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) — The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has helped launch a new forum to develop gender- and poverty-sensitive energy policies in the Asia Pacific region. Experts and policy makers will contribute to the regional forum to help provide women and the poor with reliable access (more…)
(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...
recently approved $505 million in financing for six new private equity funds designed to invest in clean and renewable energy projects in emerging markets worldwide. The funds will mobilise a total of $1.6 billion in capital for the sector, representing an historic commitment by OPIC to renewable energy. OPIC is providing up to $50 million...
photo-voltaic (PV) modules, said it is acquiring US-based Trans-India for $375 million. The proposed takeover has to be approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Solar Semiconductor’s President and CEO Hari Surapaneni said the takeover could be completed by February 2009. After the merger, the joint venture could be called as Solar Semiconductor...
energy prices and energy policy, says US energy lobby group SAFE. The spike in energy costs, which boosted annual energy outlays for the typical American family by roughly $1,600 a year over the past two years, has probably undermined US household financial health more than the resetting of subprime mortgages. In turn, the tremendous costs...
technologies to turn non-edible plants, twigs, wood, leaves and agricultural wastes into biofuels, offering opportunities for new businesses. The country has the resources and the land to grow large volumes of non-food crops, said researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CISRO). The key advantage of these new lignocellulose-based biofuels technologies is that...
biodiesel to markets in the US and Europe. The company’s 100,000-tonne-per-year biodiesel plant in Kakinada uses non-edible oils and fatty acids from vegetable as feedstock to make its biodiesel. Another major producer, Cleancities Biodiesel, is planning to start exporting biodiesel to the US and Europe from its new 250,000-tonne-per-year plant at Visakhapatnam. The Indian government...
many green energy projects, thus undercutting the fight against global warming. Until recently, investors around the world had been pouring billions of dollars into green energy. In 2007 alone, US investors pumped some US$2.2 billion into the sector, up 45% from 2006. However, with the worsening credit crisis, project promoters are struggling to raise...
and energy corridor” project, said the country’s Petroleum Ministry. The ministry said the bank could contribute up to US$2.25 billion to help develop Pakistan’s oil and gas infrastructure to serve South and Central Asia including the hydrocarbon-rich states of Turkmenistan and Iran. The projects would include an oil terminal at Gwadar Port as well...
district port collector Edward Baltazar. Mr Baltazar took part in a recent raid on an oil depot that was allegedly involved in oil smuggling. However, authorities said he had been under suspension for alleged extortion and had no business in taking part in the raid. The Philippine’s Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) recently raided and...
(EnergyAsia, November 5, Wednesday) — The following article on the outlook for printed PV in Japan was written by Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx. Photovoltaics (PV) is progressing from the old crystalline and amorphous silicon to thin film technologies that are increasingly printed. There are several types of solar cell involved and they are all (more…)
(EnergyAsia, November 5, Wednesday) — The Philippines ranks 13th in the world in a biofuels attractiveness index recently developed by consultants Ernst & Young. The Philippines is seen as an attractive investment destination for biofuels because of Manila’s support in allocating farmland for the cultivation of feedstock crops, the consultants said. Brazil and the US...
(EnergyAsia, November 5, Wednesday) — Siemens said its Energy Service Division has been awarded a contract to provide long-term maintenance services for the Ca Mau combined cycle power plant (CCPP) in Vietnam. The contract covers four SGT5-4000F gas turbines, two steam turbines and six generators, which Siemens installed in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The contract...
(EnergyAsia, November 5, Wednesday) — The solar energy boom is not all good news for those advocating the environmental cause. China, the hub for production of much of the equipment and parts that produce energy from the sun, is struggling to deal with the side effects of toxic by-products from polysilicon manufacturing. Polysilicon is the...