(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — China’s Suntech Power said it has signed new supply agreements to purchase from GCL Silicon 9,420 metri tonnes of polysilicon and 1.1 GW of silicon wafers from 2008 to 2012. Including this deal, Suntech has now secured a total of 1GW of silicon for 2009. “These agreements with GCL Silicon...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to expand the country’s power generation capacity by 10,000 megawatt by 2011. The expansion, equivalent to around 30% of current capacity, is aimed at helping the country meet rising electricity demand as well as overcome frequent power blackouts. Indonesia’s power producers have been...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Papua New Guinea will draw up a detailed plan to improve power supply in the country where 90% of the population still has no electricity, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Japan Special Fund, administered by the ADB, is providing a $1.2 million grant for Papua New Guinea to...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — South Korea’s largest refiner, SK Energy Co Ltd, has signed an agreement with Shell Global Solutions BV to license two technologies to raise capacity and quality at its refinery. The technologies will be used in a visbreaker to process 40,000 barrels per stream day of feedstock and a coker naphtha...

(EnergyAsia, September 4, Thursday) — Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power Co has announced plans to invest up to 3 billion yen in a new 3MW solar energy-powered plant in the western Fukuoka province. (US$1=105 yen). The Fukuoka company said it will begin construction of the plant in Omuta city also in Fukuoka sometime next year....

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Oil consumption in the developed economies is expected to drop 1.3% this year, the largest decline in 25 years, said the International Energy Agency. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is projected to come in at 48.6 million b/d this year, down from 49.2 million b/d in 2007,...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Energy-hungry Europe may be forced to distance itself from the US and soften its stance towards Iran in an attempt to reduce dependence on Russia for its oil and gas supplies. The West has been trying to present a united front to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear energy programme,...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — China is believed to have paid record prices in recent spot market deals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt. Several cargoes changed hands for between US$$15.35 and $15.50 per million Btu, far higher than the estimated US$2.50 and US$3.15 per million Btu China is paying...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — An unlikely dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over a contested border area could set back the development of offshore oil and discoveries which have been dubbed “the best unexplored acreage left in Southeast Asia.” The dispute flared up over a little known temple in Preah Vihear after it was listed...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Unresolved border issues continue to pose as a source of irritation between East Asian countries that occasionally threaten to flare into conflicts between neighbouring countries. Many of the disputes involve claims that are centuries old, and are difficult to prove and settle under international law. The stage is set for...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — In its escalating row with the West, Russia has raised the stakes by ordering the completion of a pipeline to deliver crude oil to Asia. The order by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week was a clear cut warning to the European Union that Moscow can easily divert oil and...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a NYSE-listed vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said it has signed an agreement with the local government of a county in Beijing to build a 10 MW solar power plant. Yingli said a wholly-owned subsidiary and an entity controlled by the county government...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — China’s Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd said it has entered into a letter-of-intent for a three-year supply agreement with Q-Cells International, a 100% subsidiary of Germany’s Q-Cells AG. Nasdaq-listed Solarfun is an established vertically-integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots and photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules in China. Q-Cells is the world’s...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Belgium’s GDF SUEZ Energy International said it has won the contract to build, own and operate the Al Dur 1 power generation and seawater desalination plant in Bahrain. As a a major independent power and water project in Bahrain, Al Dur 1 is a greenfield, natural gas-fired installation that will...

(EnergyAsia, September 3, Wednesday) — Amtech Systems Inc, a supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors and silicon wafers, said its solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems Inc, has received a $7.5 million follow-on solar order for its diffusion processing systems from a customer in Asia. J.S. Whang,...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — ET Solar Group, a Nanjing, China-based solar power solution provider and integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products, said it has signed a master agreement for the turnkey construction of solar power plants for Wattner Group of Germany’s Cologne city. ET Solutions AG, the solar power solution arm of ET Solar, will...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — Japan, long the dominant force in Indonesia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market, may soon be edged out by more aggressive competitors from China and South Korea. Japan has typically imported some 70% of LNG produced in Indonesia, making it by far that country’s largest customer. Supply volumes from Indonesia...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — Increasing rivalry over pipeline routes and energy security are driving military and security strategies in Asia, with Russia’s attack on Georgia last month being the most visible example. The contest over Georgia and the oil and gas pipelines that run through the country comes as Russia is increasingly using energy...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) —There are now 80 carbon funds, managing $12.87 billion in assets, up from 56 funds managing $7.9 billion one year ago, according to new research by Environmental Finance Publications. These funds either buy carbon credits (usually, but not exclusively, from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in developing countries) to sell for...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — Solarfun Power said it has signed a letter-of-intent for a three-year deal to supply PV modules to Q-Cells International. The buyer is a fully-owned subsidiary of Q-Cells AG, the world’s largest independent manufacturer of solar cells. Q-Cells International will purchase from Solarfun a minimum of 100 MW of PV modules...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — The North West Shelf Venture’s fifth LNG processing train located at its Karratha gas plant in Western Australia has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export to customers around the world including Japan, China and South Korea. With Train 5 now on line and contributing up to 4.4 million...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — Embargoed by the West, Iran is pushing to secure financing and technology from Asian countries to develop its oil and gas reserves and boost production. Western firms are under pressure from their governments not to invest in Iran, which stands accused of developing a nuclear programme for military use. Iran...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — US WTI crude oil prices have kept stubbornly well above US$110 a barrel after plunging from an all-time high of $147.27 a barrel on July 11. Numerous attempts to push prices below the $110 support the last seven weeks have failed. Instead, each correction has brought the bulls back into...

(EnergyAsia, September 2, Tuesday) — Conergy Korea, a subsidiary of Germany’s renewable energy company Conergy AG, has signed an agreement for a € 20 million 4.35 MWp extension  of Asia’s largest, recently completed photovoltaic plant (19.6 MWp) in SinAn, southwest of the South Korean capital city of Seoul. (US$1=0.64 euro). Working with client DongYang Engineering...