(EnergyAsia, July 7, Tuesday) — Australia’s leading scientific research agency CSIRO said it is working on a new A$14 million research initiative to identify “practical” ways for South East Queensland (SEQ) state to respond to the impacts of climate change. (US$1=A$1.25). The three-year project will develop new, local-scale climate change projections and vulnerability assessments to...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — France’s Areva said its transmission and distribution division has won an order worth over 80-million euro from Kepco, the South Korean utility, to supply the converter stations for a 400MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) bipole scheme linking Jeju Island with the mainland. (US$1=0.7 euro). The converter stations will transform...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — Philippine power firm SPC Power Corp plans to build a wind farm and hydro power project on the Visayas Islands. Each of the facilities would have a capacity of just below 100 megawatts (MW). SPC did not disclose how much it would invest in the project, but analysts said they...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — The Philippines government is targeting to attract US$10 billion worth of investments in renewable energy over the next 10 years. Officials said they are preparing to enact more laws that would provide incentives for investors to venture into the renewable energy sector. If everything goes to plan, the government expects...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — A planned massive NS$1 billion wind farm project in Waikato in New Zealand has run into opposition from local land owners. (US$1 = NZ$1.57). The land owners have banded together and are looking at legal options to stop the project from being implemented by power company Contact Energy. Residents said...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — China said its wind power capacity will exceed 30,000 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2010, up sharply from the current level of 12,000 MW. According to the National Energy Administration (NEA), wind power accounts for 2% of the country’s total power generation capacity. With more than 200 wind power...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — Saudi Aramco and US integrated oil firm ConocoPhillips said they have relaunched the bidding process for the construction of their planned 400,000 b/d export refinery at the Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. The full-conversion refinery is being designed to process Arabian heavy crude supplied by Saudi Aramco. It will...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — China’s Yingli Green Energy said it has secured an off-grid PV system sales agreement with the Shanxi subsidiary of China Mobile, and a contract to supply PV modules for Huawei Technologies’ base stations. China Mobile, the largest mobile telecommunications operator in China, is building a video monitoring system for forest...
(EnergyAsia, July 6, Monday) — Development models emphasising low carbon emissions, saving energy and greater investment in energy infrastructures are gaining acceptance around the Asia-Pacific region and may lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, said experts at a recent meeting co-organised by the United Nations. The...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said it will help the Commercial Bank of Ceylon (CBC) evaluate and finance renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka in an initiative that promises to yield environmental and economic rewards. IFC is extending a $15 million equivalent risk-sharing facility to CBC to...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — The Philippines’ Antique province is set to get two biomass power plants to increase the region’s power supply. Asea One Power Corp, the project developer, said each plant will have a capacity of six megawatts (MW) and will use rice straws, rice husks, bagasse and sugar cane as feedstock. The...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — Local authorities in the Philippines’ Quezon province are planning to develop an 11-megawatt (MW) biomass power plant. They are expected to launch a feasibility study within two months. The plant’s feedstock will come from local farmers, who will supply coconut twigs, dead trees and branches, yard clippings and wood chips...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — Norway has agreed to help Nepal develop its vast hydro power resources. Under a broad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Norway has committed to help reform the Himalayan state’s primary education system in rural areas as well as provide programme aid and financial support. The cooperation between the two countries could...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — The following is an edited version of a commentary by the Earth Policy Institute’s Lester R. Brown. “Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — The World Bank’s IFC, Habib Bank, and Citibank said they have jointly executed a trade finance transaction to help import equipment for a new power generation plant to help reduce Pakistan’s power shortage. IFC and Citi worked together to provide coverage of up to 73 million euro for Hub Power...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — The World Bank said it has approved a US$180 million loan to the Indian government to upgrade and modernise old, inefficient and polluting coal-fired power plants. The project, which is expected to lower carbon emissions and boost power production at these plants, is co-financed with a US$45.4 million grant from...
(EnergyAsia, July 3, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said its board has approved a new energy policy to help Asia Pacific countries secure adequate energy supplies while cutting levels of greenhouse gas emissions. ADB said its investments in the sector will focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, along with expanding access...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — Pakistan’s first wind power plant, built with the help of Turkey, has been generating electricity for nearly three months now. The US$100 million plant in Jhimpir, located near Karachi city, has an initial capacity of six megawatts (MW) that could be gradually expanded to 50 MW. In its current first...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — India’s state-run oil firm Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) said it plans to invest Rs6.2 billion to boost the capacity of two previously closed sugar mill projects to make ethanol. (US$1=Rs47). The plants in Bihar state have a combined capacity to produce 60 kilolitres of ethanol per day that help...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — China’s wind power capacity is on track to rise sharply to 30,000 megawatts (MW) next year from 12,000 MW now. To achieve this target, China expects to invest almost RMB100 billion on new projects. (US$1=RMB6.83). China has been aggressively promoting wind power, viewing it as one of the most viable...
(EnergyAsia, July, 2, Thursday) — The Chinese government is planning to offer preferential tariffs for power generating companies that use solar energy to produce electricity. Producers would get about US 16 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) for solar power supplied into the grid. The comparable tariff for coal-based power is only 4 cents per kwh....
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — Australia’s Investec Bank is financing an A$250 million project to tap wave energy. (US$1=A$1.25). The project, led by Carnegie Corporation in Western Australia, aims to harness the power of the ocean to generate electricity without producing greenhouse gases. Wave energy is used to pump water from the seabed through pipelines...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — Crude oil prices surged to an eight-month high of well above US$73 a barrel yesterday as bullish sentiments continue to flow through the markets. Several factors have been at work in recent months to rescue prices from their low point in the mid-$30s early in the year. The International Energy...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — BP and Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina have completed two deals involving a production sharing contract and the development of coalbed methane. BP said it has sold off its wholly-owned subsidiary, BP West Java Limited (BPWJ), to Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina for $280 million. The...
(EnergyAsia, July 2, Thursday) — China’s Huaneng Power International, Inc said it has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission to build a second wind power plant in Gansu province. Huaneng said it will finance a third of the proposed RMB2.037 billion cost for building the 199.5MW Gansu Ganhekou Second Wind Power Project....