leading supplier of complete hydro power plants and services, last month marked the start-up of a electric generator workshop at its manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China. The ceremony also celebrated the full-scale operation of Voith Siemens Hydro’s generator manufacture in China. It was attended by 80 senior representatives from the federal, state and local governments....

now fully operational after the last generator was brought onstream late last month. The project has a total capacity of 18,200 megawatts (MW) from 26 generators. It will be expanded by an additional six turbines by 2012 to bring overall capacity to 22,500 MW. Three Gorges is a critical project in relieving chronic electricity shortages...

meet its growing energy demand. The small state in the oil-rich Gulf region recently launched the Middle East’s largest photovoltaic project. Operated and driven by state-owned Solar Technologies, the project aims to build up 130 megawatt (MW) of photovoltaic capacity by 2010. Solar Technologies has already set its sight on international expansion.   In a...

year, more than double last year’s volume. In the first nine months of 2008, Malaysian producers exported almost 129,000 tonnes of biodiesel, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin. With palm oil prices sharply lower from their record high levels earlier in the year, biodiesel producers are benefiting from favourable price-feedstock spreads. This has...

generator manufacturer, said it preparing to enter the wind power market in a big way next year. The company has set aside one billion baht to produce wind turbines and generators, said managing director Gunkul Dhumrongpiyawut. (US$1 = Baht35). He said the company will raise the funds in an initial public offering (IPO) despite the...

its pumps. The ethanol for the 5% blend is made at a plant in Vietnam’s northern Phu Tho province. The facility mixes ethanol imported from Brazil with home-grown sugarcane and cassava.   PetroVietnam plans to build a second ethanol plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 cubic metres as it works to broaden its offering...

agreement to purchase power from ACCIONA Energy’s wind farm at Waubra in western Victoria state. The wind farm, the country’s largest, will generate 192 megawatts (MW), sufficient to meet the energy needs of 143,000 households each year. Construction of the Waubra Wind Farm is currently underway, with plans to complete the installation of the 128...

production continued to decline while revenues were boosted by higher prices for the quarter and year to September 2008. Third quarter output fell by 12% to 13.2 million barrels of oil equivalent while year-to-date output was down 10% to 40.8%. Boosted by high oil and gas prices, revenues rose 16% for the quarter to A$730...

Company has awarded a contract to Voith Siemens Hydro Shanghai to supply four Francis turbines at a rated output of 650 megawatts each for the Dagangshan hydroelectric project. The project on Dadu River in Sichuan province will be completely connected to the grid in 2014, with the first unit due for commissioning in 2013. When...

announced an ambitious plan to grow five billion jatropha trees to support the production of 10 million tons of biodiesel per year in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. CJP said it will team up with local players to jointly set up 30 zonal bio-business partners (ZBP) in the three states. The partners...

as a pioneering solution to reduce deforestation, tackle climate change, preserve global biodiversity and protect the livelihoods of millions of forest people in Indonesia and other developing countries around the world. Forests for Climate (FFC) is Greenpeace’s landmark proposal for an international mechanism to fund sustainable and lasting reductions of emissions from tropical deforestation in...

landed a five-year contract to supply solar cells to Netherland’s Scheuten Solar Technology GmbH. The new contract, from 2009 through to 2013, is an extension of two existing sales contracts. The three contracts are worth a total of US$460 million. Founded in 1950, Scheuten is one of the oldest glass and solar-energy companies in Europe....

to mitigate effects of climate change have backfired, said experts at last month’s IMF-World Bank annual meetings. With many developing nations experiencing deep shocks and citizen unrest due to rising food and fuel prices, plenaries and breakout sessions during the Program of Seminars addressed causes, effects and solutions. Commitments by members of the Organization for...

crude oil from the Azeri fields produced by a BP-led consortium, almost three months after it was shut down by the five-day Russian-Georgian war. The 145,000 b/d pipeline will continue to pump 90,000 b/d right for the rest of the year....

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s leading supplier of wind power solutions, has opened its Asia R&D centre at the Fusionopolis in Singapore. The event marks the first milestone of the company’s 10-year plan to invest up to S$500 million in Singapore to advance research in wind power technologies in...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — Norway’s Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) has affirmed its plans to start up its S$3 billion solar energy manufacturing plant in Tuas, Singapore in the first quarter of 2010. (US$1=S$1.5). REC, a world leading producer of polysilicon and wafers and a pioneer in the global renewable energy industry, broke ground...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — Singapore’s Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd has built Asia’s first two icebreaking vessels to operate in the harsh Arctic environment for Russian oil giant Lukoil-Kaliningradmorneft. The Varandey and Toboy are designed to work in harsh environment, cutting through solid ice over 1.7m thick, equivalent to the height of a grown man,...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to support Vietnam’s 156 megawatt (MW) Song Bung 4 hydropower project with a US$196 million loan. The bank will work with Hanoi and state energy firm Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to develop the project in the country’s central Quang Nam province. The country...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — India’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited has begun work on developing the hydropower resources of neighbouring Myanmar. NHPC engineers will be targeting to develop the 1,200MW Htamanthi and 600MW Shwesayay projects. In September, the agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power No 1...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — KLD Research & Analytics Inc, a leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and indexes, and global index leader FTSE, have established a strategic partnership to offer a comprehensive suite of ESG indexes. FTSE will collaborate with KLD on the conception, design and worldwide marketing of co-branded ESG...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — The Energy Research Institute (ERI), a key division of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has joined the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). NDRC is the main policy making body in China on energy, environment and climate change. The agency formally signed up for membership at a...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc subsidiary, has paid HK$1.8 billion for 225 million shares of Hong Kong-listed rechargeable battery producer BYD Company Limited. The shares represent roughly 10% of BYD’s shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange. BYD researches, develops, manufactures and sells rechargeable batteries (Li-ion, Nickel...

(EnergyAsia, November 7, Friday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is supporting an innovative power project in Bhutan that will produce clean energy for export to India and increase electricity coverage in rural areas where the bulk of the poor live. The Green Power Development Project, which includes Bhutan’s first public-private partnership for...

and technology centre in Singapore, marking the company’s second expansion in the Asia Pacific region this year. The 20,252 square-meter facility located in the Jurong industrial area in western Singapore hosts production, technology research and development, logistics and operations activities. Describing it as a pioneering centre, Halliburton said it produces sophisticated electronic sensors used in...

human demands on the world’s natural capital reach nearly a third more than earth can sustain, said the conservation group WWF. In the latest edition of its Living Planet Report, the group said the planet’s health. In addition global natural wealth and diversity continues to decline, and more and more countries are slipping into a...