(EnergyAsia, September 5, Friday) — The Bosch Group, a leading German global supplier of technology and services, has set up its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters for Research and Advance Engineering in Singapore. The ‘Research and Technology Center Asia-Pacific’ (RTC-AP) is headed by Christoph Treutler, who will be supported by about 30 associates, most of them research...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Friday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Energy Division in the Prime Minister’s Office (EDPMO) to jointly carry out a large-scale PV demonstration project in Brunei Darussalam. As part of the project, a 1.2MW PV system will be installed at the Seria Power Station...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Friday) — With its most recent major projects in Spain and South Korea, the Conergy Group has now sold more than one gigawatts of renewable energy capacity since it was founded more than 10 years ago. The energy provided would power the equivalent of 434,285 homes or more than 1.7 million people,...

(EnergyAsia, September 5, Friday) — The Tata Power Company Limited, India’s largest integrated private power company, recently announced a partnership with the Bhutan government to develop a 114 MW run-of-the-river hydro electric power project in Bhutan. The project, to be built over the River Dagachhu, will be executed by a special purpose vehicle, Dagachhu Hydro...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Adding to its worsening oil and power shortages, Pakistan could face a natural gas supply crisis as early as January 2009. The gas shortfall could exceed 1 billion cubic feet per day by then, said government officials. January’s demand is estimated at some 4.1 billion cfd, compared with the projected...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Cambodia is hoping that its recent discovery of around two billion barrels of offshore oil will help it climb out of poverty. Tragically, however, Cambodia, with its weak institutions, may fall prey to the much noted “resource curse” in which a few corrupt and powerful officials take advantage of the...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — UK’s Rolls Wood Group (Repair & Overhauls) Ltd (RWG), an equal joint venture between Rolls-Royce plc and John Wood Group PLC, has formed a new joint venture with Malaysia’s OTEC Kemajuan Sdn Bhd. The joint venture was created in support of a contract to service the needs of Malaysia’s state...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) –– Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corporation said it will soon begin shipping four small photovoltaic (PV) modules for use in stand-alone solar power generation systems to places lacking electrification infrastructure. Shipment will begin on October 1. Mitsubishi Electric said about 1.6 billion people, mostly in Asia and Africa, do not have access...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — China’s Suntech Power said it has signed new supply agreements to purchase from GCL Silicon 9,420 metri tonnes of polysilicon and 1.1 GW of silicon wafers from 2008 to 2012. Including this deal, Suntech has now secured a total of 1GW of silicon for 2009. “These agreements with GCL Silicon...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to expand the country’s power generation capacity by 10,000 megawatt by 2011. The expansion, equivalent to around 30% of current capacity, is aimed at helping the country meet rising electricity demand as well as overcome frequent power blackouts. Indonesia’s power producers have been...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Papua New Guinea will draw up a detailed plan to improve power supply in the country where 90% of the population still has no electricity, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Japan Special Fund, administered by the ADB, is providing a $1.2 million grant for Papua New Guinea to...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — South Korea’s largest refiner, SK Energy Co Ltd, has signed an agreement with Shell Global Solutions BV to license two technologies to raise capacity and quality at its refinery. The technologies will be used in a visbreaker to process 40,000 barrels per stream day of feedstock and a coker naphtha...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power Co has announced plans to invest up to 3 billion yen in a new 3MW solar energy-powered plant in the western Fukuoka province. (US$1=105 yen). The Fukuoka company said it will begin construction of the plant in Omuta city also in Fukuoka sometime next year....

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Oil consumption in the developed economies is expected to drop 1.3% this year, the largest decline in 25 years, said the International Energy Agency. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is projected to come in at 48.6 million b/d this year, down from 49.2 million b/d in 2007,...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Energy-hungry Europe may be forced to distance itself from the US and soften its stance towards Iran in an attempt to reduce dependence on Russia for its oil and gas supplies. The West has been trying to present a united front to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear energy programme,...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — China is believed to have paid record prices in recent spot market deals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt. Several cargoes changed hands for between US$$15.35 and $15.50 per million Btu, far higher than the estimated US$2.50 and US$3.15 per million Btu China is paying...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — An unlikely dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over a contested border area could set back the development of offshore oil and discoveries which have been dubbed “the best unexplored acreage left in Southeast Asia.” The dispute flared up over a little known temple in Preah Vihear after it was listed...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Unresolved border issues continue to pose as a source of irritation between East Asian countries that occasionally threaten to flare into conflicts between neighbouring countries. Many of the disputes involve claims that are centuries old, and are difficult to prove and settle under international law. The stage is set for...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — In its escalating row with the West, Russia has raised the stakes by ordering the completion of a pipeline to deliver crude oil to Asia. The order by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week was a clear cut warning to the European Union that Moscow can easily divert oil and...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a NYSE-listed vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said it has signed an agreement with the local government of a county in Beijing to build a 10 MW solar power plant. Yingli said a wholly-owned subsidiary and an entity controlled by the county government...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — China’s Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd said it has entered into a letter-of-intent for a three-year supply agreement with Q-Cells International, a 100% subsidiary of Germany’s Q-Cells AG. Nasdaq-listed Solarfun is an established vertically-integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots and photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules in China. Q-Cells is the world’s...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Belgium’s GDF SUEZ Energy International said it has won the contract to build, own and operate the Al Dur 1 power generation and seawater desalination plant in Bahrain. As a a major independent power and water project in Bahrain, Al Dur 1 is a greenfield, natural gas-fired installation that will...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Amtech Systems Inc, a supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors and silicon wafers, said its solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems Inc, has received a $7.5 million follow-on solar order for its diffusion processing systems from a customer in Asia. J.S. Whang,...