(EnergyAsia, July 16, Thursday) — Indonesia’s coal miners expect demand to improve this year. Most of their customers in China and India are still buying and consuming coal despite the global economic crisis, the miners said. With India’s economy expected to grow by 7% to 8% this year, coal demand could rise to 43...
(EnergyAsia, July 16, Thursday) — Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Pte Ltd (OOTS) said it has signed a S$200 million syndicated term loan facility with a consortium of local and international banks. (US$1=S$1.45). Singapore’s DBS and OCBC, and France’s Calyon are the mandated lead arrangers for the six-year facility. DBS Bank Ltd was the sole bookrunner...
(EnergyAsia, July 16, Thursday) — GE has unveiled plans for a “net zero energy home” project which combines its most efficient appliances and lighting, new energy management systems, and power generating and storing technologies in new home construction. When applied together, GE said the system would enable a homeowner to achieve net zero energy costs...
(EnergyAsia, July 16, Thursday) — The consortium formed by French Areva’s transmission and distribution division, and Indonesian electrical equipments contractor PT Multifabrindo Gemilang, has won a 120-million-euro contract with Indonesia’s state utility, PT PLN. (US$1=0.72 euro). Through this contract, Areva said it will help modernise the Indonesian network in line with a 2006 programme to...
(EnergyAsia, July 16, Thursday) — Middle East policy makers must act now to meet their countries’ future gas needs, said a senior consultant from Wood Mackenzie. Speaking recently in Abu Dhabi, Rajnish Goswami, the company’s head of gas and power consulting for the Asia Pacific, said that many Middle Eastern countries face a significant risk...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — Singapore-based Asiatic Group (Holdings) Ltd said its wholly owned subsidiary, Colben Energy Holdings (Vietnam) Ltd, will be teaming up with two Vietnamese companies to complete the development of a hydroelectric power plant project in that country that was announced last year. Colben will work with Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — The global economic crisis is hitting Africa’s economies hard, with little prospect for near-term relief. According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the worst affected are the oil and commodity exporting countries. Oil prices have fallen by around 60% from their July 2008 peak of US$147 per...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — The European Union (EU) has promised to help fund a carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot project in China. At their recent summit, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao asked Europe for help in providing “clean coal” technology. The EU will contribute 50 million euro to the pilot project to test...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — Greenpeace and other environmental organisations are urging Southeast Asian countries to reduce or even stop their use of coal. Several countries in the region are heavily reliant on coal to meet their power needs. However, burning coal is a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, said green groups, which is...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — US major Exxon Mobil Corporation is venturing into the biofuels business through an alliance with leading biotech company, Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), to research and develop next generation biofuels from photosynthetic algae. The move could prove significant as Exxon Mobil has long been sceptical of the viability of alternative energy...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — The US House of Representative has narrowly passed a greenhouse gas emissions bill proposed by President Barack Obama. The proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act is a vital part of Mr Obama’s strategy to revamp US energy production and use. The lower house passed the bill by a narrow...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — Singapore’s China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO) said it has signed a cooperation framework agreement with West Pacific Petrochemical Co Ltd (WEPEC), a Sino-foreign company which owns and operates a large refinery in Dalian city in China. CAO said it aims to establish a long-term strategic partnership for the...
(EnergyAsia, July 15, Wednesday) — Asian demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is down by about 7% so far this year, but there are signs of a revival now, say analysts. The main drivers behind the drop are lower demand from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan amid the global economic crisis. The three countries account...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — India’s Karnataka state is planning to have 5,000 biofuel-powered public buses on its roads by mid-2010, up from 1,400 buses now. The transportation authorities have identified using 10 depots located in various parts of the state to store biofuels for the growing fleet of ‘green’ buses. Chief minister B. S....
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — Philippine energy firm Quezon Power plans to build a 12 megawatt (MW) wind farm near Mauban in Quezon province. The company already operates a 460MW coal-fired power plant at Mauban and would link up the proposed wind power project with its existing infrastructure. Quezon Power is looking for a suitable...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — A Taiwanese firm has begun development of the country’s first commercial-grade high concentration photovoltaic solar power system. Taipei-based Advanced Renewable Energy Inc is building the one-MW system at a technology park in Tainan county from an existing plant that is generating 100 kw of electricity per hour. It plans to...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — Norway’s REC said it has received an order to deliver its REC 220AE solar modules for installation at the Changi Airport Budget Terminal in Singapore, making this the first rooftop PV installation on a commercial airport in Southeast Asia. REC said its partner, the Singapore branch of Phoenix Solar,...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — Denmark’s wind turbine manufacturer Vestas said it has received two new orders totalling 75 MW from a large Chinese independent power producer (IPP). The first order consists of seven units of its V90-1.8 MW wind turbine model, and six units of the V90-2.0 MW model for a project in Shandong...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — Hongkong-listed China WindPower Group Limited, a specialist in wind power electricity generation, said it has signed an exclusive agreement with the Fuxin municipal government in Liaoning province to develop wind power electricity projects with a total capacity of 500MW. The company has already secured similar agreements for two projects in...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — US engineering giant KBR said its joint venture with Australia’s WorleyParsons has won an award by Esso Highlands Ltd, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, for project services for the Papua New Guinea LNG project. The agreement with the Eos joint venture started in March 2009 and extends to the...
(EnergyAsia, July 14, Tuesday) — China’s Suntech Power Holdings is planning to invest US$1 billion to build a 500 megawatt (MW) solar power project in Sichuan province. The project in Panzhihua city will be built in three phases, with construction to begin soon, officials said. Earlier, the NYSE-listed company said it would be building...
(EnergyAsia, July 13, Monday) — Keppel Seghers Belgium NV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE), said it has secured an 11-million euro contract to provide technology to a waste-to-energy plant (WTE) in Hangu in China’s Tianjin city. (US$1=0.71 euro). The contract was awarded by Tianjin Binhai Environmental Industry Development Ltd. Located...
(EnergyAsia, July 13, Monday) — Japanese oil refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu KK said it, fully-owned subsidiary Showa Shell Solar KK, and Saudi Aramco have agreed to explore the possibility of building a solar-powered small-scale electricity generation business in Saudi Arabia using cutting-edge technology. Following basic investigations based on this agreement, pilot plants will be built...
(EnergyAsia, July 13, Monday) — Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd in Singapore, a subsidiary of Germany’s Phoenix Solar AG, has won two contracts to build solar power plants in Singapore. It is expected to complete a photovoltaic power plant with a peak output of 300 kilowatts on an unnamed factory building in September. Construction began in...
(EnergyAsia, July 13, Monday) — The World Bank has named Singapore as one of four cities that are both ecologically sustainable and economically viable, and provide opportunities for their citizens in an inclusive, sustainable and resource efficient way. The others are Curitiba in Brazil, Stockholm in Sweden, and Yokohama in Japan. Citing these examples, the...