(EnergyAsia, August 6, Thursday) — Indonesia’s Tangguh project has exported its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Papua Barat province, said BP, as operator on behalf of the Tangguh project partners. The cargo set sail on board the Tangguh Foja last month, marking the start-up of the Tangguh project just over four years...

(EnergyAsia, August 6, Thursday) — Two leading Chinese solar energy solutions providers said they have recently secured credit and loan facilities. Trina Solar said it has secured from Standard Chartered Bank (China) Limited new credit facilities totalling $57 million, consisting of trade financing and defensive hedging products. The facilities are aimed to provide financial support...

(EnergyAsia, August 6, Thursday) — Astronergy said that it and its partners have launched the first 10 MW phase of a planned 100 MW photovoltaic power station in central China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Initially covering two square kilometers in Shizuishan City in the arid Gobi Desert region, which receives on average 1,600 hours of...

(EnergyAsia, August 6, Thursday) — The International Air Transport Association (IATA)said the airline industry is committed to achieving carbon-neutral growth by 2020. The goal consists of three targets:  a 1.5% average annual improvement in fuel efficiency from 2009 to 2020; carbon-neutral growth from 2020, and a 50% absolute reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. To...

(EnergyAsia, August 6, Thursday) — Building on its leadership position in the delivery of sustainable property solutions, Lend Lease said it has signed a supply agreement with Nasdaq-listed First Solar Inc, one of the world’s leading solar technology providers. Lend Lease’s project management and construction subsidiary, Bovis Lend Lease, has agreed to purchase from First...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd, the specialised shipbuilding arm of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited, said it has delivered a multi-purpose duty rescue vessel on schedule to Russian oil giant LukOil. Jointly designed by Marine Technology Development (MTD), the ship design and development arm of Keppel O&M and its consultants,...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — Underlining the high cost of adopting renewable energy, the UK government said its plan to increase the supply of power from renewable sources could cost each household an additional £250 per year. (US$1=£0.6). The government has set a target of raising renewable energy in the energy mix to 15% by...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — Scientists have launched a global three-stage project to investigate the possibility of developing bioenergy into a major sustainable energy source. Dubbed “Global Sustainable Bionergy: Feasibility and Implementation Paths”, the project will gather representatives from academia, environmental advocacy groups and research institutions for meetings around the world overseen by an 11-person...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — China’s Solarfun Power said it has received a 14.2 MW module order from Nobility Solar Projects for delivery in the second half of this year. Nobility, a distributor of solar products in Eastern Europe, is Solarfun’s distribution partner in the region. Peter Xie, Solarfun’s President, said: “Eastern Europe, and specifically...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — A radical change in attitude to electric vehicles has occurred in 2009, resulting in huge new financing from governments and tough new laws that will boost sales. Now all car makers must offer electric versions in their line up or face oblivion as governments finally get serious about global warming,...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — The Indian government’s mandated purchase price for biodiesel has stifled market activity and put into question the country’s ability to achieve the target of a 20% blend of biofuels in gasoline and diesel by 2017, according to critics. Hyderabad-based Cleancities Biodiesel said it is aiming to supply five million litres...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — The Siyanping wind farm has started up in Wulong county in China’s southwestern province of Chongqing. The 6.6-sq km wind farm, Chongqing’s first, has a total installed capacity of 49.3 megawatts, and is capable of supplying about 90 million kilowatt-hours a year. The company plans to instal another 58 0.85-megawatt...

(EnergyAsia, August 5, Wednesday) — Chinese wafer manufacturer LDK Solar said it has acquired a 70% interest in Solar Green Technology SpA (SGT), an expert system integrator in the Italian market. LDK Solar said the investment will boost its efforts to develop additional projects and strengthen its presence in the Italian PV sector. SGT will...

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — China’s ReneSola said it has signed a letter of intent with the Yancheng city government in Jiangsu province to develop a 500 megawatt on-grid solar power generation project. The project will consist of mainly ground-mounted system applications and 10 MW of rooftop installations to be built over a six-year period....

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — Suntech Power said it has recently signed strategic agreements with four provincial and city governments in China to develop solar projects with a total capacity of 1.8GW. The agreements with Shaanxi province (300MW), Shizuishan city (500MW) in Ningxia province, Qinghai province (500MW) and Panzhihua city (500MW) in Sichuan province will...

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — Japan’s Sanyo Electric said its subsidiary, Shimane Sanyo, will invest 7.88 billion yen in a new HIT solar cell production line, to meet growing worldwide demand for photovoltaic (PV) systems. (US$1=90 yen). Part of the new demand will come from the numerous economic packages launched by governments around the world....

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — The costs of Australia’s Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project could top A$50 billion, matching the costs of the huge Gorgon LNG project, industry sources said.   Gorgon, the country’s largest gas project, has almost three times the gas reserves as Browse, which includes the Torosa, Brecknock and Calliance fields...

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — Australia’s numerous high-value liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects could provide the country an important buffer against the effects of economic recession. Investors are at various stages of developing 10 LNG projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea worth more than A$200 billion. (US$1=A$1.2). Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said...

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — China plans to set up seven new wind power bases with a total capacity of 120GW by 2020. Each base would have a minimum capacity of 10 gigawatts (GW). The Chinese Wind Energy Association said the bases, worth a total of one trillion yuan, would be located in Gansu province,...

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it will invest US$260 million to increase production at its Mount Arthur Coal mine from 11.5 million tonnes per year of saleable thermal coal to 15 million tonnes per year. This is the equivalent of 20 million tonnes per year in a run-of-mine operation....

(EnergyAsia, August 4, Tuesday) — Australia’s leading research agency CSIRO and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said they have been jointly awarded a A$1.6 million grant to increase the understanding of genes responsible for growth and yield in grasses for use as bio-energy and food crops. (US$1=A$1.2). The joint research team will identify the...

(EnergyAsia, August 3, Monday) — World merchandise trade will decline by 10% this year, said the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in a report outlining contingency measures to deal with the global economic crisis. In its 2009 World Trade Report, the WTO said its economists had to revise downward their earlier forecast for   a 9% decline...

(EnergyAsia, August 3, Monday) — OPEC expects world oil to grow by less than 0.6% or about 500,000 b/d to 84.3 million b/d in 2010, ending two consecutive years of decline. It expects world demand to shrink by 1.6 million b/d this year. Agreeing with the IEA, OPEC said non-OECD will make up the bulk...

(EnergyAsia, August 3, Monday) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Spain’s Acciona SA, a world leader in renewable energy, said they have signed a memorandum of understanding, for a comprehensive strategic alliance to develop and operate renewable energy projects and share innovation on sustainable solutions worldwide. Both companies have made a firm commitment to promote economic...

(EnergyAsia, August 3, Monday) — India’s Essar Energy Overseas Limited said it has acquired a combined 50% stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) from three western oil majors, Shell, BP and Chevron. The Kenyan government holds the remaining 50% stake in the company which operates a four-million-metric-tonne-per-year refinery in Mombasa city. As the only...