(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — Singapore-based companies that consume more than 15 gigawatts hours of electricity will now have to appoint energy managers to monitor power consumption and draw up efficiency improvement plans by 2013.   More than 130 companies mostly with manufacturing operations fall into this category of users, which is contained in...

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — American Superconductor Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed global power technologies company, said it recently received a follow-on order for 30 sets of wind turbine power electronic components from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd (HHI). The Korean Stock Exchange-listed company is the world’s largest shipbuilder, a global leader in turnkey...

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — US-based Matinee Energy Inc recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and formed a strategic alliance with South Korean firms Hyundai Heavy Industries Company Ltd and LG Electronics Inc. Matinee said it has invited Hyundai and LG to join as lead partners for a total of 240 megawatts or...

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — Australia-listed Hunnu Coal said it has acquired a 90% interest in the Tsant Uul coal project in Mongolia. The Tsant Uul Coal Project is located in the world class South Gobi coal province, located within 50 km of the producing giant Tavan Tolgoi coking coal field in Umnugobi Province...

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — GE said it and China Power Engineering Consulting Group Corporation (CPECC) have signed agreements with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to advance the deployment of “cleaner coal” technology in China,. Under the terms of the agreements, USTDA will fund a feasibility study that would support the advancement...

(EnergyAsia, June 8 2010, Tuesday) — Dutch oil and chemical logistics giant Royal Vopak is expanding its chemical storage business in China following its acquisition of a 50% stake in the Sealink Storage Company from Merit, a subsidiary of China’s industrial investment firm Lanwa Group. Sealink holds a concession from the local authorities and the...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) — The Malaysian government said that all automated vehicles will have to use biofuels from the middle of next year. In a statement, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry said the planned shift to biofuels and diesel with a 5% processed palm oil content would be implemented in stages in...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) — The Japanese government has agreed to provide Laos grants totalling 955 million yen to help encourage the use of solar power and preservation of its rainforests. (US$1=90 yen). Under the energy agreement, a solar power system will be installed at the Laos Prime Minister’s Office and at the Wattay...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) — China has included the development of a smart grid system into its long-term plan to increase reliance on renewable energy sources for power generation. According to a senior official of the China Electric Power Research Institute under the State Grid Corporation, the government is planning to build a nationwide...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) – US-based AEI said its wholly-owned subsidiary, AEI China Power Limited, has acquired a 67% stake in NBT (Baicheng) New Energy Development Company Ltd, which recently began building a 200MW wind farm in China’s Jilin Province. NBT has started work on the 49.5MW first phase of the project in Baicheng...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) — Australia’s Victoria State is expected to qualify for funding under the Federal government’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program, said Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor. (US$1=A$1.2). The Australian government has announced that eight projects will be invited for consideration in the second stage of assessment for the first round...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Monday) — Australian science agency CSIRO said it has developed a new web-based smart metering system to enable households, small businesses and electricity retailers to remotely control energy use over a broadband Internet connection. The aim is to help small scale energy users cut energy use, costs and carbon emissions. CSIRO...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Friday) — Swiss mining group Xstrata said it has immediately suspended A$586 million of expenditure to develop a thermal coal mine and extend a copper mine in Australia in response to the government’s proposal to impose a 40% super tax on mining profits from 2012. The company said it was no...

(EnergyAsia, June 7 2010, Friday) — Australia is set to ride the coming boom in the thermal coal, thanks to rising global demand led by China and India, according to Deutsche Bank’s latest research. In a report, the bank said it expects thermal coal contract prices to rise 26% to US$120 a tonne by 2012,...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — China’s Yingli Green Energy said it has signed a contract to supply 33 MW of solar modules to Spain’s Maessa Telecomunicaciones, Ingenieria, Instalaciones y Servicios SA or Maetel. Maetel, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company under the industrial division of the A.C.S. Group, one of Europe’s largest infrastructure...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Chemrez Technologies Inc, the Philippines’ biggest biodiesel, resins and oleochemical producer, said its consolidated net income jumped 26% year-on-year to P468 million in 2009. (US$1=47 peso).   In a statement, ChemrezTech said the higher profit resulted from a 10% rise in consolidated sales to P5.1 billion last year from...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Solar energy use in the US will grow by 50% in 2011 from this year, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Department of Energy. In its Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA estimated that US solar energy use would grow to 0.018 quadrillion...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Sembcorp Industries, a leading Singapore-based energy and water company, said its fully-owned utilities subsidiary, Sembcorp Utilities has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Thermal Powertech Corporation India (TPCIL) for about Rs10.42 billion. (US$1=Rs45). Sembcorp Utilities signed a joint venture agreement with Gayatri Energy Ventures (GEVL) to acquire the...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Australia’s mining giant BHP Billiton has revived its plan to develop a six million tonne-a-year coking coal hub in Indonesia’s Kalimantan province in response to improving market prospects and the threat of a super tax on Australian projects from July 2012. The company said the Indonesian project could even...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Altona Energy Plc, the London-listed Australia-based energy company, said its proposed joint venture with a subsidiary of China’s state-owned CNOOC to undertake a US$3 billion coal-development project has been cleared by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) under its Foreign Investment Policy. CNOOC-NEI had formed CNOOC New Energy...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — Investments worth a total of A$83.5 million in 70 mining projects face delay of varying periods or even cancellation if the Australian government proceeds to impose its super tax of 40% on mining profits, according to a new study by Access Economics. (US$1=A$1.18).   The private group’s findings contradict...

(EnergyAsia, June 4 2010, Friday) — South Australia’s leading mining lobby said Canberra’s proposed Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT) could threaten to up to A$40 billion worth of mining projects in the state. (US$1=A$1.18).   In a stinging attack, the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) warned that no other state stood to...

(EnergyAsia, June 3 2010, Thursday) — New Zealand’s state-owned coal miner, Solid Energy, said it has secured the exclusive country rights to a technology which converts low-grade lignite to high-grade coal and synthetic crude oils. The company is preparing to start production from its lignite reserves. The agreement was signed with Australian company Ignite Energy...

(EnergyAsia, June 3 2010, Thursday) — Helped by lower costs and greater availability of credit, the world’s demand for solar-generated power will rise by nearly 43% to 10.1 gigawatts (GW) in 2010, and will nearly double from there to 19GW by 2013, said a US-based clean technology consulting group. In its latest report, Pike Research...