(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — – PT Indonesia Power has invested US$100 million to improve operations and expand three of its key hydropower plants in West Java. With the investment, the plants’ combined capacity will rise to 700 GWh from 500 GWh now. Indonesia Power’s overall capacity stands at 9,000 MW....
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — BG Group-owned Gujarat Gas Company Ltd (GGCL) is struggling to secure sufficient natural gas supplies to serve existing customers and feed planned new projects. Indian newspaper said the company’s sales volumes have fallen by a quarter to 2.8 million standard cubic metres in the first five months of the year,...
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — The massive earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people in China’s Sichuan province on May 12 may have claimed another victim. PetroChina has indicated it may not proceed with its plan to build a-50-billion-yuan refinery near the province’s main city of Chengdu. Early last year, PetroChina had agreed with provincial...
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — Australia-listed Mission Biofuels Limited has proposed to change its name to Mission NewEnergy Limited to reflect its diversification away from biofuels.| The company has called for a special general meeting to be held in Meeting Room 8 at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth, Western Australia,...
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler Ltd said its UK-headquartered subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, has been awarded an engineering and materials supply contract by Woodside for two gas turbine exhaust waste heat recovery units for the processing train at its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia. The two...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Oxford Princeton’s ‘The Synergies of Refining, Trading and Supply’ will be held in Singapore from August 18 to 21. This advanced course will provide delegates with a thorough understanding of the latest business techniques and refining technologies available to the oil supply, trading and refining business. It will show how (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — In a damning report entitled “False Hope”, environmental group Greenpeace has described carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a ‘scam’ operating on an unproven technology. Instead of pumping money into this false solution, the report said policymakers should invest in sustainable energy solutions to stop the climate crisis. It said (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Anglo Dutch Shell said it expects to make major investment in the Asia Pacific’s petrochemicals sector, said Shell Chemicals executive vice president Ben van Beurden. Describing this as the most exciting region for petrochemicals, he said rapid economic growth in very populous countries such as China and India is making (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The Indian government has announced plans to add 40,000MW of hydro power capacity by 2022. It has appointed expert teams to identify suitable sites, in particular in the northern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. Hydro-generated power is needed to make up for shortfalls in natural gas...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The government of Australia’s New South Wales state wants wind farms in the southern part of the state to power a desalination plant in Sydney. The desalination plant, currently under construction, will start supplying drinking water from late next year. Under a complex 20-year deal, the NSW government is working...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The Australian government is setting up an A$500 million Renewable Energy Fund (REF) as part of its plan to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% from 2000 levels by 2050. (US$1 = A$1.05). The fund was provided for in the country’s 2008-2009 budget. About 10% of the fund...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Australia’s solar industry has begun to retrench workers and reduce hiring following Canberra’s shock decision to cut back on its rebates programme for home solar panel installation. Under new rules announced last month without warning or consultation, a family making over A$100,000 per year no longer qualifies to claim the...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — New Zealand’s Contact Energy said it intends to recommission a 100MW gasfired generator unit at its mothballed New Plymouth power station in response to an electricity supply squeeze resulting from very low hydro lake storage levels and increasing winter power demand. The New Plymouth power station was closed last December...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Italian utility Enel and Japan’s Sharp said they have signed an agreement to form a strategic partnership in the photovoltaic sector. The Memorandum of Understanding provides for the two companies to carry out a detailed analysis for the construction in Italy of a plant for the integrated manufacture of photovoltaic...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — French major Total said it has made a “significant” discovery of gas and condensates in Block B about 50 km from the coast of Brunei in a water depth of 62 metres. Total, the operator with a 37.5% stake, said its partners are Shell (35%) and local companies (27.5%). With...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd (CSP), a subsidiary of Tano China Capital Management Inc, said it has ventured into the thin film solar cell market in China by partnering with ULVAC Inc of Japan. Tano is a private equity investment management company focusing on Chinese companies and industries while ULVAC (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — US-based power company AES Corporation said it has completed the sale of its interest in the AES Ekibastuz power plant and Maikuben coal mine in Kazakhstan to Kazakhmys PLC for a total of $1.1 billion. AES said it will also receive up to $381 million over a three-year period to (more…)
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The Australian government is spending heavily to set up an emissions trading system (ETS) within 18 months. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose first act on gaining power last year was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, has added another A$37 million to its A$2.8 billion climate change budget to set up...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — Australian resources company Woodside Petroleum wants China to pay more for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies that they had signed for under a long-term contract in 2003. Then, crude oil was hovering around US$30 a barrel, and natural gas producers struggled to find customers. Chinese state-owned CNOOC agreed to peg...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the industry is in crisis and will suffer “deep losses” this year on account of rising fuel cost. Meeting in Istanbul, the association announced it has revised its industry financial forecast for 2008 significantly downwards to a loss of US$2.3 billion. The forecast...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — High oil prices will slow down world trade and sharply boost inflation, posing a major threat to price stability and overseas manufacturing, according to a new report by CIBC World Markets. Low cost producer in China will lose their main competitive edge while manufacturers in North America, especially the US,...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — SunPower Corporation said it has completed the design and construction of a new 1.4-megawatt (MW) solar electric power plant project in Hampyeong, South Korea. SunPower worked with Korean energy company EnE System to complete the plant, which is owned by Hampyeong Solar Plus, and will generate 1.8 million kilowatt-hours per...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The World Bank said it has approved the financing of three projects to support China’s effort to improve the efficient use of energy and reduce polluting emissions from power plants in the country. The loans, totalling US$441 million and accounting for almost one third of World Bank lending planned for...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesay) — Australia’s Qantas Group has announced a range of cost saving measures including the cancellation of five per cent of available seat kilometres (ASKs) – the equivalent of grounding six aircraft – in response to continuing high fuel prices. CEO Geoff Dixon said Qantas’ fuel bill would increase by more than...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — State-owned Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Spain’s Iberdrola SA, the world’s 4th largest electricity company and a renewable energy leader. The two companies will commit to explore joint investment and development opportunities in power generation, renewables and upstream...