(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Indonesia’s PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk said it booked a record net profit of Rp380.8 billion last year, reversing a net loss of Rp43.1 billion in 2005, thanks to increased efficiency and net margin. Its 2006 Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) surged by 29.7% to Rp596.3 billion...
(EnergyAsia, April 12) — The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME), a joint venture between Dubai Holding’s Tatweer, and the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc (NYMEX), said its membership committee has given in-principle approval to 28 applicants to be members, with more being processed as the exchange prepares for launch on May 1. Seventeen of them...
(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Nasdaq-listed American Superconductor Corp (AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, said it has received its third multi-million-dollar wind energy system development contract from a Chinese company in recent months. AMSC said its wholly-owned Windtecª subsidiary will develop a portfolio of 2.5MW wind energy systems for Dongfang Steam Turbine Works Corporation (DTC)....
(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Mini hydropower operator Vidullanka which recently linked up a new two-MW plant to Sri Lanka’s national grid expects to boost electricity production by more than 66%. In a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the company said the plant in Batatota will boost its annual power generation to 20 gigawatthours (GWh)...
(EnergyAsia, April 12) — Indonesia’s state PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is seeking private investors to help build a 250MW hydropower plant in South Kalimantan in a bid to reduce its dependence on fuel oil as a power source. The project could cost as much as US$250 million, but PLN is confident it will...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Taiwan is close to passing a renewables bill which would include an energy tax. The bill is part of Taiwan’s efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, legislators serving on the Economics and Energy Committee are still negotiating with the Environmental Protection Administration to determine timelines and targets. Legislator recently visited...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said it will triple its production capacity in wind turbine generators from 400 MW per year now to 1,200 MW per year by March 31 2008 in response to strong demand, particularly in the US. To achieve this objective, MHI will invest four 4 billion...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Austria’s OMV Aktiengesellschaft said it has discovered and tested natural gas in an exploration well in the Latif block in Pakistan’s Northern Sindh province. This is an additional discovery in an area where OMV has discovered two major gas fields before, Miano and Sawan, which were brought on stream in 2001...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Work has started on the construction of a 150MW hydropower plant in Sri Lanka’s central hills, thanks largely to concessionary term funding from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The plant is expected to be ready by 2010 and will be connected to the national grid by 2010. Sri Lanka’s...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Singapore’s government has put forward a S$350 million plan aimed at making the island city state into a leader in the global clean energy industry while creating 7,000 jobs by 2015 and boosting the economy by S$1.7 billion a year. (US$1 = S$1.51). The plan, produced by the outlined by...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Uranium effortlessly sailed past the US$100 mark, leaping US$13 to close last week at yet another record price of US$113 per pound in the latest auction in the US. Strong global demand and production problems at key international mines caused the $18 price jump, the largest single increase in a...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Hainan provincial officials believe it could be selected to host China’s new oil storage facilities under the second phase of China’s stockpile programme. Although Beijing has not yet announced its decision, several sites including Zhanjiang and Maoming in Guangdong and Lanzhou in Gansu have been touted as possible second-tiered locations for...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said it has started up a solar power generation system at its Ohi Container Terminal Berth No.4 in Tokyo. The system is called the Tokyo International Container Terminal Solar Power Station. The individual PV arrays are located on the roofs of the terminal...
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — Australia’s Snowy Mountain hydro-electric project has been forced to use coal and hydrocarbon-based power to pump water to replenish the damn as a severe drought has left it short of water. The water is pumped up to the dam at night, and then released during the day to generate hydropower....
(EnergyAsia, April 11) — China’s energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.23% last year, the first annual decline since 2003, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. But the decline failed to meet the national target of a 20% reduction per unit of GDP set under the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10)....
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Climate change is starting to have “considerable impacts” on Australia’s marine life and marine ecosystems with flow-on implications for the community, according to a report for the Australian Government conducted by the state science and technology agency CSIRO. “Impacts of Climate Change on Australian Marine Life” is the first major study...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — JA Solar and Canadian Solar have signed a supply agreement valued at between US$50 million to US$60 million from April to December 2007. Under the agreement, JA Solar will supply solar cells to CSI for use in CSI’s solar modules. Initial deliveries will start immediately. Shawn Qu, CSI’s chairman and CEO,...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) —The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME), a joint venture between Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, and the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc (NYMEX), said it has received approvals for its services from Oman’s Capital Market Authority, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland and the New Zealand Securities Commission and a...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Private equity investment in the Middle East’s energy sector will have vast opportunities for growth, thanks to privatisation, market deregulation and growing energy demand in the region, said Adil Toubia, CEO of GCC Energy Fund. As one of the region’s leading private fund managers, Mr Toubia said opportunities abound for...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — IFC, the World Bank Group’s private arm, has agreed to help finance Pakistan’s Karachi Electric Supply Corp for the expansion of its electricity generation capacity and improvement to its transmission and distribution networks. IFC said its $125 million loan will support the company’s $809 million capital investment programme. Karachi city has...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited said its wholly-owned subsidiaries have secured new contracts worth S$280 million from repeat customers. (US$1=S$1.51). Prosafe Production Services Pte Ltd has awarded Keppel Shipyard, a contract to repair and convert a 276,000 dwt VLCC tanker, the M/T Navarin, into a gas floating production storage and...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — GT Solar Incorporated, a global leader in photovoltaic technologies and equipment, said it has signed a $49 million contract to sell polysilicon reactors to the Russian company, Nitol Group. GT Solar’s reactors and silicon tetrachloride converters will be installed at Nitol’s production facility in Irkutsk, Siberia. GT Solar President Tom...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Singapore-listed KS Energy Services Limited and its new Middle East joint venture partners Amwal Al Khaleej Investment Co and Maritime Industrial Services Co Ltd Inc (MIS) have commissioned MIS to construct a US$148 million Friede & Goldman Super M2 design offshore jackup drilling rig. The project marks KS Energy’s entry into...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Sri Lanka is looking to mass cultivate the oil-bearing jatropha plant on marginal state land as part of a programme to develop a viable biodiesel industry. The Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA) said it had identified about 10,000 hectars for growing the jatropha plant, which is known to grow on infertile...
(EnergyAsia, April 10) — Singapore’s SP Chemicals Ltd said it has signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the People’s Committee of Vietnam’s Phu Yen province to explore the possibility of building a petrochemical complex in the province. The company said its management recently conducted several exploratory trips to Vietnam to explore the feasibility of...