(EnergyAsia, July 10, Friday) — Houston, US-based Mustang said its Australian affiliate of Mustang Engineering Pty Limited, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Fyfe Pty Ltd to jointly support coal seam gas or coalbed methane (CBM) projects. Mustang, a unit of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC, said Fyfe has significant expertise...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — Renault Samsung Motors said it is installing a 1.4 MW rooftop solar system at its new logistics centre in South Korea. The system is expected to be completed in September, supplying electricity to the company’s logistics facility in the county of Haman in South Gyeongsang province. Renault Samsung, South Korea’s...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — Shell has agreed to pay US$15.5 million and legal fees to settle a human rights abuse case involving its operations in Nigeria without admitting guilt. The company had been accused of “being complicit” in the execution of six human rights activists by Nigeria’s former military regime in 1995. One of...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — India’s Punjab states is planning to build 31 biomass power projects with a combined capacity of 338 megawatts (MW). Officials said the plants, to be implemented on a “build-operate-own” basis, are expected to start up by late 2010. State owned Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has allocated 21 of them,...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — International wind power turbine makers say they are facing barriers and protectionism in selling into China’s fast growing market. In a high-profile contract, no foreign company won orders for the Rudong wind farm, which is billed as the world’s largest. Well-known companies like Denmark’s Vestas, Spain’s Gamesa and India’s Suzlon,...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — The Australian government has approved the construction of 21 new wind power projects with the capacity to generate more than 1,550 MW of electricity. A total of 13 with a combined capacity of 428MW now are already in operation with the rest due to come on-stream by 2011. They will...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — An Indian industry education centre has become the country’s first to be accredited by Scotland’s OPITO – The Oil & Gas Academy to provide world class basic offshore safety induction and emergency training (BOSIET). Suraksha Marine has received approval to deliver three courses – BOSIET, Tropical BOSIET and H2S –...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — US major ExxonMobil said it is sponsoring an all-electric car-sharing and rental programme, called AltCar, at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore city in the US. The new electric vehicles, the Maya-300, are powered exclusively by enhanced lithium ion battery technology, and are among the first fleets of all-electric vehicles...

(EnergyAsia, July 9, Thursday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) and Mitsubishi Corp (MC) said they will participate in the building of a low-emission integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plant integrated with a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Australia. The Japanese firms said they have also received an order to...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — LG Display, a South Korean manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display technology, said it plans to focus its R&D capabilities on a thin-film type solar cell and nurture it as a future growth driver. LG Display plans to invest 50 billion won into R&D to build a pilot line...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — China has sealed another “loan-for-oil” deal, this time with Kazakhstan. China’s state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has agreed to grant a US$5 billion loan to Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz. At the same time, the Chinese government will lend an additional US$5 billion to state Development Bank of Kazakhstan for oil projects...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — Law firm Hebert Smith LLP said its Singapore, London and Jakarta offices and associated Indonesia firm Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung (HBT) advised client BP on the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, BP West Java Limited (BPWJ), to Indonesian state oil and gas company PT Pertamina for US$280 million, subject to...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — Texas, US-based Quadra Projects Inc said its wholly owned subsidiary, Quadra Energy Systems Inc, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India’s Econergy Solutions Pvt Ltd to create an equal joint venture to sell, license and develop the QES 2000S waste-to-energy system. Quadra added that a soon-to-be-owned company, e-nnova...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — Solar module glass supplier Beijing Hua Mei Dazheng Technology Co Ltd has signed an investment agreement to establish a production facility in the Changzhou Trina Photovoltaic Industrial Park. The agreement was signed with the Changzhou National High Tech District to build a production facility adjacent to Trina Solar’s manufacturing campus....

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — French engineering giant Technip said it has been awarded by Ningxia Hanas Natural Gas Company Ltd to build a mid-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant of 800,000 tons per year in Yinchuan, China. The lump-sum contract covers the engineering, supply of main equipment, procurement and construction management services for facilities...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — France’s Areva said its transmission and distribution (T&D) division, together with its Chinese joint venture partners, have launched two factories in Wuxi and Yangzhou in the province of Jiangsu. The two factories will produce key components for gas insulated substations (GIS) used in power transmission. The Wuxi alumin casting plant...

(EnergyAsia, July 8, Wednesday) — Asiatic Group (Holdings) Limited said it has secured a US$20 million financing facility through its subsidiary, Colben Energy Holdings(PPSEZ) Ltd (CEHZ), to support its power project in Cambodia. Through CEHZ, Asiatic said it will hold a direct stake of 49% in the operating company set up under the joint venture...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — The Australian government said it has released the final legislation for the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) to allow for the creation of new ‘solar credits’ to replace the existing Solar Homes and Communities Plan (SHCP) from last month. Solar credits will build on the largest ever investment in solar...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — Four Chinese solar energy firms, Yingli Green Energy, LDK Solar, China Sunergy and Trina Solar, have announced new supply deals with customers.   Yingli Green Energy said it has been selected by SDIC Huajing Power Holding Co, a subsidiary of the State Development and Investment Corp, to supply PV modules...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it will be offering a new financial assistance scheme for bunker surveying companies. Announced by MPA chief executive Lam Yi Yong, the scheme would grant bunker surveying companies a one-time 30% financial relief on the assessment fee when they attain their...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), a leader in offshore rigs, ship repair and conversion and specialised shipbuilding, said it has secured contracts worth S$30 million through its overseas subsidiaries for the upgrading and repair of three semisubmersibles. (US$1=S$1.45). Subsidiary Keppel Verolme of the Netherlands recently signed a...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — India’s wind power industry wants New Delhi to set a long-term national policy for the sector to ensure its profitability and growth. The policy would lay down measures ensuring the sale of wind-generated electricity at affordable prices throughout the country, said the Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA). In particular, it...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) —Korea Gas Corp, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, has agreed to import two million tons a year or up to 40% of the output of Canada’s Kitimat LNG Inc for 20 years. The deal could be worth more than US$20 billion over 20 years of operation. Calgary, Alberta-based Kitimat...

(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — Integrated Subsea Services (ISS), a leading provider of diving, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and survey services in the world, said it has expanded its Southeast Asian presence with a new office in Singapore and an acquisition in Australia. The Aberdeen, Scotland-headquartered diving support services business, whose turnover now exceeds £100...