(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — Sembcorp Marine said its fully-owned subsidiary, SMOE, recently won a $550 million contract from Norway-based ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS for the construction of accommodation topside to be located in the North Sea’s Greater Ekofisk Area. (US$1=S$1.4). To be located 300 km offshore Stavanger, the project includes engineering, procurement and construction...

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will be extending loans totalling $266 million to Bangladesh to address natural gas supply constraints to help spur economic growth and cut poverty. The bank said its board of directors approved a $261 million equivalent loan from its ordinary capital resources, and...

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — Shipowner and operator Golden Ocean Group Limited last month completed its secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), becoming the first to take advantage of the new scheme to promote dual listings of companies on the SGX and the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) of Norway. The two bourses signed...

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — The global wind power capacity rose by 31.7% to 159,213 MW last year, and is on course to exceed 200,000 in 2010, said the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA). Underlining its rapid growth, the sector reported a turnover of 50 billion euro and employed 550,000 workers worldwide last year....

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — BG Group said it has secured an agreement to supply 1.2 million tonnes per year (t/y) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years from 2015 to Japan’s Tokyo Gas Co Ltd from the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) facility and from the UK company’s global LNG portfolio. The parties...

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — Wuxi, China-based Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd said it has been selected to supply solar panels for a new 4.7 megawatts (MW) solar plant in Young’an in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The power plant, owned and operated by the Taiwan Power Company, will be Taiwan’s biggest, nearly doubling the island’s current...

(EnergyAsia, April 8 2010, Thursday) — American Superconductor Corporation, a US-based global power technologies company, said  it has received an initial order for full wind turbine electrical control systems worth more than US$20 million from India’s Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd (GEPL). Nasdaq-listed AMSC will begin shipping the electrical control systems to Ghodawat around mid-2010 and...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — Laos will be receiving grantstotalling $3.1 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Nordic Development Fund to help it become more “climate resilient” in the face of droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. ADB said it will be providing $300,000 while the Nordic Development Fund counterpart...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a US-based power technologies company, said it has received an initial order for full wind turbine electrical control systems from China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd (Sinovel). The systems will be deployed in Sinovel’s first five-megawatt (MW) doubly fed induction wind...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — Showa Shell Solar KK, a fully-owned subsidiary of Japan’s Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, is changing its name to Solar Frontier and launched a new logo to reflect its core business. The Tokyo-based company has opened two overseas offices in Munich and northern California to expand its global network to...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — Hong Kong-listed renewable energy company China WindPower Group Ltd has announced a 55% rise in its net income of HK$181.2 million for the nine-month period to December 2009. Corresponding revenues, derived mostly from its operations in China, increased to HK$562.6 million from HK$379.4 million. (US$1=HK$7.76) The company’s shares have...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, We3dnesday) — Two of the world’s leading advisory bodies on climate change said they plan to launch independent reviews of their past research works which have been plunged into disrepute after revelations that scientists had exaggerated data to create alarm and fears about global warming threats. The investigations are aimed at...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — Drought brought on by the El Nino phenomenon has been blamed for a massive power crisis in parts of China and the Philippines that rely heavily on hydro-electricity. In Southwest China, the lack of water has forced the closure of hydro electric dams. Yunnan’s local reservoir has dried up,...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — China and India, two of the world’s largest polluters, have signed up for the climate accord hammered out in the Copenhagen summit last December. Nearly three months after the summit, the Chinese government has informed the UN’s Climate Change Secretariat that it has joined the list of more than...

(EnergyAsia, April 7 2010, Wednesday) — Singapore-listed Noble Group Limited said it is making a cash takeover offer to acquire all the shares in Australia’s Gloucester Coal Ltd for A$12.60 per share. Noble, which is making the offer through a wholly-owned subsidiary, already owns 87.7% of Gloucester shares. Noble said its offer represents a 35.3%...

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — eSolar, a leading producer of modular, scalable concentrating solar thermal power technology, and Ferrostaal AG, one of the world’s largest power plant developers, said they will jointly deploy turnkey solar power plants in the UAE, Spain and South Africa. Under the agreement, eSolar will provide solar field and receiver...

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will aim to raise up to S$15 million for their joint Maritime Clean Energy Research Programme (MCERP). (US$1=S$1.4). The two organisations said the programme will focus on research platforms that promote green carbon-neutral energy management solutions....

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — Keppel Shipyard Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corporation, said it has secured two contracts totalling $160 million to convert a ‘floating production storage and offloading’ (FPSO) vessel for Single Buoy Moorings Inc (SBM), and a livestock carrier for an affiliated company of Hijazi & Ghosheh Co....

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — Indonesia’s geothermal power capacity is set to nearly double with new investments from a $400 million climate fund endorsed by the Trust Fund Committee of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The plan aims to help the country transform its use of renewable energy as well as support the government’s...

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — Australia’s leading gas producer Santos said it will be selling its entire working interest in NT/P 48 (Evans Shoal) in the Bonaparte Basin in offshore northern Australia to oil and gas exploration and production company, Magellan Petroleum Australia Limited (Magellan), for up to A$200 million. (US$1=A$1.1). Santos said it...

(EnergyAsia, April 6 2010, Tuesday) — The US and Chinese governments are allocating a total of $187.5 million over the next five years to support the US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), and research work to advance building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles. US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu...

(EnergyAsia, April 1 2010, Thursday) — China’s Our Group said it has started up five new wind power plants, each with the capacity to produce 49.5MW. Fuxin Huashun WindPower Ltd, Fuxin Julonghu WindPower Ltd, Fuxin Qianfoshan WindPower Ltd, Fuxin Juhe WindPower Ltd and Tongliao Taihe WindPower Ltd are all equipped with 1.5MW wind turbines with...

(EnergyAsia, April 1 2010, Thursday) — By Fawzia Sheikh for OilPrice.com. With Yemen’s oil revenues plunging, the overnment’s push into the gas market seemed like an economic saving grace for a state wracked by poverty and terrorism, but analysts warn more thought should be given to carving out the country’s post-petroleum era. The infamous Christmas...

(EnergyAsia, April 1 2010, Thursday) — The UK and Indian governments have launched two multi-million-pound joint research programmes to develop cost-effective and efficient solar energy solutions. Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) have each committed up to £5 million (US$1=UK£0.7) each over a three-year period for research projects...