(EnergyAsia, July 12, Thursday) — Bunker fuel trader Henning Jensen has joined oil trading firm OceanConnect’s Scandivania operations. Mr Jensen worked for more than 20 years at OW Bunker and Trading, one of the largest bunker suppliers and traders worldwide. He was credited with having helped OW Bunker open new supply areas and expand the...
(EnergyAsia, July 12, Thursday) — The Philippines government has promised to accelerate the country’s biofuels programme to boost its energy self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on imported and increasingly costly fossil fuels. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said biofuels will provide the Philippines a clean, efficient and cheap energy source to meet the demands of the growing...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — Green Energy Technology Inc Ltd (GET), Taiwan’s largest producer of solar wafers, plans to manufacture thin film solar modules using ultra-large 5.7m2 glass panels. GET has awarded Applied Materials, (Nachrichten) Inc a contract to deliver a thin film solar module production line to its planned solar fab in TaoYuan city...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — International airlines remain wary about serving Sri Lanka following May’s deadly attacks by separatist forces on and near the country’s main airport in Colombo. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Dubai-based Emirates Airlines immediately suspended flights to Sri Lanka amid concerns over air safety following the attacks by Tamil Tiger separatist...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — Australia’s Origin Energy has welcomed Rio Tinto’s decision to expand its Yarwun alumina refinery at Gladstone. Origin’s chief operating officer Karen Moses said that as a result of this decision, Origin Energy and Rio Tinto Aluminium have entered into a gas supply agreement, which will see 470 PJ of coal...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — Increased demand for biofuels is causing fundamental changes to agricultural markets that could drive up world prices for many farm products, according to a joint report published by the OECD and FAO. The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2007-2016 says temporary factors such as droughts in wheat-growing regions and low stocks explain...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — China has banned fuel ethanol projects with immediate effect after getting a first hand taste of the raging food-vs-fuel debate. Domestic corn prices have risen sharply in response to biofuels demand, igniting fears of runaway inflation and social unrest among its poor. As is happening in other parts of the...
(EnergyAsia July 11, Wednesday) — Glitnir, Iceland’s leading financial services group, has signed a joint venture project with Sinopec’s CGC Overseas Construction Co Ltd (CGCOC) for the development of a residential compound in a prime location in the heart of Shenyang city, the capital of Liaoning province in northeast China. The development site covers 230,000...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — India’s power generation sector is finally attracting and admitting investment from private equity funds. Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC) International Growth Funds and UTI Ventures have become the first private funds to enter the sector, acquiring a total 30% stake in the Hyderabad-based Ind Barath Infra for Rs2.9 billion. (US$1=Rs41). CVC...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — Singapore-listed palm oil producer and refiner Wilmar International has denied accusations by several environmental groups that it is burning down Indonesia’s rainforests to cultivate the crop. Subsidiary PT Wilmar Sambas Plantation said it practises a “zero burning policy” after the environmentalists cited a report that accused the company of burning...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — Japan’s Sanyo Electric said it has set a world record 22% energy conversion efficiency for the crystalline silicon-type solar cells of at least 100 sq cm. The previous highest efficiency achieved for its proprietary HIT solar photovoltaic cells under laboratory conditions was 21.8%. The company said the results have been...
(EnergyAsia, July 11, Wednesday) — IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd, a member of the Informa Group, has acquired the business assets of HQ Link Pte Ltd, a leading exhibition organiser in Asia. From July 3, IIR Exhibitions doubled its portfolio in Asia by taking over three clusters of exhibitions currently produced by HQ Link. They include...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Singapore will become the first country in Southeast Asia to set up a S$120 million solar panel manufacturing plant using thin-film amorphous silicon technology in the fourth quarter. (US$1=S$1.52). The 10,000-sq m plant, utilising a fully automated manufacturing process with a final annual capacity of 60MW, is expected to employ...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — The World Bank has approved additional financing of US$40 million to strengthen the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to bring electricity to remote rural communities and promote private sector investments in power generation from renewable energy sources in urban areas. The primary goal of the first project was to bring electricity...
(EnergyAsia, July 10) — The Royal Dutch Shell Group said it plans to invest 15 billion pesos to upgrade its Tabangao oil refinery in Batangas province in order to comply with the Philippines’ Clean Air Act. (US$1=45 pesos). The act calls for the reduction of sulphur and aromatic content in oil products by 2010. Shell...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Kuwait said it will stick to its goal of raising crude oil production to four million b/d by 2020 after firing its oil minister last week. Sheik Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family who was forced to step down after months of intense pressure from lawmakers, was...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) have signed a two-year funding agreement for collaboration between CSIRO statisticians and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science. The project will investigate climate and rainfall linkages between China and Australia. “The objective...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Sri Lanka can expect more power failures in the coming years from lack of investment in its creaking infrastructure amid rising electricity demand. A failure in the transmission line triggered off an islandwide power failure in May. Power industry executives warn that there will be more to come. Supply to...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Africa holds only 10% of the world’s proven oil reserves and is not likely to replace the Middle East as an oil-producing region. Yet, its oil promise to many countries now scrambling for supplies is significant. The attraction of Africa’s oil is founded on an array of factors that seem...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is providing loans totaling $485 million to help develop Bangladesh’s power sector. Most of that will go towards projects to provide reliable electricity supply as part of an initiative to promote sustainable development in a country where nearly half the population remains poor....
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — For two hours every night, a 10-watt light bulb makes it possible for children to study in the night in a poor village in Bunog in the Philippines. Bunog is benefiting from a solar-powered battery system financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with resources provided by the Danish Cooperation...
(EnergyAsia, July 10, Tuesday) — Asia’s largest safe shipping event, ICOPCE 2007, will be held in Singapore on September 24-26. The event, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)’s biennial contribution to the shipping sector, will gather the industry’s leading professionals. They will deal with intelligence gathering on safe shipping trends and other key...
(EnergyAsia, July 9, Monday) — Ras Al Khaimah’s RAK Petroleum PCL has named industry veteran Peter Sadler as CEO. A petroleum engineer with a career spanning 25 years in staff roles and consultancy projects with companies such as UNOCAL, Shell and Exxon, Mr Sadler was formerly CEO of Indago Petroleum, the majority assets of which...
(EnergyAsia, July 9, Monday) — More than 142,000 households in Nepal will get long-awaited access to electricity thanks to the implementation of an important micro hydropower project for which an emission reductions purchase agreement (ERPA) was signed on June 29. This is the second greenhouse gas emission reduction project in Nepal, executed by the Alternative...
(EnergyAsia, July 9, Monday) — Germany produced twice as much solar energy as Japan last year, according to a study by the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies. The finding showed that Germany has widened its lead over Japan in solar power production after they swapped positions in 2005. The Japanese research group said Japan will...