(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation said it has agreed with Acciona SA, one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies, to acquire a 34% equity stake in the Spanish firm’s fully owned subsidiary, Amper Central Solar SA. The companies did not disclose the value of the transaction. Amper developed and operates the...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — GMR International, the London-based business arm of Indian infrastructure giant GMR Group, has officially opened its Southeast Asia regional office in Singapore, making this its third international office after London, England and Turkey. The company has appointed Ng Quek Peng, a corporate and investment banking veteran with over 20 years...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — Iran and Russia have signed an agreement to cooperate on developing oil and gas projects. As part of the deal, Russia will tranship oil from a port on the Caspian Sea to an Iranian port on the Sea of Oman, and set up a joint venture company to develop oil...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — International trade financing is estimated to be short by some US$100 billion as a result of the global credit crunch, with repercussions for oil trading. The US$100 billion estimate is up four-fold from an initial US$25 billion assessment by the World Trade Organisation last November. Starting in Wall Street, the...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — Thailand’s state oil and gas company PPT is trying to acquire Singapore-listed coal mining company Straits Asia Resources. PTT offered buy a 60% stake in Australia-based Straits Bulk and Industrial (SBI), a subsidiary of Australian miner Straits Resources. If successful,  PTT would end up acquiring a 47% stake in Straits...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — Keppel Seghers Belgium NV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Integrated Engineering Limited (KIE), said it has secured a 14.45 million euro contract to provide technology and services to a waste-to-energy plant (WTE) in Jinan in China’s Shandong province. The contract was awarded by Riseland Holdings, a subsidiary of Everbright...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — China Natural Gas Inc (CNG), a US-listed company, said it has reached a power supply agreement with the government of Yulin City in China’s Shaanxi province, and the government of Shaanxi province. CNG is a provider of pipeline natural gas for industrial, commercial and residential use, and compressed natural gas...

(EnergyAsia, April 7, Tuesday) — Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a NYSE-listed vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer, said its affiliate, Baoding Yingli Group Company Limited, could be in line to obtain a total of RMB6 billion in credit facilities from the Hebei branch of the Bank of China. (US$1=RMB6.85). Yingli has signed a...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — China’s Ministry of Finance said it has introduced “interim measures” for subsidies to promote ‘solar photovoltaic building applications’ in the country. The government will provide a fixed subsidy for BIPV applications and photovoltaic building systems used in both urban and rural areas.  Technical standards will apply to their installation. The...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — India’s Tata Motors has launched the world’s cheapest car which it hopes to sell to many low-income buyers in emerging economies.   Priced at around US$2,000, the Nano could dramatically increase global car ownership, and raise world fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, industry analysts said. The Nano will likely...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — Qatar plans to build a solar energy plant that could generate up to 100 megawatt (MW) of electricity. State agency Qatar Science & Technology Park said the plant could be established by 2014, and will be supported by a new US$500 million polysilicon plant. Qatar Foundation will invest in the...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — China’s economy will grow at a slower rate of 7% in 2009, but decisive action by the government to support faltering growth through expansionary fiscal and monetary policies “should” enable it to recover to 8% in 2010, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a major new report. ADB’s flagship...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia, and other non-government and green organisations across the globe are demanding that world leaders who meeting in London last week address environmental issues posed by the global financial and economic crisis. In their joint statement ‘Transforming global capital markets’, six...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — India’s economic growth will slow to 5% in 2009, down from 7.1% in 2008, but should speed up next year as the global economy recovers and lower local interest rates spur private investment and manufacturing, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a new major report. Its flagship annual economic...

(EnergyAsia, April 6, Monday) — Germany’s specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG said it has started up its new lubricant oil additives plant in Qingdao city in China. Operated by LANXESS’s subsidiary Rhein Chemiehe, the 5-million-euro plant will initially employ 20 people. LANXESS said it expects the industrial lubricants segment to grow quickly, translating into high...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — Denmark’s wind power equipment manufacturer Vestas said it has boosted its investment in China by another US$90 million. The company is expanding its presence to tap into China’s growing demand for wind-generated power. Vesta will be building up its capacity to produce wind turbine blades, nacelles and generators in China...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — Sakhalin Energy Company said the first scheduled Russian LNG cargo has been successfully loaded from the Sakhalin II LNG plant onto the LNG carrier,   “Energy Frontier”. The vessel departed Prigorodnoye port on March 29 for the Sodegaura terminal in Japan’s Tokyo Bay, with a cargo of 145,000 cubic metres of...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — W2 Energy Inc, a US-listed developer of green energy, said one of its small electrical generating system (SEGS) hydroelectric generating system will be deployed for use in a canal in India. W2 Energy sold the US$35,000 system to Alpha Renewable Energy which will deploy it on the stream bed of...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the country’s top climate negotiator, has signalled his government’s willingness to work with the US on reducing both countries’ greenhouse gas emissions in a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Washington office last month. Earlier, Mr...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — US-listed China Clean Energy Inc said the construction of its plant in Jiangyin in Jiangsu province remains on schedule for completion in the second quarter of 2009. The company said it does not anticipate the need for additional equity financing to complete the construction of the plant. It said it...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — American Superconductor Corp (AMSC), a Nasdaq-listed energy technologies company, said it has expanded its strategic alliance with Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute (SECRI) and has received a new order for AMSC’s high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire. SECRI will use the HTS wire to develop and manufacture a 30-meter-long, 35 kilovolt...

(EnergyAsia, April 3, Friday) — US engineering giant KBR said it has been awarded a contract by BP, on behalf of Azerbaijan International Oil Company (AIOC), to provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the Chirag oil project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. KBR said it will provide FEED and procurement...

(EnergyAsia, April 2, Thursday) — China is planning to build two wind and two hydro power plants with a total capacity of more than 2,000MW.The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved the construction of a 230MW hydropower station in Sichuan province and a 220MW hydro plant one in Guizhou province.The wind farm projects...

(EnergyAsia, April 2, Thursday) — Chinese solar water heater producer Himin Solar Energy Group is planning to launch an initial public offering of its shares next year.The company aims to issue China-listed A-shares but it is also looking at plans for listing its stock on an overseas exchange.Himin said it plans to invest one-billion yuan...

 (EnergyAsia, April 2, Thursday) — The Russian economy is expected to contract by 4.5% in 2009, compared with last year’s 5.6% growth, said the World Bank, which also predicts that the country’s fiscal surplus last year will turn to a sizeable deficit.Unemployment could reach 12% by year end as the financial crisis threatens to revese...