacent to the Qatar Petroleum (QP) refinery in the industrial area of Mesaieed, about 40 km from Doha. Its proximity to the refinery will enable it to be supplied...
(EnergyAsia, February 15) — US energy consultant Purvin & Gertz has released its World LPG Market Outlook study giving an in-depth analysis of the world and regional LPG markets within a framework of world energy and economic activity. The supply outlook is based on expected production levels of crude oil, natural gas, LNG and refining...
(EnergyAsia, Feburary 15) — PT Wood Group Indonesia, a unit of UK’s John Wood Group PLC, has been awarded a three-year contract by Star Energy to provide a maintenance management system and technical services for the Kakap oilfield. Wood Group will be responsible for setting up an integrated maintenance management system for the four-platform...
(EnergyAsia, February 15) — China Aviation Oil Holding Company (CAOHC) has named Sun Li as general manager, replacing Jia Changbin who has been fired for his role in the trading scandal of the company’s subsidiary in Singapore in 2004. China Aviation Oil Singapore Corp lost more than US$550 million as a result of rogue trades...
(EnergyAsia, February 15) — IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has approved its first loan under the IFC China Utility-Based Energy Efficiency Program. Industrial Bank, the CHUEE programme’s initial banking partner, will disburse its first energy efficiency loan to Shandong Dongying Shengdong Machinery Company Limited, which will use the RMB16 million...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — The Indian government has awarded Australian upstream Santos two offshore deepwater exploration licences in the Bay of Bengal, with a commitment to an eight-year US$70 million work programme. Santos said its subsidiary, Santos International Operations Pty Ltd, has been awarded a 100% working interest and operatorship of blocks NEC-DWN-2004/1 and...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bagged Rs39 billion worth of orders for the supply and installation of the main plant at two power stations in India’s Maharashtra state. (US$1=Rs44). The orders involve three plants units of 500 MW capacity each. The orders have been placed by Maharashtra State Power...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — The Shanghai Environment Group and Shanghai Huadian Electric Power Development Co Ltd have agreed to jointly invest RMB800 million in building a 22.5MW wind farm on a coastal landfill area in Shanghai city facing the East China Sea. (US$1=RMB7.8). The joint venture firm, Shanghai Huagang Wind Power Generation Co, will invest...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — Vietnam’s Central Highlands will be fed by a new 34MW hydropower plant by mid-2009. Construction of the Da Dang plant No 2 in Duc Trong district in Lam Dong province began last week. The plant’s two turbines, backed by a 39.8-ha reservoir, can produce over 152 million kWh of electricity...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — In a surprise move, the US has climbed above Spain to become the world’s most attractive market for renewable energy investment, said Ernst & Young. The US now leads the consultant’s All Renewables Index, reflecting the significant growth opportunities in the wind sector. Higher targets for emissions in California, and...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — Malaysia’s Pioneer Bio Industries Corp said it is investigating the possibility of producing ethanol from the nipah palm tree which grows abundantly in mangrove swamps. The company said it will build the plant in Perak state that will use the sap of the nipah palm tree, making it the world’s...
(EnergyAsia, February 6) — Australia’s hydroelectricity output has been drastically reduced as a result of an on-going severe nationwide drought. A hydro-electric power plant in Victoria state had to be shut down recently while another experienced an output cut due to low water levels. The AGL Dartmouth unit on the Mitta Mitta river...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — The dramatic surge in crude and non-conventional oil supply that many analysts had been forecasting for 2007 seems unlikely to materialise in the Americas, said US commodities broker FIMAT. Instead, it warns that the Western hemisphere faces the threat of a significant contraction in oil production. Over the last few...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — Woodside Energy (Korea) Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd, has agreed with the Korea National Oil Corporation and the government of South Korea to acquire 50% equity in a concession over a deep-water, frontier exploration block off the coast of South Korea. The contract over...
(EnergyAsia, February 14) — The Indian government said it is preparing to unveil its mitigation programme to deal with the impacts of climate change. The policy move was made in separate announcements by P.S. Goel, the Secretary for the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and T. Ramasami, the Secretary for the Department of Science and Technology...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — Two wireless Internet shops, powered by the sun, opened for business in Wellingara city in the African nation of Gambia last month. Known as Next-door Internet, Communication and Energy Service (NICE) shops, these multi-services outlets could provide an affordable range of services for many low-income people in Africa and Asia. ...
(EnergyAsia, February 12) — Japan’s Sharp Corp said it plans to double its annual production capacity for solar photovoltaic modules to 220MW at its manufacturing base at Wrexham in Wales this year. Subsidiary SUKM is the company’s second international base for producing solar modules after the US. It started up in mid-2004 with an annual capacity...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — ABB, the Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, has agreed to sell its stakes in two independent power projects to Taqa, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, for US$490 million. ABB said the assets are part of its equity ventures unit, now deemed among the company’s non-core activities. The sale...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — Guohua Energy Investment Co Ltd, the clean energy subsidiary of the Shenhua Group, will build a 200MW wind power plant in Chicheng county in Hebei Province. The RMB 1.6 billion plant will be built in four phases starting this year and completed by end-2009. Last November, Guohua Energy also announced that...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — The Chinese government is planning to set up a clean energy fund and a global carbon credit trading exchange with the help of the World Bank and Europe this year. Income from carbon credit transactions and donations from international financial organisations and individuals will go into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — In the most authoritative and comprehensive finding to date, 2,500 scientists with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have provided the strongest evidence yet that human activities are causing climate change, and that its impact will be unstoppable. There will be an increase in the number of hotter...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — Denmark’s Maersk Contractors has been awarded a drilling contract by Woodside Energy Ltd. for lease of a deepwater development semi-submersible to operate in Australia. The three-year contract will start when the rig arrives in Australia in the second quarter of 2009. The rig is the second in a series of three...
(EnergyAsia, February 13) — American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a Nasdaq-listed energy technologies company, said it has received an order from Suzlon Energy Australia Pty Ltd (SEA) for a Dynamic VAR (D-VAR) system for the Hallett Wind Farm in Australia. When completed, the 94.5MW project, owned by AGL Energy, will be one of Australia’s largest...