its Asia Pacific head office in Singapore in August 2006. The official opening by the Environment Minister seemed to herald a watershed event in Singapore’s move to become a ‘green energy’ centre for the region. Conergy, co-founded as a solar energy company by Hans-Martin Reuter in 1996, had quickly rose to become a star of...

(EnegyAsia, September 22, Monday) — India’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) said it has incorporated wholly owned subsidiaries in two key centres of the world oil markets, namely London and Singapore. Reliance Global Energy Services Limited London is headed by Peter Ward, the former President of Shell Trading’s Gas and Power division, while Reliance Global Energy...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) —As the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter brings four mega-trains online in the next five years, Qatargas’ chairman and CEO is forecasting stronger price levels as well as demand in the Atlantic Basin. In an exclusive interview in the debut issue of the Abraham Energy Report (AbrahamEnergyReport.com), Faisal Al-Suwaidi...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) — The rural city council of Ararat in Australia’s Victoria state is preparing trials to test algae as a feedstock for biodiesel. While still in an initial phase, the trials are aimed at determining which type of algae would produce the best biodiesel. If successful, Ararat may set up a plant...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) —South Korea’s steel giant Posco said it has started up a 50 megawatt (MW) fuel cell power plant in its home base of Pohang city. Claiming this as the world’s largest fuel cell-power plant with the capacity to power 17,000 households, the company said it is jointly building the project with...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) –– KS Energy Services Limited, a Singapore-listed integrated oilfield equipment and drilling services provider, has launched a new service providing specialised and qualified human resource and technical services to the oil and gas industry. Newly established wholly-owned subsidiary, KS Technical Resources (KS TR), will help clients find the services of drilling...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) — Singapore-listed Rotary Engineering Limited said it has secured a S$37.9 million contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for Neste Oil’s new generation biofuel plant in Tuas in western Singapore. The contract, awarded by Technip Italy S.p.A, calls for the construction of 11 storage tanks, include five for feedstock,...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) — Amtech Systems Inc, a Nasdaq-listed supplier of production, parts and automation systems for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors, and silicon wafers, said its solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems Inc, has received $9 million in follow-on solar orders for its diffusion processing systems from two existing customers based in Asia. J.S....

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) — State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar) will delay the construction of its oil storage tanks in neighbouring Georgia by several months. Makhir Mamedov, CEO of subsidiary Socar Energy Georgia, said the company will only start construction later in the year as it is still not safe to do any...

(EnergyAsia, September 22, Monday) — Indonesia has appointed a high-level team to renegotiate with China the term export price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from Tangguh in Papua province. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed the price renegotiation team led by Acting Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sri Mulyani Idrawati through a presidential decree on...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Pte Ltd is adding 152,000 cubic metres of capacity to its chemical storage terminal on Singapore’s Jurong Island. Work on the existing Seraya site started in June to enable the terminal to better serve the island’s petrochemical complexes, refineries and downstream chemical companies. The expansion will...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — US investment bank Morgan Stanley has boosted its stake in Singapore-based tidal power firm Atlantis Resources, making it the firm’s the largest stakeholder. Financial details and percentage shares were not disclosed. Tidal turbines, similar in principle to wind turbines, operate under water to produce electricity from tidal flow. However, the...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — Japanese automaker Toyota is planning to equip its Prius hybrid car with solar panels to power the vehicle’s air conditioning system. If successful, the company would be the world’s first car maker to use solar power in a widely-sold passenger vehicle, potentially opening up the door to wider automotive applications...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to make it easier for small and midsize companies to get subsidies if they install solar power generation systems. Officials said the ministry would loosen eligibility requirements and earmark some five billion yen in the 2008 fiscal budget for solar subsidies....

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — China’s third largest hydropower project at Longtan will operate at capacity this year with the installation of the last two of seven generators. Five generators, each with a capacity of 700,000 kilowatts (KW), are already in operation. Longtan, which cost 30 billion yuan, required the relocation of some 80,000 people...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday)— Australia’s coal seams gas reserves have doubled to about 12,400 petajoules from last year, according to a new report by energy economics group EnergyQuest. It said that increased coal seams reserves and production have successfully addressed looming gas shortages in Australia’s Queensland state. In less than five years, the state has...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — China’s Trina Solar said its subsidiary, Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co Ltd, has signed a sales agreement with Belgium’s Invictus NV, a member of the Benelux TEC-Servicegroup. Under the two-year agreement starting in 2009 with predetermined prices, Trina Solar will supply Invictus with 20MW and 30MW for 2009 and 2010,...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — Hong Kong-listed CLP Holdings Ltd has confirmed that it is abandoning plans to build a HK$10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Hong Kong’s Soko Islands. (US$1=HK$7.7). The electrical utility said it decided against the project after receiving assurance that Beijing would continue to supply natural gas and...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — China’s economic growth will moderate in 2008 and 2009, but it will still remain among the world’s fastest growing economies, said a key Asian Development Bank (ADB) report. The Asian Development Outlook 2008 Update (ADO Update) projects China’s economic growth to moderate to 10% this year from 11.9% in 2007,...

(EnergyAsia, September 19, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is lending Azerbaijan $160 million to fund the upgrade of its ageing power transmission facilities. The upgrade will remove transmission choke points, lower system losses, and provide a more stable power supply, especially in the key Azeri industrial hub, near the capital city...

(EnergyAsia, September 18, Thursday) — Swiber Holdings Limited, a Singapore-based offshore services provider, said it has been awarded a contract by CUEL Limited, a leading offshore EPCIC fabrication contractor, to provide offshore installation services in the Gulf of Thailand.  The project was secured by subsidiary Swiber Offshore Construction Pte Ltd. The project is part of...

(EnergyAsia, September 18, Thursday) — Vietnamese firms are working on new biodiesel plants in the Mekong delta area in a move to offer a fuel alternative amid rising oil prices. The Mekong market alone absorbs some five million litres per day of conventional diesel, offering a huge opportunity for biodiesel producers. Producer Minh Tu Ltd,...

(EnergyAsia, September 18, Thursday) — The Indonesian government wants China to pay US$10 per million Btu for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Tangguh gas project in Papua province. This compares to a price of US$2.4 to $3.8 per million Btu agreed with China in 2002 when crude oil prices were hovering between US$20-30 a...

(EnergyAsia, September 18, Thursday) — A group of investors led by Dubai-based Ecobility Energy Solutions and Daman Investments is planning a three-million-gallon per year biodiesel plant that could start up as early as 2009. It would be the UAE’s first venture into biodiesel. It would use feedstock from non-food resources such as waste cooking oil...