yuan to develop the country’s largest solar power project in the western province of Yunnan. (US$1=6.85 yuan). When completed by 2010, the wind farm will have two production units with a combined 166 megawatts (MW) at full capacity. The company expects to benefit from the recent sharp decline in raw material costs in the solar...

repealing legislation that would have required oil firms to sell fuels blended with biofuels. The government fears the blending requirement, passed by the previous Labour government, would have driven up pump prices. Also, there was no guarantee that the biofuel blend would be produced in an environmentally sustainable manner. The plan had called for the...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Construction on the new main stadium for the World Games 2009 in the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung will be complete by the end of this year. The sports arena will be Taiwan’s largest photovoltaic installation to date – fitted with solar modules manufactured by local company Lucky Power Technology Co...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) wants to attract international firms into the country to develop power plants that use water, wind and biomass as fuel. The bank has already signed an agreement with a Canadian company and is in talks with a UK firm to develop such projects....

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Chevron Philippines said it has allocated $20 million to invest in biofuels projects to comply with the country’s new law promoting the use of crop-based fuels. The investments will ensure that the company will be able to comply with the requirements of the Philippine Biofuels Act of 2006 which has...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Three Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI), Mitsubishi Materials Corp (MMC) and Mitsubishi Corp (MC), and France’s Areva have agreed to establish a joint company in the nuclear fuel fabrication business. The ownership split is as follows: MHI 35%, MMC 30%, Areva 30% and MC 5%. Starting with 550...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Confidence Petroleum India Ltd said it has taken control of two ethanol manufacturing companies with a combined capacity of 54,000 kilolitres per year. It did not disclose how much it paid for its complete takeover of Laxmi Nirmal Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd near Pune city, and the 80% share holding in...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Navajo Wind Energy Corp, a Atlanta, US-based renewable energy company, said it is negotiating to finalise the installation of a wind turbine equipment facility in China. It did not provide details except to state that the project will likely secure its viability “well into the future”. Navajo Wind Energy Inc...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — China Technology Development Group Corp (CTDC) and Qinghai New Energy Group Co Ltd (QNE) have agreed with the local government of Qinghai Haixi Mongolian-Tibetan autonomous region to build a 30MW on-grid solar power station in the Qaidam Basin of northwestern China. The $150 million project, described as the first in...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — The Australian government have released details of its 20% Renewable Energy Target and new ‘solar credits’ as part of the nation’s move to a low pollution future. Treasurer Wayne Swan, Minister for Climate Change Senator Penny Wong and Environment Peter Garrett jointly provided the details. “The Renewable Energy Target (RET)...

(EnergyAsia, January 7, Wednesday) — Taiwan’s Auria Solar said it has started production of thin-film silicon solar modules using Oerlikon Solar’s micromorph® technology. Due to intensive cooperation between the engineering and R&D teams of the two companies, Auria Solar said it has already produced its first micromorph® thin-film solar cell modules — less than four...

start up the region’s first biodiesel plant later this year. The plant will have the annual capacity to produce three million gallons of biodiesel from vegetable oils, inedible oils and biomass materials. The company said t will use only non-food feedstock. The biodiesel will be blended with conventional diesel and used as a motor fuel....

Lien Hwa (BOCLH) said it has been selected to supply Auria Solar in Tainan city a wide range of bulk and specialty gases for use in the manufacturing process of solar cells. BOCLH, a joint venture between The Linde Group, a leading global gases and engineering group, and Taiwan’s Lien Hwa Corp, will offer gases,...

government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) White Paper, including the start date of July 2010 and the strong support for “vulnerable households.” The company said it looks forward to the release of draft legislation and of details around supporting policy measures such as the expanded Renewable Energy Target and the development of a national energy...

efficient, low-emission small car at its, Elizabeth plant in South Australia state from the third quarter of 2010. In a joint announcement with the South Australian state government, the company said the move to produce the new, front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder car will support up to 1,200 jobs immediately. Design and engineering work will be undertaken at...

Trading GmbH have teamed up to establish Caspian Energy Company Ltd (CEC) in London. CEC will develop infrastructure including pipelines to link the vast gas resources of the Caspian region to Europe. The establishment of the equal joint venture company is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. The two parties said that new...

environmental markets designed to address climate change, despite the reluctance of some countries to accept forest carbon offsets, predicted environmental economics expert Ricardo Bayon. Speaking at a recent seminar for forestry professionals, he said: “Forest carbon has been ostracised by the world’s largest carbon markets – those in the European Union. But that will change.”...

insulated high voltage line (GIL) with a total tube length of 3.2 km for the Chinese hydropower plant “Jinping I” in the Liangshan Yi district of Sichuan province. Siemens is installing three three-phase GIL systems, each with a length of 350 meters, as a link between the machine transformers in the power plant cavern and...

uranium supplier to India since New Delhi reopened to doing nuclear business with the rest of the world in September. The contract paves the way for a Franco-Indian partnership in civil nuclear electricity generation. The agreement, signed at a ceremony in Mumbai last month, includes a commitment from Areva to the Indian Department of Atomic...

unlikely to recover after filing for protection under the country’s bankruptcy code last November. The company ran into trouble amid volatile corn prices, tight margins and the sharp build-up in US ethanol capacity over the last few years. VeraSun had entered into unfavourable derivative contracts that locked in peak corn prices, leaving the company liable...

opportunities in the growing wind power market. State-funded Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) recently invited international wind turbine manufacturers to a conference in Taipei to meet with local firms. Participants included Denmark-based Vesta’s, the world’s largest producer of wind power turbines, and India’s Suzlon. Even though oil prices have declined sharply in recent months,...

crisis has forced it to suspend work on its oil refining projects in Turkey and Georgia. KazMunaiGaz had been involved in projects at Ceyhan in Turkey and Batumi in Georgia. However, with the financial crisis continuing to deepen, the company has decided to focus its resources on expanding and upgrading its three domestic refineries. The...

climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, according to a study in the journal Conservation Biology. The study found that it would take at least 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost through forest conversion. If the original habitat was carbon-rich peatland, the...

develop 30 biomass power plants this and next year. The company said it has already built 19 biomass plants in rural parts of the country, and is aiming to bring onstream another 30 by end-2010. Each plant is capable of producing 30,000 kilowatts of power, and will use straw and agricultural waste as feedstock....