(EnergyAsia, January 7 2010, Thursday) — American Superconductor Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed global power technologies company, said it has received a follow-on order for $10 million worth of wind turbine core electrical components from China’s CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co Ltd (CSR-ZELRI). CSR-ZELRI will use the components in the 1.65 megawatt (MW) wind turbines...
(EnergyAsia, January 6 2010, Wednesday) — China’s small hydro power generation capacity is expected to rise from 51 gigawatts (GW) in 2008 to 75 GW by 2020 according to the government’s medium- and long-term renewable energy plan. The planned increase will help reduce China’s reliance on coal for power generation. Planners estimate the new hydropower...
(EnergyAsia, January 6 2010, Wednesday) — China’s ties with the US, not Islamic fundamentalism, the war on terror, the global financial crisis or even Iran, will pose as the world’s biggest political risk this year, said US think tank Eurasia Group. In a note giving its top 10 risks, Eurasia’s President Ian Bremmer and head...
(EnergyAsia, January 6 2010, Wednesday) — Japan’s Kyocera Corporation said it will provide approximately 13 MW of solar modules for the Ohgishima Solar Power Plant planned by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Contractor Hitachi Ltd is scheduled to complete the plant in 2011, making it one of the largest in Japan, providing electricity for approximately...
(EnergyAsia, January 6, Wednesday) — China will account for more than 35% of the Asia-Pacific region’s oil and gas consumption by 2014, according to the latest China Oil and Gas Report published by Researchandmarkets. The report also predicts China will provide 45.5% of the region’s oil and gas output. Consumption of crude oil in Asia...
(EnergyAsia, January 6 2010, Wednesday) — China has beaten Europe to secure natural gas supplies from Central Asia through its newly launched pipeline to the main fields of Turkmenistan. More than 8,000 Chinese engineers and workers took 27 months to complete the 1,833-km pipeline that passes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on its way to Xinjiang...
(EnergyAsia, January 6 2010, Wednesday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has affirmed its support for wind power as a reliable and carbon emission-free source of electricity, and is providing grants to expand its use throughout remote communities in Asia. The ADB said that technical assistance grants totalling $3.87 million from its concessional funds for...
(EnergyAsia, January 5, Tuesday) — What was once considered a pipe-dream could become reality, writes Ben Lando of Oilprice.com. After decades of dictatorship, war and international sanctions, Iraq’s massive oil reserves are set to be tapped proper and the country once known for two overflowing rivers could be crowned oil king. If the seven oil...
(EnergyAsia, January 5, Tuesday) — Chinese state companies are expected to increase their involvement in the oil sectors of Iran and Sudan after having agreed to expand and upgrade their refineries. In November, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s largest refiner, signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution...
(EnergyAsia, January 5 2010, Tuesday) — Vestas, Denmark’s wind energy company, said it has received an order from China Datang Renewable Power Co Ltd for 49 MW of its V60-850 kW turbine, designed specifically for the Chinese market and featuring Vestas’ latest technological innovations. This first order for 58 units of the turbines will be...
(EnergyAsia, January 5 2010, Tuesday) — Japan’s Kyocera Corporation said it has supplied roughly 190,000 solar modules, equivalent to approximately 39 megawatts (MW), for two newly completed large-scale solar power plants in Spain. Kyocera said it supplied high-efficiency multicrystalline solar modules to Avanzalia, a renewable energy company building large-scale solar power plants in Spain. Recently,...
(EnergyAsia, January 5 2010, Tuesday) — Russia expects its fast-growing natural gas exports to China to reach about one-third the volume of its sales to Europe. While sales to China only started recently, Russian gas giant Gazprom which controls gas exports said it expects the volume to grow rapidly. Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation...
(EnergyAsia, January 5, Tuesday) — China will remain the prime-mover of global oil and gas demand over the next few years, according to experts. China’s ability to move the energy markets was shown last year when its purchases enabled oil prices to rebound sharply from around $35 per barrel at the start of 2009 to...
(EnergyAsia, January 5 2010, Tuesday) –– The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) have signed an agreement to work on measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement, signed by FAO Director-General, Jacques Diouf and INPE head, Gilberto Câmara last month, lays the groundwork for a major...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a proposal to extend a guarantee for a 13-year syndicated loan worth $342 million to state-owned Vietnam Electricity, which will be used to fund urgent transmission and distribution improvements needed to meet rising power demand. This is ADB’s third guarantee operation in...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — UK’s Proserv Offshore said it has won a subsea cutting contract from SapuraAcergy to decommission the massive Iwaki Platform jacket off the northeast coast of Japan. Proserv added that it has successfully conducted the Asia Pacific region’s first high-load compression cuts involving more than 400 tons of compression. Located...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — The modern economic system cannot continue operating at its present scale for a few more decades on account of tightening energy constraints, even with inputs from renewable and alternative sources, according to a new joint study by two prominent California-based environmental think tanks. The study concluded that industries and...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — Suniva, a US manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells and supplier of Suniva-branded solar modules, said it has completed its collaborative project with Titan Energy Systems to create one of India’s first large-scale projects in Jamuria in West Bengal state. Suniva said its cells power the 1MW solar...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — China has outbid US for 10 cargoes or around five million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar this year. Qatar, which expects to raise its LNG production capacity to 77 million tonnes per year by September, revealed that it is diverting just under 10% of its total...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — The Canadian government has approved Petrochina International Investment Company Limited’s purchase of a 60% stake in Calgary-based Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation (AOSC) for C$1.9 billion. (US$1=C$1.05). Industry Minister Tony Clement said he approved the deal after PetroChina and its parent company, PetroChina Company Limited, had agreed to make a...
(EnergyAsia, January 4 2010, Monday) — The Australian government has welcomed the announcement of the first grants worth A$11.1 million under the Australian Solar Institute’s (ASI) competitive solar energy grants programme. (US$1=A$1). The ASI said the five grants will help fund research and development of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies in Newcastle, Sydney, Brisbane...