a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Huaneng Group, for S$4.235 billion in cash. (US$1=S$1.38). The deal is expected to be completed by March 24. Temasek said the sale of Tuas Power, one of the three major power generation companies in Singapore, marks the completion of a competitive and rigorous bidding process which began last October when...
was promoted as a sunrise industry and a solution to combat fight global warming. Of the three plants built on Jurong Island, two have stopped or will soon stop production, while the third is operating well below the capacity. There would have been a fourth plant, but agricultural group Wilmar relocated its project to...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) said it has raised its stake in Australian upstream company Cue Energy Resources Limited to approximately 14.06%. SPC has been steadily buying into Cue Energy with announcements of its growing stakes posted to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) since last July. In its latest announcement, (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Invensys Process Systems said it demonstrated its enhanced SimSci-Esscor PRO/II 8.1.2 software solution at the World Heavy Oils Congress from March 10 to 12 in Edmonton city in Canada’s Alberta province. New capabilities apply the precision of conventional oil simulation software to the unique and specialised processing and modeling requirements...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Chinese wafer manufacturer LDK Solar said it has signed an eight-year ‘take-or-pay’ contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries. LDK Solar will deliver 450 MW of multicrystalline solar wafers to the Korean firm over an eight-year period starting in late 2008 through 2015. Hyundai Heavy...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Los Angeles, US-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation said it has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to jointly invest in hydrocarbon-related projects. The agreement between Occidental and IPIC, a company wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government, provides for the companies to jointly evaluate and participate (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Japanese trading house ITOCHU Corporation and Nasdaq-listed Ascent Solar Technologies Inc have agreed to begin work on developing a number of projects. After a recent round of meetings in Tokyo, the two companies said they will work on the following areas: • Procurement of machinery for Ascent Solar’s planned 100...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) —The extreme winter cold sweeping China has frozen a large part of the Liujiaxia reservoir, threatening the vital Liujiaxia hydropower station in the country’s northwestern region. The wintry conditions are said to be the worst in 60 years. Local officials are worried that when the ice begins melting, the gush...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Norway’s IMAREX said it has hired Mayu Sasako and Laura Lim for its global tanker broker team. Until recently, Ms Sasako and Ms Lim worked at the Geneva offices of leading Asian commodity broker Ginga Petroleum where they helped establish its European presence. “We want to further strengthen our tanker (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — The world carbon market was worth US$60 billion last year, up 80% from 2006, said consultants Point Carbon in its annual report which it claims is the largest survey ever conducted into the sector. The total traded volume increased by 64% from 1.6 billion tons in 2006 to 2.7 billion...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said it has acquired its first carbon credits or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), generated from the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects supported by the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF). The PCF, managed by the World Bank, is the world’s first carbon fund. JBIC participated...
(EnergyAsia, March 14, Friday) — Australia’s largest off-grid solar power station is set to be built at remote Coober Pedy in the northern part of South Australia state. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and the state’s Premier, Mike Rann, jointly announced the A$7.1 million project at the recent 3rd International Solar Cities Congress in Adelaide....
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Germany’s Q-Cells became the world’s largest producer of solar cells last year after a 46% rise in production enabled it to overtake the previous year’s leaders, Japan’s Sharp Corp and China’s Suntech Power. According to PHOTON International magazine, Q-Cells’ 2007 production was 370 megawatts (MW), slightly ahead of Sharp and...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Increased revenues from oil exports could provide an excellent opportunity to boost public investment in agriculture in the Near East, a region faced by food insecurity, land degradation, water scarcity, animal diseases and high food import bills, said Food and Agricultural Organization Director-General Jacques Diouf. “Investment in agriculture, from both...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Trina Solar has signed an agreement with the Lianyungang Municipality in China’s Jiangsu province to develop a 10,000-metric ton multi-phased polysilicon production plant by end-2012. The local government will provide the land and electric power supply for the US$1 billion project. “We are extremely pleased by the strong support under...
(EnergyAsia, March 12, Thursday) — The CEO of Asian plantation giant Wilmar International has warned that biodiesel may be in for a “lousy year” as rising palm oil feedstock prices are squeezing margins. But Kuok Khoon Hong remains bullish about palm oil prices, which recently rose to a record RM4,000 per tonne in Malaysia. Wilmar,...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — Tokyo Electron (TEL) has announced it is venturing into the photovoltaic cell production business after “extensive exploratory research” in the photovoltaic field. The company said it has agreed to establish a 51/49 joint venture with Sharp Corporation, a leading Japanese company in PV cell technology to commercialise plasma CVD systems...
(EnergyAsia, March13, Thursday) — ET Solar, a Nanjing, China-based integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products including ingot, wafer, module, and state-of-the-art dual-axis tracking systems, said it has signed a framework collaborative agreement with Spain’s Meca Solar, one of the largest global state-of-the-art manufacturers of solar tracker systems. Meca Solar will provide technical and technological support and...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — China is expected to provide Nepal soft loans worth a total of US$187 million for the construction of two hydropower projects. The proposed 61 MW Upper Trishuli 3 ‘A’ and 44 MW Upper Trishuli 3 ‘B’ hydropower plants are slated to sell their electricity to domestic consumers, according to a (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) – Concluding last week’s major three-day Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008), more than 2,800 officials from 119 countries have promised to promote renewable energy use and sustainable development, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting launched the Washington International Action Program (WIAP), which will see governments, local authorities, private...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — The electricity produced by China’s wind power sector surged by more than 95% last year to 5.6 billion kilowatt hours, said industry association China Electricity Council. This came on top of a 22% rise in 2006. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s leading economic planning agency, expects further growth...
(EnergyAsia, March 13, Thursday) — San Francisco, California-based Cleantech America Inc, a leading developer of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar farms, said it has received a substantial strategic investment in its Series B equity round from Taiwan’s Wafer Works Corp. The investor, a manufacturer of silicon wafers, has expanded into the solar power industry through its...
(EnergyAsia, March 12, Wednesday) — ‘Strategic Talent Management for Oil and Gas 2008’, a conference on skilled labour and professional workers, will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from April 7 to 9.The shortage of skilled engineers in the oil and gas industry is a problem that has persisted for many years. The last oil (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 12, Wednesday) — China International Electric Power & Electric Engineering Technology Exhibition (EPETEE), rebranded to China EPower, will be held at Intex in Shanghai, China from April 22 to 24.The rebranding effort is part of the long-term strategy to grow the event into an internationally recognised platform for the global power industry. It (more…)
(EnergyAsia, March 12, Wednesday) — Singapore-listed Courage Marine Group Limited, a dry bulk shipper focused on infrastructure and energy commodities, said its net profit surged 117% to US$60.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. It said the strong demand for energy and building raw materials from China and the rest of Asia drove...