(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — The massive earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people in China’s Sichuan province on May 12 may have claimed another victim. PetroChina has indicated it may not proceed with its plan to build a-50-billion-yuan refinery near the province’s main city of Chengdu. Early last year, PetroChina had agreed with provincial...
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — Australia-listed Mission Biofuels Limited has proposed to change its name to Mission NewEnergy Limited to reflect its diversification away from biofuels.| The company has called for a special general meeting to be held in Meeting Room 8 at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth, Western Australia,...
(EnergyAsia, June 6, Friday) — Engineering giant Foster Wheeler Ltd said its UK-headquartered subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, has been awarded an engineering and materials supply contract by Woodside for two gas turbine exhaust waste heat recovery units for the processing train at its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia. The two...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The Indian government has announced plans to add 40,000MW of hydro power capacity by 2022. It has appointed expert teams to identify suitable sites, in particular in the northern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. Hydro-generated power is needed to make up for shortfalls in natural gas...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The government of Australia’s New South Wales state wants wind farms in the southern part of the state to power a desalination plant in Sydney. The desalination plant, currently under construction, will start supplying drinking water from late next year. Under a complex 20-year deal, the NSW government is working...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — The Australian government is setting up an A$500 million Renewable Energy Fund (REF) as part of its plan to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60% from 2000 levels by 2050. (US$1 = A$1.05). The fund was provided for in the country’s 2008-2009 budget. About 10% of the fund...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Australia’s solar industry has begun to retrench workers and reduce hiring following Canberra’s shock decision to cut back on its rebates programme for home solar panel installation. Under new rules announced last month without warning or consultation, a family making over A$100,000 per year no longer qualifies to claim the...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — New Zealand’s Contact Energy said it intends to recommission a 100MW gasfired generator unit at its mothballed New Plymouth power station in response to an electricity supply squeeze resulting from very low hydro lake storage levels and increasing winter power demand. The New Plymouth power station was closed last December...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — Italian utility Enel and Japan’s Sharp said they have signed an agreement to form a strategic partnership in the photovoltaic sector. The Memorandum of Understanding provides for the two companies to carry out a detailed analysis for the construction in Italy of a plant for the integrated manufacture of photovoltaic...
(EnergyAsia, June 5, Thursday) — French major Total said it has made a “significant” discovery of gas and condensates in Block B about 50 km from the coast of Brunei in a water depth of 62 metres. Total, the operator with a 37.5% stake, said its partners are Shell (35%) and local companies (27.5%). With...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The Australian government is spending heavily to set up an emissions trading system (ETS) within 18 months. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose first act on gaining power last year was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, has added another A$37 million to its A$2.8 billion climate change budget to set up...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — Australian resources company Woodside Petroleum wants China to pay more for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies that they had signed for under a long-term contract in 2003. Then, crude oil was hovering around US$30 a barrel, and natural gas producers struggled to find customers. Chinese state-owned CNOOC agreed to peg...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the industry is in crisis and will suffer “deep losses” this year on account of rising fuel cost. Meeting in Istanbul, the association announced it has revised its industry financial forecast for 2008 significantly downwards to a loss of US$2.3 billion. The forecast...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — High oil prices will slow down world trade and sharply boost inflation, posing a major threat to price stability and overseas manufacturing, according to a new report by CIBC World Markets. Low cost producer in China will lose their main competitive edge while manufacturers in North America, especially the US,...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — SunPower Corporation said it has completed the design and construction of a new 1.4-megawatt (MW) solar electric power plant project in Hampyeong, South Korea. SunPower worked with Korean energy company EnE System to complete the plant, which is owned by Hampyeong Solar Plus, and will generate 1.8 million kilowatt-hours per...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — The World Bank said it has approved the financing of three projects to support China’s effort to improve the efficient use of energy and reduce polluting emissions from power plants in the country. The loans, totalling US$441 million and accounting for almost one third of World Bank lending planned for...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesay) — Australia’s Qantas Group has announced a range of cost saving measures including the cancellation of five per cent of available seat kilometres (ASKs) – the equivalent of grounding six aircraft – in response to continuing high fuel prices. CEO Geoff Dixon said Qantas’ fuel bill would increase by more than...
(EnergyAsia, June 4, Wednesday) — State-owned Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Spain’s Iberdrola SA, the world’s 4th largest electricity company and a renewable energy leader. The two companies will commit to explore joint investment and development opportunities in power generation, renewables and upstream...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — New Zealand’s Austral Pacific Energy Ltd said it has sold off non-core assets in Papua New Guinea to focus on its New Zealand projects. It has agreed to off its interest in Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) 235 and 261 to Foreland Oil Limited, a subsidiary company of Rift Oil...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — This question came to mind as I sat through a background briefing on gas-to-liquid fuel at Shell Singapore’s office last month. Check out www.RenewablesReport.Blogspot.com. Liang Kok Siang, general manager for marketing at the Malaysia-based Shell MDS (M) Sdn Bhd, introduced the fuel to a small group of journalists. GTL...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — Empire Energy Corporation International said the Tasmanian state government of Australia is “pleased” with the company’s recent progress in finalising plans to start drilling for oil and natural gas on its onshore Tasmanian Basin licence area by August. These plans, described in a May 6 analyst report published by...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Monday) — Australia’s Linc Energy Ltd said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China’s Huadian Coal Industry Group, a company jointly owned by the China Huadian Corporation and the Huadian Power International Corporation Ltd. China Huadian Corporation is one of five companies in China that is permitted to...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co said it expects to start up a power plant using wood pellets and coal in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture in mid-August. The 900,000-kilowatt plant in western Japan, will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 92,000 tons per year, equal to about two percent of the plant’s...
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — China’s Baoding Yingli said it is exploring the possibility of undertaking a green field project to manufacture polysilicon with 3,000 metric tons annual capacity in Baoding city. Yingli, through one of its affiliates, and several minority equity holders are considering financing the project themselves if it is deemed feasible....
(EnergyAsia, June 3, Tuesday) — The government of Australia’s Queensland state said it will provide $166,000 to help fund a project to develop biodiesel from algae. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the project was a partnership between James Cook University (JCU) and Australian company MBD Biodiesel Ltd. “Considering the current debate about agricultural land...