(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Consultant Purvin & Gertz has announced the release of its ‘Global LNG Outlook’, a new service providing analysis on the short-term world LNG market. The cornerstone of the service is a quarterly publication that will assess the impact of changing LNG market fundamentals and provide an in-depth perspective of the (more…)
THAILAND: Refiners face mandatory curbs on refining profits
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The Thai government has warned it could evoke a national emergency law to reduce or curb the profit margins of the country’s oil refiners in an effort to keep oil prices down. Under the Energy Business Act, the country’s energy minister has the power to fix gross refinery margins in...
TAIWAN: Fuel prices hiked
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Taiwan’s new government has quickly implemented a decision to raise fuel prices in a bid to prevent hoarding by consumers. Prices for unleaded 92, 95 and 98 gasoline sold by state refiner CPC were raised by NT$3.9/litre, to NT$33.9, NT$34.6 and NT$36.1 per litre, respectively. (US$1 = NT$30). The price...
PAKISTAN: Government wants oil firms to develop storage tanks
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Concerned that it is unprepared to deal with an energy crisis, the Pakistani government is pressuring the country’s oil marketing companies to invest in new storage tanks. Officials are worried that smaller marketing firms, in particular, do not have storage facilities despite their promise to keep oil stockpiles. Pakistan has...
SINGAPORE: TYCO targets Asia’s shipyard, energy sector with latest flame detector
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Tyco Fire & Security is hoping to sell its high-technology flame detector to Asia’s shipyards, marine companies and the energy sector. The detector uses an infrared array with 256 infrareds sensors and integrated CCTV, FLAME Vision FV 300, enabling it to identify flame incidents automatically and reliably, as well as...
NEW ZEALAND: Air New Zealand claims first to test passenger aircraft using jatropha-based fuel
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — Air New Zealand said it plans to be the world’s first airline to fly a large passenger aircraft using fuel produced from the jatropha crop. This is in line with its goal of producing and commercialising sustainable fuels for use in air travel. The airline said it expects to use...
MARKET: IEA says US$45 trillion needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the world would need to invest a total of US$45 trillion in new technology, carbon capture and renewable energy sources to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. Calling for an “energy revolution”, IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said the world needed...
MARKETS: IEA continues to reduce forecast for world oil demand
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its forecast for world oil consumption this year to 86.8 million b/d, down from its previous forecast of 87.6 million b/d. The Paris-based agency attributed the downward revision to the reduction in fuel subsidies in several countries, mostly in Asia, in response to...
CHINA: Yingli Green Energy signs sales contract with Germany’s EN-NEO
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — NYSE-listed Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a world leading vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said it has entered into a sales contract with Germany’s EN-NEO NEUE ENERGIEN GmbH (EN-NEO), a leader in PV energy projects. Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 9.19 MW of PV modules to...
CLIMATE CHANGE: Green groups oppose World Bank’s ‘climate funds’
(EnergyAsia, June 16, Monday) — More than 120 groups have banded together to jointly criticise and oppose the World Bank’s proposed ‘climate funds’ which aims to address climate change and its impacts in many developing countries. The groups issued a joint statement during the recent UN climate change talks in Bonn, Germany that coincided with...
MARKETS: Bush administration to continue with biofuels policies
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — US agriculture secretary Edward Schafer has defended his country’s biofuel policies amid rising criticism that growing food crops for fuel is causing food shortages around the world. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Schafer said biofuels are needed to combat the high price of crude oil. He said ethanol production...
THAILAND: Prime Minister blames oil, not biofuels, for food crisis
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said high oil prices, rather than biofuels, are driving up world food prices. Samak Sundaravej wants the UN and the Word Bank to deal with the world food crisis by targeting oil exporting countries instead of criticising biofuels producing countries like Thailand. The UN Food...
PAKISTAN: Punjab state to speed up small hydro-projects
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — The state government of Pakistan’s Punjab region has ordered bureaucrats to speed up the implementation of small hydropower projects. The government has announced plans to build five hydropower projects with a total capacity of 25 MW. The projects are expected to receive Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding. However, the government...
INDIA: Tata Power to invest Rs5 billion in wind power
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s Tata Power is investing Rs5 billion to build up an additional 115 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity. (US$1 = Rs43). The new wind farms will be set up in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka. The company has 85 MW of wind power capacity in operation in Maharashtra...
INDIA: Haryana state to add 20 biomass power projects
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — India’s state of Haryana is developing 20 biomass-based projects for a total additional power capacity of 183 megawatts (MW). Haryana wants to cut back on its expensive power imports from other Indian states. Officials said the plants and other renewable energy projects could generate up to 10% of the state’s...
MARKETS: UN study slams biofuels for high food prices
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — A joint study by the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned of the worsening impact biofuels production will have on world food prices and supplies. In addition, biofuels would do little to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the study said....
INDIA: Tata Group, Mercator Singapore in US$320 million deal
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Mercator Lines (Singapore) Limited said it has renegotiated the freight terms of its October 2006 contract with Tata Power Company Limited for the transportation of 1.9 million tons coal annually from Indonesia to India for four years. The enhanced deal is worth US$320 million. Based on Tata’s growing demand for...
MARKETS: Clean energy revolution underway, says New Energy Finance
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for a ‘global energy technology revolution’ to put the world on a sustainable path to 2050. Its ‘blue scenario’, indicating what would be needed to reduce world carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, implies the need for US$45 trillion of investment in clean...
INDIA: Chemicals group SRF starts up nine wind power units in Tamil Nadu state
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — A leading Indian chemicals group, SRF Ltd, said it has started up nine units of a 14 MW wind power plant in Tamil Nadu state. The Rs900 million plant in Tirunelveli district is expected to meet nearly half the company’s power requirement in Tamil Nadu, and reduce the emission of...
CHINA: Tianjin TEDA and TECID form environmental protection JV with Singapore’s KIE
(EnergyAsia, June 13, Friday) — Keppel Integrated Engineering (KIE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Corp Ltd, said it has signed an agreement to form a joint venture company, Tianjin Eco-City Environmental Protection Co Ltd (TECEP) with two Chinese firms, Tianjin TEDA Co Ltd and Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co Ltd (TECID Co). With...
TAIWAN: AMSC licenses wind turbine technology to Teco Electric & Machinery Co Ltd
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Nasdaq-listed energy technologies company American Superconductor Corporation said it has licensed one of its proprietary wind turbine designs to Taiwan-based TECO Electric & Machinery Co Ltd (TECO), the world’s third largest motor manufacturer. AMSC’s wholly owned AMSC Windtec™ subsidiary will license the design for its FC-2000, a proprietary 2...
PHILIPPINES: ADB to fund Negros hydropower plants
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan government are expected to help finance new micro and mini hydro power plants in the Negros Occidental province of the Philippines. Local officials said the plants, with capacities ranging from one kilowatt (KW) each to 10 megawatts (MW), would help address...
PHILIPPINES: Trans-Asia evaluating 20MW wind power project in Guimaras island
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Philippines-listed Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp (TPGC) is evaluating a proposal to develop a 20-megawatt (MW) wind power project on the island province of Guimaras located in the Western Visayas region. TGPC said the project will be implemented by its sister company, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp (TA Oil),...
CHINA: DuPont expands production of Solamet® for solar energy
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — To meet the needs of the fast-growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy market, DuPont said it will expand production of its proprietary Solamet® thick film metallisation pastes at its Electronic Materials DuPont Dongguan Ltd (EMDD) facility in Dongguan city in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The company will more than...
CHINA: Sinovel Wind placed $450 million order with AMSC
(EnergyAsia, June 12, Thursday) — Nasdaq-listed American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, said it has received a $450 million order from Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited for core electrical components for 1.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines. The contract calls for shipments to begin in January 2009 and increase in amount year-over-year...