(EnergyAsia, March 6, Friday) — The Middle East is not likely to make much progress in advancing solar energy technology as governments have reined in their R & D spending and investment in renewable energy. Analysts said it would take at least five year before meaningful progress would be achieved in the region. Currently, the...
(EnergyAsia, March 6, Friday) — TUV Rheinland said it is offering testing services and design qualification for the IEC 61646 thin film terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) modules at its new competence centre in Yokohama in Japan. The new service complements both the PV outdoor testing facilities and the crystalline PV module competence centre already in place...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will fund a pilot project to help cities in the region develop transport systems that are better for the environment and affordable to the poor. ADB will provide a project preparatory technical assistance grant of US$2.8 million to fund studies for sustainable urban...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — UK-based Argus said it is the only global energy media to offer daily price assessments for Vietnam’s Sutu Den (Black Lion) crude oil. Sutu Den is likely to become Vietnam’s flagship grade this year, with exports projected to exceed 100,000 b/d in 2009 following a boost to production from the...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — US conglomerate GE will be an anchor partner in Abu Dhabi’s ‘zero-waste’ Masdar city. In a joint statement, GE and Masdar said they will develop a new Ecomagination Centre focused on sustainable business solutions and form a broader R&D relationship that will support the development and deployment of new and...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — Japan’s Sanyo Electric said it will increase production capacity for HIT solar cells by building new production facilities at its Nishikinohama factory in Osaka’s Kaizuka city. The factory currently produces Sanyo’s proprietary HIT solar cells for export to meet rising demand for solar power generation equipment. Construction of the 260MW...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — Sembcorp Industries, a Singapore-listed utilities and marine group, said its 2008 after-tax profit excluding a tax write-back rose 6% to S$507 million from 2007’s S$478 million. (US$1=S$1.55). The write-back of S$48 million was recorded in 2007. Sembcorp said its revenues surged 15% to S$9.9 billion, while its return on equity...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — The Australian government has launched an A$435 million fund to boost renewable energy projects. (US$1=A$1.55). The fund is aimed at promoting the production and use of solar, wind and other renewable technology. Australia has set a long-term target to generate 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. However,...
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — Oil companies in resource-rich nations increasingly realise they must win over investors and focus on national development to deal with the global financial downturn, said non-government organisation (NGO) Revenue Watch Institute. At last month’s global conference of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Qatar, companies voiced anxiety about losing (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 5, Thursday) — ‘Biofuels: Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Sustainable Development’ by David M. Mousdale. Focusing on these areas where technology meets the marketplace, the book discusses different types of biofuels, the science behind their production, the economics of their introduction to the marketplace, their environmental impacts and their implications for world agriculture. It also (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — Taiwanese cell manufacturer Tainergy Tech said it has signed a new solar cell supply agreement with Solarday SpA, a solar module supplier in Italy. This is the second deal Solarday has awarded Tainergy. Building on their successful relationship established in 2008, Solarday said it decided to expand its solar cell (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — The ‘2nd Annual Transmission and Distribution Asia Congress 2009’ will be held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore from March 30 to April 2. The conference will address current regulatory developments, cross border transmission opportunities, the impact of renewable energy on current grid system, and the effectiveness of (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — International energy futures and commodities exchange Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) and CME Group, the world’s largest and most diverse derivatives exchange, said they recently completed the migration of DME’s contracts to the CME Globex® electronic trading platform. The transition enables the world’s three crude oil benchmarks – WTI, Brent and...
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — UK energy media group Argus said it has launched daily price assessments for Malaysian crude grades Kikeh and Labuan. Starting March 2, the new assessments are included in Argus Crude – a widely used market report providing daily information on the global crude markets. Kikeh is a light sweet crude...
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) —Suzlon Energy Limited, India’s leading wind turbine manufacturer, said it has established the first wind farm site to utilise solar energy to power site operations in Adwadi, Nasik. As most wind farms are located in remote and often underdeveloped regions, small back-up diesel generators are sometimes needed for basic requirements at...
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — The government of India’s Orissa state said it is planning to sign MoUs with the National Hydro Power Corp (NHPC) to set up 12 medium- sized hydro power projects worth a total of Rs 100 billion. (US$1=Rs51). Orissa’s energy minister, Surjya Narayan Patro, said the new plants to be sited...
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — MF Global Ltd, a NYSE-listed intermediary of global cash, derivatives and related markets, said it has expanded its over-the-counter energy brokerage in Singapore as well as its equity derivatives team in Hong Kong. Mikal Boe, formerly with Imarex, is head of MF Global’s commodities unit including energy. The company said...
(EnergyAsia, March 4, Wednesday) — Chinese state oil firm CNOOC said it expects to start up a 60,000-tonn-per-year jatropha-powered biodiesel plant on Hainan island in May. Scientists will use the plant to conduct research to develop commercially viable biodiesel. CNOOC has also set aside land to develop jatropha seed and plant the crop in several...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corp said it has improved its world’s highest conversion efficiency rate for a 150 x 150 millimeter practical-size multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell by 0.3 points from 18.6% to achieve a new world record of 18.9%. The efficiency is measured in terms of solar light energy converted...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — US energy research firm Energy Security Analysis Inc (ESAI) has predicted that there will be a “substantial increase” in the gasoline crack in the coming six months, much higher than the negative margins seen at the end of 2008. The culprit is zealous refining run cuts in the face of...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has started construction work on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Shenzhen port in southern China. The project is a venture between CNPC and partners CLP Holdings Limited and Shenzhen Gas Corp. CNPC has a 51% majority stake while its partners...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — China has started construction work at the eastern section of its second major West-East gas pipeline. The work got underway in Shenzhen City in Guangdong province where the eastern segment of the line will end. Work on the western section started last year. Comprising one trunk line and eight sub-lines,...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — China wants a stake in Indonesia’s Natuna D-Alpha natural gas block in exchange for agreeing to pay a higher price than previously agreed for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it is importing from the Tangguh project in Papua province. Indonesia has been trying to renegotiate a 25-year LNG supply contract...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — Golar LNG Ltd said it has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Australia’s Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (LNG Ltd) covering the joint development of a US$500 million project to produce LNG from coal seam gas (CSG) in the Australian port of Gladstone. The agreement formalises Golar’s participation in the...
(EnergyAsia, March 3, Tuesday) — SunPower Corp said it has completed construction on a 305-kilowatt solar power system atop the roof of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory state. Invest North Pty Ltd is the owner of the project, which said to be the largest roof-mounted solar power system in...