Energy News Monitor | Volume XI; Issue 46

[April 2015: an uneventful month for energy]

                             “April 2015 could be labelled as an uneventful month for the Indian energy sector going by standards set in the past: there were no new scams; power generators had sufficient coal stock; power outages were limited to the rural poor (which are accepted as the norm); oil prices were relatively low and stable; the routine statements from the energy ministers of the new government that power outages will be history and that India will re-write energy history with solar energy were made at regular intervals…”

Energy News

[GOOD]

Aligning high-grade coal prices to international prices is the first step towards global market integration!                                   

                                                                                                       [BAD]

‘One group, one bid’ idea for coal block auctions may pave the way for diversions!

[UGLY]

CO₂ emissions from Indian thermal plants is higher than global standards because inefficacy has no penalty!   

 

NEWS BRIEF

[NATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

April 28, 2015. In an apparent reference to China, Vietnam asserted that "nobody" could prevent India's oil exploration efforts in its country, stating it was being undertaken in Hanoi's exclusive territorial waters. Stating that the projects were awarded in the territorial waters of Vietnam to India, he said, "India's exploration of oil and gas is in exclusively economic zone of Vietnam. So, nobody can prevent it". In October 2014, China had cautioned that it would firmly oppose any exploration activity in South China Sea if it undermines its sovereignty and interests, hours after India inked pact with Vietnam for exploration in two additional oil and gas blocks in the resource-rich area. On tourist arrivals from India to Vietnam, Ambassador of Vietnam to India Ton Sinh Thanh said it was increasing 100 percent every year and was at 55,000 people in 2014. On India's corporate presence, Thanh said there were 85 companies with investments of about USD one billion in Vietnam. They included major Indian automobile players like Bajaj Auto and Hinduja group flagship company Ashok Leyland. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 24, 2015. India's national oil companies are likely to spend about $20 billion, or about ` 1,25,000 crore, in developing oil field services, exploration and production (E&P) between 2015-2017 even though the oil sector is in turmoil on account of falling crude oil prices world over, forecasts a new study. According to industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and global consultancy Ernst & Young, in the present scenario oil field services (OFS) companies would be looking to expand service capabilities which would be realised through strategic joint venture opportunities both onshore and offshore. PHDCCI said the refining capacity of national oil companies would rise to 245 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) by 2018 from current level of 223 mmtpa. Established in 1905, PHDCCI is a multi-state apex organisation that acts as a catalyst in the promotion of industry, trade and entrepreneurship. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 23, 2015. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has agreed to conduct tests prescribed by upstream regulator DGH to confirm three key gas discoveries in its Krishna Godavari (KG) basin block to end a standoff that stalled its USD 8 dollar project. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had not approved Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) for three out of the 11 discoveries ONGC has made in its KG block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) in the Bay of Bengal. It reasoned that there was absence of surface flow as well as Drill Stem Test (DST) data. Without DoC, ONGC cannot proceed with the developing or bringing the finds to production. To resolve the standoff, ONGC has agreed to conduct DST on all the three discoveries, the company said. ONGC proposes to develop the KG discoveries in three clusters - combining finds D and E in KG-D5 block with discovery in neighbouring G-4 block as Cluster-I. All other finds except ultra deepsea UD-1 discovery are to be developed as Cluster-II. The UD-1 find will be developed as Cluster-III. While DGH is agreeable to DoC for the Cluster-II finds, it has not approved the same for discoveries D, E and UD-1 in absence of surface flow data and Drill Stem Test (DST) data. ONGC has begun conducting DST on D and E finds. UD-1 discovery alone holds 2.836 trillion cubic feet of inplace gas reserves. Discoveries D and E hold 587.6 billion cubic feet (bcm) of inplace reserves. For Cluster-II, DGH has approved 1.42 Tcf of gas reserves and 140.891 million barrels of oil that would require a capex of USD 6 billion to develop. Cluster-1 would need about USD 2 billion more. Previously, DGH had refused to recognise D-29, 30 and 31 gas finds Reliance Industries' KG-D6 block as well as those in NEC-25 block in absence of a DST. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) issue is yet to be resolved. KG-D5 is divided into Northern Discovery Area (NDA) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA). Estimated reserves of NDA are 121 million tonnes of oil in place and 78 billion cubic meter of initial gas in place, and that of SDA are 80.9 bcm of initial gas in place. ONGC plans to develop the discoveries in the block in three clusters -- 14.5 million standard cubic meters per day of gas for 15 years from Cluster-1 comprising of D&E finds of NDA in KG-D5 block and G-4 find in the a neighbouring area. Cluster-2A mainly comprises of oil finds in NDA which can produce 75,000 barrels per day (3.75 million tons per annum). Cluster 2B, which is made up of four gas finds in NDA, envisages a peak output of 14 mmscmd of gas, with cumulative production of 32.5 bcm of gas in 14 years. (www.business-standard.com)

April 27, 2015. Commissioning its ` 34,555 crore Paradip oil refinery in Odisha, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said it will start full-fledged production by the end of the year. IOC said the whole 15 million tonne a year refinery is likely to take about 6-8 months for becoming fully operational. The refinery is designed to process broad basket of crude, including cheaper high sulphur heavy crudes, and has an overall Nelson complexity factor of 12.2. Once fully operational, the refinery will produce 700,000 tonnes of LPG, 200,000 tonnes of propylene a year, 3.8 million tonnes of petrol, 380,000 tonnes of ATF and 6.9 million tonnes of diesel. IOC said many new features at the refinery will ensure environment-friendly operation with minimum impact on the nature. The crude oil processing at the Paradip refinery began. Paradip will be IOC's 8^th refinery in the country and is expected to help the company scale up its refining capacity to 69.2 million tonnes from the current 54.2 million tonnes per annum. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. India is in talks with Qatar to import at least 10 percent less liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a long-term deal after a slide in spot prices has cut demand by local buyers, Indian government said. New Delhi would for the first time use a 10 percent reduction permissible under a 25-year contract with Qatar's RasGas to import up to 7.5 million tonnes a year of the super cooled fuel, Indian government said. India's biggest importer Petronet LNG received its first cargo from RasGas under the current deal in 2004 with pricing linked to the oil. India's LNG import costs under the deal are currently around $13 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), versus spot prices of $6-$7 per mmBtu, according to Petronet LNG. Asian spot LNG prices LNG-AS rose as high as $20 per mmBtu last year, buoyed by soaring demand from emerging markets such as China and India as well as extra Japanese imports due to the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. But spot prices have come off by two-thirds since February 2014 as Asia's economies slow and new production, especially in Australia, comes online. (www.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. The stand-off between Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and a cartel of truck operators over LPG cylinder freight charges has choked supply of subsidised cooking gas to lakhs of households in South Kerala. The artificial shortage of gas has upset the daily schedule of thousands of families in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta and caused civil society to react sharply to the crisis. Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has denounced the State government for “doing nothing” to resolve the two-month-old crisis. Most IOC agencies in the affected districts have minimum 60-day backlog of bookings. In one agency, more than 15,000 “refill calls” were pending delivery. In comparison, customers of Bharath Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have not reported any hitch in supply. With gas stoves running low on fuel and timely replenishment of LPG cylinders in serious doubt, many consumers have turned to hotplates and micro-wave ovens, triggering a worrisome hike in their electricity bills this summer.

Rural consumers, who have access to traditional firewood hearths at their homes, seemed to endure the shortage better than their urban counterparts. The IOC customarily contracted the transportation of cylinders to lowest quoted per kilometre freight rate. This year only 29 truck owners bagged the individual contracts though the company required a minimum 130 transporters to maintain its supply chain. A cartel of four businessmen, who owned more than 120 LPG trucks between them, quoted high rates and consequently lost the deal. In effect, the IOC’s transportation fleet strength had been reduced by more than a third due to the “oddities” in the company’s transport contract conditions. The State government had no control over the “impossible situation” and it was for the Union Ministry of Petroleum to take the necessary steps to resolve the crisis. (www.thehindu.com)

April 23, 2015. Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has permitted GAIL (India) Ltd for laying of a 3.85-km gas pipeline within Old industrial area, Yamunanagar for supply of gas to its prospective customers in this area. The network by GAIL will provide this gas to the entrepreneurs in the area which can be used for heating and cooling purposes. (www.business-standard.com)

April 22, 2015. Bharat Petroleum arm Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) for export of petroleum products to the neighbouring country. The MoU paves the way for export of petroleum products from NRL's marketing terminal in Siliguri in West Bengal to the BPC depot in Parbatipur in Bangladesh through the proposed 'Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline'. The proposed pipeline will be 130-km-long and have the capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). (www.business-standard.com)

April 22, 2015. Addressing supply chain issues at the planning stage can ensure viability of new project in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, which is facing massive challenges in unprecedented wave of expansion, according to KPMG Global Energy Institute report. LNG developers are facing the challenges of lower oil and gas prices, and consequent reductions in capital expenditure, along with more remote and challenging projects. According to KPMG report, to ensure that new LNG projects are viable and successful, and to extract maximum value from existing projects, proponents and operators have to unlock their supply chain. KPMG Global Energy Institute has identified the three major challenges faced in the LNG supply chains - the size and complexity of projects; the remoteness and other challenges (for instance political and environmental) of the new wave of projects; and the construction of multiple plants in contiguous locations, leading to bottlenecks and sharply-rising costs of labor and materials. Optimising the supply chain, both during construction and operations, is key to reducing costs and speeding time to market for LNG projects. Those companies that proactively address supply chain now will be best-placed both to deliver their existing projects successfully, and to launch new ones ahead of the competition, Gaurav Moda, head, Oil & Gas Practice, KPMG in India said. KPMG Global Energy Institute report provides 10 ways to address supply chain challenges: put human resources first; adapt learning from other industries; collaborate with other operators; re-think contractual relationships with suppliers; prepare for environmental, ethical and local content supply chain requirements; unlock the potential of modularisation; consider floating LNG (FLNG); understand the local environment; foresee the handover to operations; and adapt maintenance policy to location. (www.business-standard.com)

April 28, 2015. Hazira LNG Ltd will expand the capacity of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the west coast by 50 percent to 7.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in the fiscal year to March 2017, a government panel report said. Royal Dutch Shell owns through its unit Shell Gas a 74 percent stake in Hazira LNG, while Total GazElectricite France, a unit of France's Total, holds the remainder. India is expanding the capacity of its gas import facilities, part of efforts to increase the share of cleaner fuel in its energy mix to improve air quality. India currently has infrastructure to annually import and regassify 25 million tonnes of the super-cooled fuel and the capacity of the existing facilities is expected to rise to 41 mtpa in 2016/17. The report said that new terminals with capacities of up to 27 mtpa were at various stages of planning on both the eastern and western coasts of the country. With a 26 percent stake, Shell is also part of a consortium building Kakinada LNG on the east coast. In the current fiscal year India's gas deficit is expected to widen to 300 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd) from 152 mscmd in 2012/13, the report said. India's local gas production currently falls far short of what was planned, due mainly to a significant decline in the output of Reliance Industries Ltd-operated KG-D6 block on the east coast. Reliance and partner BP have blamed geological complexities for the fall in output, but the oil regulator believes they failed to drill enough wells. Falling output had already prompted the government to disallow about $2.4 billion in cost recovery to Reliance up to 2013/14, leading to arbitration proceedings over the issue. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. Complaints of alleged malpractices in petrol pump allotment have reduced significantly with a transparent system replacing the "subjective process" followed earlier, Government said. There has been no cancellation of petrol pumps due to irregularities in allotment by various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) reported in the last three years, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. The number of complaints relating to alleged irregularities in allotment of petrol pumps have declined since this government came to power, he claimed. There were just four complaints in the last fiscal, three with Indian Oil Corp Ltd and one with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Goyal said. The Power Minister, replying on behalf of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was not present, said the number of complaints have come down since a "transparent system" is in place. As far as the process of retail outlet dealer association and allotment is concerned, a transparent system of draw of lots/bidding has been introduced for selection of dealers which was previously based on marks and interview system, the Minister said. In earlier instances when it was found that there was substance in the complaints, either the merit panel was scrapped or the dealership terminated, he said. To a query on black marketing of petrol and diesel, the Minister said the government has taken stern action, including imposing heavy penalties, on entities indulging in such acts. Goyal said oil tankers cannot be given on an arbitary fashion as there was a definite process that is followed. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. The oil ministry has rejected Reliance Industries’ latest arbitration notice challenging the government decision to take away 814 sq km of its KG-D6 gas block, saying it was misconceived and untenable in law. The ministry held that the move is in accordance with the provisions of the contract and there’s no dispute that needs to be arbitrated upon. The ministry gave reasons for its stand and cited provisions of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for that, asking Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to withdraw the notice forthwith. In line with the guideline on giving up non-discovery area, RIL had in 2013 offered 5,385 sq km out of a total 7,645 sq km in KG basin KG-D6 block. But the ministry on October 30, 2013, ordered 6,198.88 sq km of total area to be taken away as the time of production had expired. RIL on January 14 challenged this order, stating the 814 sq km of additional area contained five gas discoveries holding close to 1 trillion cubic feet of reserves. The ministry took the line that the exploration period for the KG-D6 block had lapsed on July 15, 2008, and so were timelines for submission of appraisal and field development plan for any discovery. Timelines for satellite discoveries — D4, D7, D8, D16 and D23 — had been overshot and no development plan was submitted by the operator, the ministry said. (www.asianage.com)

April 24, 2015. Petrochemicals industry in India is likely to touch USD 100 billion by 2020, more than double the current size of about USD 40 billion, according to a study by industry body Assocham. Petrochemicals industry contributes about 30 percent to country's USD 120 billion worth chemical industry, which is likely to grow at an annual growth rate of 11 percent over the next few years and touch USD 250 billion by 2020, the study said. The domestic petrochemical industry is in the process of investing over $25 billion to meet the surging demand, the industry body said, while adding that mergers and acquisition (M&A) opportunities are among the key imperatives for the sector. The industry body said good opportunities exist in the segments like specialty chemicals and specialty polymers for catering to huge emerging domestic demand. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 23, 2015. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) disposed of a case alleging unfair business practices by Gujarat Gas Company with respect to supply of natural gas to industrial customers in certain districts of Gujarat. The fair trade regulator's disposal came even after its investigation arm Director General (DG) in its report had concluded that there were violations of competition norms. CCI had initiated a detailed probe in the case following a complaint by Saint Gobain Glass. The float glass maker had alleged that Gujarat Gas abused its dominant market position by imposing unfair conditions in its 'Gas Supply Agreement (GSA)' and charging differential pricing. CCI observed that various companies were operating in the space of production, transmission and distribution of natural gas throughout the country. (www.business-standard.com)

April 22, 2015. In a big boost to domestic oil and gas exploration, the government has decided to exempt state-owned ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) from paying for LPG subsidies in current fiscal, Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra said. The government regulates price of cooking fuels LPG and kerosene to shield the poor. The difference between the cost and the retail selling price, called under-recoveries, is borne by the government by way of cash subsidy and upstream producers like ONGC. Upstream oil and gas producers ONGC, OIL and GAIL had to borne a portion of subsidy on cooking fuels LPG and kerosene and diesel till October 2014. After diesel price was deregulated in October 2014, the subsidy sharing was limited to LPG and kerosene. Chandra said the government has exempted Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and OIL from payment of fuel subsidy in the fourth quarter after the Finance Ministry agreed to meet the revenue loss on fuel sales. The Finance Ministry will pay ` 5,324 crore in fuel subsidy for the January-March quarter, effectively meeting all revenue retailers losses on selling domestic LPG and kerosene at government-controlled rates. Under-recoveries, or revenue retailers' loss on selling fuel below cost, of ` 67,091 crore in first nine months of the fiscal were fully accounted for by the subsidy support and dole out from upstream firms like ONGC. The Oil Secretary said since the government is paying LPG subsidy directly to consumers in their bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, it has been decided that this will be entirely met from the Budget. ONGC and OIL will have to bear subsidy on only kerosene in 2015-16, he said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 22, 2015. Heeding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call, industrialist Anil Ambani has given up cooking gas subsidies and has urged his group's about one lakh employees to follow suit. Ambani joins a host of industry leaders, including Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra, Anil Agarwal, Gautam Adani, Uday Kotak and Kishore Biyani, who have rallied behind Modi's call to well-to-do people to give up buying LPG at below market price so as to help cut subsidy bill. It appealed to employees, who can afford to buy LPG at market price, to "voluntarily join this moment and contribute to the cause of nation building." Modi had launched the 'Give-it-Up' campaign, nudging the well-to-do to give up LPG subsidies. Over three lakh people, including ministers, government and public sector officials and MPs have given up using subsidised LPG. While a subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinder costs ` 417 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi, a marketed priced bottle of the same size comes for ` 621. Consumes are entitled to get 12 cylinders at the subdidised rate in a year. In its letter to employees, the Group also detailed the procedure for giving up the use of subsidised LPG. (www.dnaindia.com)

 [NATIONAL: POWER]

April 28, 2015. Reliance Power said it has terminated the contract for ` 36,000 crore Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Jharkhand over inordinate delays in land acquisition. The firm had, in August 2009, won rights to set up a 3,960 MW power plant at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand after bidding a levelised tariff of ` 1.77 per unit but couldn't start work on the project as the state government had not provided the required land even after more than five years. Jharkhand Integrated Power Ltd (JIPL), a special purpose vehicle created for implementing the project, had signed PPA with 18 power off-takers in 10 states for 25 years. The project was based on captive coal blocks for which coal was to be sourced from Kerendari BC coal mine block. The total land requirement for the project was over 17,000 acres. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) required procurers to handover land and other clearances by February 2010. The company said in spite of more than 25 review meetings and extensive and continuous follow-ups with the state government, the required land is yet to be made available. With the termination of this project, Reliance Power has reduced its future capital expenditure by ` 36,000 crore and remains financially conservative with debt equity ratio of 1.5:1, which is one of the lowest in the sector. Earlier, the company had commissioned its 3,960 MW Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh, 12 months ahead of PPA schedule. The Sasan UMPP is the largest integrated power plant cum coal mining project at a single location in the world, involving an investment of over ` 27,000 crore. The company has also commissioned 1,200 MW Rosa Power project located in Uttar Pradesh, 600 MW Butibori Power project in Maharashtra as well as 185 MW of solar and wind projects located in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Reliance Power has an operating portfolio of 5,945 MW, based on coal and renewable energy. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. Stranded gas-based power generation capacity totaling 2,700 MW in Andhra Pradesh (AP) is expected to be restored under a mechanism announced by the Centre targeting their revival through a mix of imported LNG supply and a subsidy grant. Gas power projects with a combined capacity of about 6,350 MW remain unutilised for want of fuel in the state, constituting 45 percent of the total 14,000 MW stranded capacity in the country. About 9000 MW of the total stranded capacity in the country is slated to be utilised under the Union government’s scheme. Imported gas would be allocated to these projects for generation of power on a reverse bidding basis, which begins at ` 5.50 wherein a grant in the range of ` 0.94 paise to ` 1.20 per unit would be offered from the Centre’s ` 3,500-crore Power Systems Development Fund. Andhra Pradesh (AP), which is expected to have 8-10 percent surplus availability of power in the current year, is already making efforts to increase the demand in a bid to absorb the additional power. (www.business-standard.com)

April 25, 2015. With the completion of over 80 percent work, the first unit of NTPC-Kudgi thermal plan is just 11 months away from generating electricity. Balaji Ayengar, Group General Manager of the plant he said that the work was in full swing to meet the deadline as testing of turbines and boilers, which are critical components of the plant, was in the last phase. Informing that each 800 MW unit would be commissioned within a gap of six months each from the operation of the first unit in March next year, Ayengar said that over 4 million tonnes of coal was needed for each plant annually. Regarding doubling of railway line from Hotagi junction of Maharashtra to Kudgi plant for supplying coal, Ayengar said that the NTPC has paid ` 956 crore to Ministry of Railways for laying the line. Konkan Railway and South Western Railway were laying the line, which is expected to complete by mid-2017. He informed that the NTPC has 40 plants across the country with a combined electricity generation capacity of 44,598 MW.

With an objective of enhancing the quality of service and equipments used in NTPC plant, the Corporation, for the first time, has introduced vendor enlistment scheme. Elaborating on the scheme, Ayengar said that under the new scheme, any company or agency can now supply equipment or service to any NTPC plant of the country. Earlier, the agencies or service providers did not have this option, thus NTPC had to take the service of only locally available companies. He said that for any details of the new initiative, one could log onto www.vendor.ntpc.co.in. (www.thehindu.com)

April 22, 2015. Himachal Pradesh Power Corp's mega hydropower project, being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), not only faces a cost overrun of ` 606 crore but may also become commercially unviable, India's official auditor has said. The very purpose of the ADB giving the grant under its Clean Energy Development Programme for the run-of-the-river 111 MW SawraKuddu Hydroelectric Project in upper Shimla that aims to generate 385 million units a year could be defeated due to an accounting procedure adopted by the state government, a recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said.

The slow progress by contractors, inadequate provisioning of some works in the detailed project report, subsequent change in design and the late handing over of the sites to contractors are the main reasons for the cost escalation and delay, the report said. The delay of more than five years from January 2012 to June 2017 in completing the project has not only resulted in a cost increase from ` ` 558.53 crore to ` 1,165.53 crore but also generation loss of ` 727.77 crore. The inordinate delay, said the auditor, will consequentially increase in per MW cost from ` 5.03 crore to ` 10.50 crore and per unit generation cost to ` 6.95 from ` 2.34.

Himachal Pradesh's hydropower generation potential is 27,436 MW - about 25 percent of the country's total. However, only 9,433 MW of power has been tapped till last December, which is 34 percent of the total potential, said the state's economic survey for 2014-15. (www.newkerala.com)

April 28, 2015. India and Spain have agreed to advance their bilateral negotiations on cooperation in nuclear energy, with the European nation stating that it would support New Delhi's early membership of the four multilateral export control regimes. A joint statement issued by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said the intent on both sides was to further advance bilateral negotiations on a framework agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. India and Spain have a number of bilateral treaties and agreements with each other, with the bilateral trade between the two nations from January to August 2014 standing at USD 3.37 billion. (www.newkerala.com)

April 28, 2015. India has sent a team of engineers from the Indian Power Grid to Nepal, hit by a massive earthquake, to restore power supply, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said. A team from Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is going to Nepal to provide fuel supplies, he said. (www.business-standard.com)

April 27, 2015. NTPC, India's largest power producer, has decided against importing coal in the current quarter in view of adequate supplies from the state run miner Coal India Ltd (CIL). This will lower generation costs and, therefore, tariffs for consumers because imported coal, which has higher energy content, is costlier than the domestic coal that is used in bulk in power plants. NTPC said that import requirements are reviewed every quarter and orders are placed to international suppliers depending on the supply potential from Coal India. Coal India has earmarked 78% of its planned production of 550 million tonnes, or 430 million tonnes, to be supplied to the power utility sector. In 2014-15, Coal India's supplies to power utilities increased 8.6% compared to that in the previous year, adding that dispatch of coal and coal products from the miner also increased to 384.18 million tonnes, up 30.35 million tonnes from that in the preceding year. CIL helped NTPC boost its coal stock to 9.06 million tonnes as of March 2015, from just 1.6 million tonnes at the end of September last year. The healthy coal stock was due to enhanced coal supply from Coal India's subsidiaries to NTPC, especially in the second half of 2014-15. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 26, 2015. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) is looking to invest about ` 20,000 crore in its power business to take the generation capacity to 8,600 MW in the next five years. The company's present capacity is 5,300 MW including 3400 MW of its arm Jindal Power. The company has completed its 2,400 MW Tamnar expansion project in Chhattisgarh for about ` 13,000 crore. The company required an estimated 16.5 million tonnes of coal per annum to fuel both the projects and was actively evaluating options to secure supplies. For the power plant in Godda in Jharkhand, the company is also evaluating the options available. The Coal Ministry had rejected the bids of JSPL and Balco for four blocks. Jindal Power had emerged as successful bidder for Gare IV/2, Gare Palma IV/3 and Tara coal blocks, while Balco had successfully bid for Gare Palma IV/1 coal block. (www.business-standard.com)

April 26, 2015. Indian Railways is anticipating increased freight loadings from the coal sector with the Centre removing hurdles in the allotment of coal blocks. The public sector entity has said systemic improvements and innovative measures in the area of wagon movement need to be taken keeping in view the upcoming demand. Railway Board Member (Traffic) Ajay Shukla felt that growth in the economy would result in increased potential for freight movement. The Member held a meeting with top officials of the South Central Railway zone. He asked the zone to take necessary measures to achieve a freight loading target of 128 million tonnes in the financial year 2015-16. (www.thehindubusinessline.com)

April 26, 2015. Delayed summer and unexpected rains brought the country's peak power deficit down to 3.2 percent in March, according to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data. Peak power deficit -- shortage in electricity supply when demand is at its highest -- stood at 4.7 percent in March 2014. According to data, the power requirement in March was 1,38,938 MW of which the supply was 1,34,532 MW leaving a shortfall of 4,406 MW. As per a government, the reason for improvement is unexpected rains and delay in arrival of summer. Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram saw a sharp rise in peak power deficit last month at 11.3 percent. This deficit was 5.5 percent in March 2014. Peak power deficit in the southern region states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Puducherry and Lakshadweep last month was 3.1 percent as compared to 6.3 percent in March last year. North Indian states of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan recorded a shortage of 6.2 percent last month. This is an improvement from previous year's 7.7 percent. The deficit in the Western region comprising Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa came down to one percent from last year's 1.5 percent in the same month. The peak power shortage in Eastern India (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha etc) improved to 0.7 percent last month as compared to 1.8 percent in March 2014. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Power has set a target of generating close to 1,100 billion units of electricity during the current financial year. Power generation during 2014-15 was 1,048.403 billion units. (www.business-standard.com)

April 24, 2015. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) said it has transferred two transmission projects to Power Grid Corporation of India. REC Transmission Projects, a wholly-owned subsidiary of REC formed two project specific special purpose vehicles (SPVs) -- Gadarwara (A) Transco Ltd and Gadarwara (B) Transmission Ltd -- to establish two transmission projects. Power Grid emerged as the successful bidder for these two transmission projects, REC said in a regulatory filing to BSE. The two SPVs have been transferred to Power Grid. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 23, 2015. Electricity consumers in the country are likely to benefit by about ` 69,311 crore from a reduction in power tariffs following negative bidding for coal blocks, the power ministry said. Of the 204 coal blocks cancelled by the Supreme Court, the government has so far auctioned and allotted 67 mines and blocks. The revenue likely to be generated from the auction and the allotment of these mines and blocks is about ` 3.35 lakh crore. In negative bidding, power producers seeking to win captive coal blocks forgo their right to pass on mining costs to consumers and instead agree to pay the government. The government has allotted 20 blocks in Jharkhand, 14 in Chhattisgarh, 11 in West Bengal, nine in Maharashtra, seven in Odisha, five in Madhya Pradesh, and one in Telangana. At the next auction in May, 11 blocks will be offered for the power sector and five for the non-power sector. The level of readiness of end-use plants for this auction will be less than in the previous round, although the percentage has not been decided, according to coal ministry. The auctioned blocks are likely to produce 500 million tonnes of coal by 2020, when Coal India's output is expected to touch 1 billion tonnes, the coal ministry said. Coal India's board of directors has cleared proposals targeting production of some 908 million tonnes. The company is identifying projects for another 100 million tonnes. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 28, 2015. The government will continue the process of auctioning coal blocks after successfully putting 33 mines under the hammer earlier this year, R N Choubey, Special Secretary of the Ministry of Power said. Choubey said 18,000 to 19,000 MW of power projects in the country were still in need of coal. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has changed a decades-long method of allocating mining licenses, launching a round of auctions to reduce risk of wrongdoing after a Supreme Court last August cancelled more than 200 illegal coal block awards made over two decades. (profit.ndtv.com)

April 28, 2015. India has missed the power generation capacity addition target for the second straight year in last fiscal, a report by the Standing Committee on Energy said. According to a report, the electricity generation target of 17,830 MW and 17,825 MW for the fiscals 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively, were not achieved. During the last financial year (till February 2015), 15,935 MW was produced against the target of 17,830 MW. Similarly, during the 2013-14, 17,825 MW of power was produced against a target of 18,432 MW production. However, in the first year (2012-13) of the current Five Year Plan Period (2012-17), the power generation capacity addition was achieved. The target was 17,956 MW, while the total production was 20,623 MW.

The Power Ministry said the major difficulties faced in the capacity addition programme were delays in land acquisition, poor performance by civil contractors, delays in supplies by BHEL and contractual disputes. The hydro power projects were delayed due to law and order problems, poor geology, flash floods and difficult terrain, delay in forest clearances, among others. The Power Ministry said as part of remedial measures, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is monitoring power projects through frequent site visits and critical study of monthly progress reports. The Ministry is conducting periodic review of the issues related to supply of power equipment from BHEL. The central government is coordinating with the state governments on the progress of projects in their respective states. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. Government said there are 163 cases in Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) where compensation has not been paid to people for acquisition of land for mining purposes due to various reasons. Giving details of the 163 cases, the Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said the affected areas were Mugma, Rajmahal, Kajora, Kunustoria, Pandaveswar, Salanpur, Satgram and Sodepur. The Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) has six cases for compensation and employment. Goyal said that ` 1,048 crore worth of compensation was given during 2014-15, up from ` 761 crore in the previous year. He said the cases relating to non-submission of documents of ownership have to be settled on receipt of the same from project-affected persons and cases of disputes could be settled as per the judgments of the Tribunal or High Court. Goyal said certain grievances with reference to payment of compensation and providing employment to persons whose lands were acquired for mining by the two companies have been received by those firms. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. India is undertaking exploration of rare earth element (REE) monazite, an essential source of nuclear fuel, and has already set up a plant in Odisha for processing the mineral, Parliament was informed. Monazite is an atomic mineral and contains thorium an essential nuclear fuel. Minister of state for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai said, "Exploration and exploitation of rare earth elements are being undertaken. Monazite is a mineral of Thorium and REE and the only commercial source of REE in the country." He said, "Recently, Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IREL) has set up a plant at Orissa Sand Complex to process 10,000 tonnes of Monazite per annum." IREL processes monazite to produce rare earth compounds. The company, under the Department of Atomic Energy, has also set up a facility at its Rare Earth Division in Kerala to produce separated high purity rare earth utilising mixed rare earth chloride produced in the Odisha plant. India has the highest monazite reserve in the world with 11.39 million tonnes but stopped production since 2004 after cheap monazite became available from China. The Minister said Geological Survey of India is also carrying out exploration in different parts of the country for other sources of REE. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 27, 2015. Surplus land not required by coal mining companies would either be returned to the state governments or could be used for building solar power plants, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said. The government has examined the issue of amending Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 to return the mined out land and the land acquired but found to be in excess of actual requirement to the state government for utilisation after reclaiming them, Goyal said. He said protection of such land against encroachment and their maintenance often involves unnecessary expenditure for the state-run coal companies. The excess land can be used for projects like afforestation, renewable energy and public utility services, the minister said. (www.business-standard.com)

April 26, 2015. Former minister and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said that atomic energy was also important for India. He said that the Kudankulam atomic energy plant was good and that people should not protest against it. He said that power from mere solar, wind, hydel and thermal sources would not be sufficient to meet the demand of over 127 crore Indians. Thus, atomic energy was a good solution. It is risky, but there is damage everywhere, even in case of hydel power where forest land is the casualty, he said. This is besides the cost factor. He said India’s environmental context had four dimensions - demography, change in monsoon, public health and lifestyle. In other nations, environmental changes are due to deforestation, glaciers and increase in sea level. In India, the factors are more; thus a different path is needed to tackle the problem. Mining is another major problem to deal with, Ramesh said. (www.deccanherald.com)

April 26, 2015. In the next round of auctions, the Coal Ministry may cap the number of bids a corporate can make for a mine at one time. If multiple bids are made, the best one will be counted. In the first round of auctions, one group could not only put in more than bids but all or many could make it to the final list. Now, it will be just one bid from one group. Learning from the recently concluded first round of auctions wherein corporate majors made multiple bids for the same block through group companies, the Ministry is looking to tighten up the process. Though the norms set a minimum number of bids for a mine to be put up for auction, they did not place any restrictions on multiple bids by one group. Thus, for instance, Naveen Jindal’s Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) put in multiple bids for same mines — Gare Palma IV/8, Jamkhani, Utkal C, Gare Palma IV/1, Gare Palma IV/2&3, and Gare Palma IV/7. Aditya Birla Group and SesaSterlite used sister companies to make several bids. Players like Jaypee and Adani Power also followed the same approach. The Coal Ministry is examining this aspect and will take a call soon.

For the mines auctioned till now, bidders were required to make a price offer at the technical bid stage itself. Only 50 percent of those who qualified in the technical stage (subject to a minimum of five bidders) were allowed to participate in the financial bidding and were then ranked according to the initial price offering. This clause actually helped the government as some mines that got single bids were taken off the block. But it also resulted in limiting the competition. Now, if the government decides to cap the bids a company can make to one, it will open up the field for others. In the first round, 33 mines/blocks were auctioned raising over ₹ 2 lakh crore. The government is now preparing for the next set of auctions and allotments. The number of blocks to be auctioned could be between 15 and 20. The total number of blocks to be offered will be around 35. (www.thehindubusinessline.com)

April 25, 2015. The Appellate Tribunal of Electricity has clarified that there cannot be any restriction on sourcing power from multiple sources, providing relief to industrial consumers that operate captive power plants and supply to others as well as those that source power from multiple power producers. Green Energy Association, a Maharashtra-based association of solar power generators, had approached the tribunal after Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) directed in May last year that consumers could seek power under open access only from a single source.

The association had approached MERC seeking action against the conduct of state utility, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company, which did not process open access application of the members of the association for more than 400 days. According to the association, it continued to inject energy in the grid without any revenue and had to incur huge losses due to the delay in issuance of credit reports and open access permissions by the state utility. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 23, 2015. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Akhilesh Yadav said strict action would taken against officials guilty in the alleged scam of hacking power department's billing system and reducing consumers' bills. Earlier, while attending a review meeting of the power department, the chief minister directed officials to be ready for the summer and strengthen sub-stations, transformers and electricity lines.

The state government is working towards proper generation, transmission and distribution of power in the state, so that people could get rid of power crisis, he said. He directed principal secretary of power department to ensure the 500 MW second unit of Anpara-D thermal power project begins functioning by July. Power distribution companies should start distribution of LEDs, the CM said. Directing the officials to send a proposal for an additional ultra mega power plant project in the state, Akhilesh said that it was necessary to meet energy needs of the state. The CM also emphasised on the need for purchasing of power through long-term tie-ups and from power surplus states by state-to-state power agreement. Yadav also directed officials to fill the vacant posts in UP Power Corporation, Power generation corporation and transmission companies. (www.business-standard.com)

April 23, 2015. India has received about 3,968 tonnes of nuclear fuel to run power plants after signing agreements with foreign suppliers, the government said. As part of the civil nuclear cooperation, India had entered into inter-governmental agreements with France, the US, Russia, Namibia, the European Union, Canada, Argentina, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, some of which are uranium producers and suppliers. India has an accord with Areva of France for the supply of 300 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate and has tied up with Russia's TVEL Corporation to receive 2,100 tonnes of natural uranium dioxide pellets.

Agreements have been signed with NAC Kazatomprom of Kazakhstan for 2,100 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate over six years, NMMC of Uzbekistan for 2,000 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate and with Canada's Cameco for 3,000 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate. India has so far received 299.87 tonnes of natural uranium ore concentrate from Areva and 2,095.90 tonnes from NAC Kazatomprom. It also got 1,514.69 tonnes of natural uranium dioxide pellets and 58.29 tonnes of enriched uranium dioxide pellets from TVEL, the government said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 23, 2015. Coal India Ltd (CIL) plans to switch to market pricing for high calorie coal where prices would be aligned to international ones. To start with, Coal India (CIL) may cut local prices of high grade coal to align them with international ones. CIL said Singareni Collieries Company, another public sector coal company, has already introduced a similar model. The catch, however, is that a majority of power plants in the country cannot be fed with 100 percent high calorie coal. It needs to be blended at a 30:70 ratio with domestic low-calorie versions produced by CIL. With international prices down by almost 55 percent over the last six years, top grades of imported coal, delivered at thermal plants is turning out to be cheaper than similar coal bought from Coal India at a large number of locations. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 22, 2015. Four indigenous nuclear power reactors under construction in two plants in Gujarat and Rajasthan will be completed by 2019, the government said. Minister for State for the Department of Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh said the Centre has also accorded 'in principle' approval to five coastal sites for locating nuclear power projects in future, based on both indigenous technologies and with foreign cooperation. (zeenews.india.com)

April 22, 2015. The government is working on a policy to allow power generating companies to swap fuel linkages so as to clear bottlenecks in coal supply, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said. The proposed policy is towards running thermal power plants with more efficiency, reduce pollution and freight, the minister said. He further said if two different companies want to swap coal supplies they will have to get permission so as to ensure that there is no misuse and no windfall gains or profiteering is involved. (www.bignewsnetwork.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

April 28, 2015. German energy firm Wintershall, a subsidiary of chemicals giant BASF, made a small oil discovery near Statoil's Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said. The well encountered two oil columns in sandstone of generally poor reservoir quality and the find is estimated to contain between 6 million and 50 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents, the NPD said. (af.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. Norway's Statoil must move ahead with the delayed upgrade of the Snorre oil and gas field in the North Sea because it is a time-critical investment, energy minister Tord Lien said. Statoil delayed a decision on the $4 billion upgrade of the Snorre field, which could yield an additional 300 million barrels of oil, as margins on the project were too low, particularly after the recent crude price drop. Statoil expects to decide in late 2016 whether to move ahead with building a new platform and extending the field's lifetime to 2040. If the project is continued, production could start in the fourth quarter of 2022. Norway has pushed the Snorre licence to go ahead because the field has been in operation since 1992, so equipment is aging and any delay could reduce the recoverable resource before decommissioning. (www.reuters.com)

April 24, 2015. China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC) has started production at the Kenli 10-1 oilfield located in the South of Bohai Sea, offshore China. The Kenli 10-1 oilfield main production facilities include one central processing platform, two wellhead platforms and 70 producing wells. Currently, the company is producing approximately 10,750 barrels of crude oil a day from 12 wells. The field will reach its peak production of approximately 36,000 barrels a day in 2016. Recently, the company started oil production at its Qinhuangdao 32-6 comprehensive adjustment project, which is located in the central north of Bohai Bay with an average water depth of approximately 20m. CNOOC is the largest offshore crude oil and natural gas producer in China and one of the independent oil and gas exploration and production companies. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 24, 2015. Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russia's top natural gas producer Gazprom, plans to more than double oil output this year at the Prirazlomnoye field, Russia's sole Arctic offshore oil project, the company said. Last year, oil production at the field totalled 300,000 tonnes. Development of Russia's offshore Arctic riches has been hampered by Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia's top oil producer, Rosneft, has postponed exploration drilling in the Kara Sea after its partner, U.S. company ExxonMobil, suspended its participation in the project due to sanctions. Gazprom Neft has also been exploring another Arctic offshore oilfield, Dolginskoye, where it drilled its fourth exploration well last year. In 2014, Gazprom Neft's total hydrocarbon output rose by 6.4 percent to 66.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent. (in.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. Abu Dhabi is planning to boost its oil production capacity from offshore fields with an investment of over $25 bn in the next five years. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that the investment is a part of UAE's goal to increase its crude oil output potential to 3.5 million barrels per day by 2017-18. Currently, UAE's production is around 2.8 million bpd. ADNOC is planning to invest $2.5 bn to drill 160 offshore wells annually in the next few years, ADNOC said. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 22, 2015. Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the U.S. will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, Weatherford International Plc said. There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Weatherford said. Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices. There were 61 fracking service providers in the U.S., the world’s largest market, at the start of last year. Consolidation among bigger players began with Halliburton Co. announcing plans to buy Baker Hughes Inc. in November for $34.6 billion and C&J Energy Services Ltd. buying the pressure-pumping business of Nabors Industries Ltd. Weatherford, which operates the fifth-largest fracking operation in the U.S., has been forced to cut costs “dramatically” in response to customer demand, Weatherford said. The company has been able to negotiate price cuts from the mines that supply sand, which is used to prop open cracks in the rocks that allow hydrocarbons to flow. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 24, 2015. Oil firm Chevron said it has offered to supply South Africa's electricity firm Eskom with excess diesel from its Cape Town refinery, to help run some of its generators. Steve Hegarty, the general manager for strategy at the oil major's South African unit told parliament's trade and industry committee that Chevron was able to produce diesel and store some supplies for the struggling power utility. (www.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. Russian oil refinery runs in March fell by 5.3 percent month-on-month or 307,882 barrels per day (bpd) due to seasonal maintenance, data from the Energy Ministry calculations showed. Russia's offline oil refining capacity is expected to double in April from March due to a seasonal increase in the number of plants undergoing maintenance. Refineries processed 5.554 million barrels of crude oil per day in March versus 5.862 million in February. In March, Lukoil and Bashneft cut the total capacity of their refineries by 9.0 percent and 9.5 percent respectively due to seasonal maintenance. The private KrasnodarEkoNeft refinery stopped its crude processing unit in March for unplanned maintenance and decreased refinery runs by 34,7 percent to 32,732 bpd. YaroslavNefteOrgsintez, jointly owned by Gazprom Neft and Slavneft, cut its capacity by 12.0 percent to 282,698 bpd due to a planned overhaul. Russia's top oil producer Rosneft stopped five secondary units, which produce gasoline and diesel, at its Achinsk refinery in Siberia at the beginning of March for several days for unplanned maintenance. Then a fire broke out at a diesel production unit of Rosneft's Komsomolsky oil refinery in Russia's far east on March 21. At the end of March the crude distillation unit was stopped for unplanned maintenance at Rosneft's Ryazan refinery. Novatek, Russia's second largest gas producer, increased in March gas condensate processing from its Purovsky plant on its Ust-Luga fractionation and transshipment complex to a record high of 604,400 tonnes. Gasoil production was down 3.6 percent month-on-month at 217,135 tonnes per day. Fuel oil output fell 8.3 percent in March to 204,232 tonnes per day, while jet kerosene production decreased by 9.7 percent to 20,474 tonnes per day. Year-on-year March refinery runs were down by 4.0 percent, or 231,462 bpd. (af.reuters.com)

April 28, 2015. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to quadruple the supply of gas to Nigeria by building pipelines that may be backed by Carlyle Group LP and Blackstone Group LP, the world’s two biggest private-equity firms. Dangote will invest $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion in two sub-sea 550-kilometer pipelines running from Nigeria’s oil and gas-producing Niger River delta region to the commercial hub of Lagos, Dangote said. The pipes will increase the amount of gas available in Africa’s biggest economy to 4 billion standard cubic feet per day from 1 billion, he said. While Nigeria has gas reserves of about 180 trillion cubic feet, more than any other African country, most of what’s produced is flared or exported because of a lack of infrastructure to transport it to local companies and households. Boosting domestic supply will help increase electricity generation in a country where power cuts are common and about 70 percent of electricity plants are fueled by gas, according to Dangote. Dangote plans to start laying the pipelines before the end of the year, he said. The first one should be ready by mid-2017. The pipelines could be used by oil producers in Nigeria that currently have little incentive to sell gas from their fields in the country, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Exxon Mobil Corp., Dangote said. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 27, 2015. A group of international investors is suing Norway in an attempt to overturn its decision to cut gas pipeline tariffs, arguing the fee reduction will cost them 15 billion crowns ($1.9 billion) in lost earnings through 2028. Challenging Norway's reputation as a predictable place to do business, investors including Allianz, UBS, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, argue that Norway illegally cut fees on the 8,000-km Gassled natural gas pipeline network. In a trial that started and is due to last until mid-June, the plaintiffs, who own 45 percent of Gassled, say the government broke their contract and is liable for damages because the tariff was a fundamental condition of their investment, documents filed in the Oslo district court show. The investors bought into the pipe network via a series of deals through early 2012 before Oslo cut some of the tariffs in 2013, arguing that returns were above agreed levels and fees were so high that they discouraged new offshore investment. The government said profit from oil and gas should be derived from the fields, not from the infrastructure, and that pipeline tariffs needed to be cut from October 2016 because the predicted return had been achieved. The government, which is the biggest shareholder in Gassled with 45.8 percent, said the actual return was 10 percent in 2012 and was seen rising to 10.5 percent in 2028, well above the initial goal of 7 percent. The tariff reduction was first announced by Norway's previous, centre-left government that was ousted in late 2013, but the new centre-right administration reaffirmed its support for the cut in one of its first decisions after taking office. Gassled transports gas from platforms in the North and Norwegian Seas to processing plants in Norway and terminals in Britain, Germany, France and Belgium, supplying about a fifth of the European Union's gas needs. (www.reuters.com)

April 24, 2015. TransCanada Corp, whose controversial Keystone XL pipeline project has waited more than six years for U.S. approvals, is asking the Obama administration to approve another pipeline, one that would take American crude oil into Canada. The company, Canada's No. 2 pipeline operator, said it applied for a presidential permit for its planned Upland pipeline, which will carry as much as 220,000 barrels of oil per day 240 miles (386 kilometers) from Williston, North Dakota, to meet the proposed Energy East pipeline in southern Saskatchewan near the border with Manitoba. The C$600 million ($493 million) Upland line, announced in February, will take crude from North Dakota's prolific Bakken field, where a shortage of pipeline space has forced producers to ship their crude by rail. The application comes despite the continuing fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, which would take crude from the Alberta oil sands and the Bakken field to the refining hub on Texas' Gulf Coast. Many environmental groups oppose the project, arguing it would encourage the expansion of carbon-dioxide intensive production from the oil sands. TransCanada said 70,000 barrels per day of oil from the Upland pipeline have been contracted to ship on the Energy East line, expected to be complete in 2020, where it can be shipped to refineries in Eastern Canada or abroad. (www.reuters.com)

April 24, 2015. E.ON Global Commodities, the trading unit of E.ON, has signed an agreement to purchase up to two million tons of regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from Meridian LNG in the UK. Under the 20-year agreement, Meridian LNG will deliver the gas to E.ON through its planned Port Meridian import and regasification terminal. E.ON has an option to increase its purchases to a maximum of 750 million standard cubic feet a day. Meridian LNG, through a joint development agreement with Höegh LNG, will ship LNG to Port Meridian using a combination of traditional LNG carriers as well as the FSRU. A 20-year, 2 million tons per annum (mtpa) liquefaction term sheet was signed earlier between Meridian LNG and Magnolia LNG, the owners of the proposed Magnolia LNG facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US. The companies are planning to sign a tolling agreement soon for Magnolia to provide LNG to Meridian from early 2019. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 23, 2015. Japan's third-biggest city gas supplier Toho Gas Co said it had signed a basic agreement with a unit of Mitsubishi Corp to buy 200,000 tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. Cameron project for 20 years from 2018. Toho Gas will buy at U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index-linked prices and the destinations for the three cargoes to be lifted per year can be changed if the seller agrees in advance, the company said. The company in January 2014 signed a contract with Mitsui & Co to buy LNG from the Cameron project, with its total purchases from the project increasing to 500,000 tonnes a year, the company said. Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG project in the U.S. state of Louisiana is set to start production in 2018, after it received final investment approval last year. Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui both hold 16.6-percent stakes in the development. (www.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. BP has agreed to sell its stake in one of Europe's biggest gas pipelines to Antin Infrastructure Partners for 324 million pounds ($486 million), giving the fund near full ownership of the asset after it bought out BG last year. The sale of the Central Area Transmission System (CATS), which is expected to conclude before the end of the year, is a next step in BP's $10 billion 2014-2015 disposal programme. CATS is a combination of pipeline and processing facilities that transport gas from a cluster of North Sea fields to an onshore receiving terminal in Britain's Teesside. It can handle more than 48 million cubic metres of gas per day, transporting over 10 percent of Britain's annual gas production and making it one of the largest in Europe. BP said the sale would not impact its rights to capacity use on the system. (uk.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. China’s crude imports from Iran rose 15 percent in March from a year ago to a 10-month high, although still below the purchases expected from the Islamic republic’s largest oil client. China’s imports last month from Iran were 2.71 million tonnes, or 638,600 barrels per day (bpd), up 20 percent from February on a daily basis and the highest since May of last year, official customs data showed. Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, and an official delegation visited China just days after the agreement was signed, seeking to mend fences with Chinese oil firms to get oil and gas development projects going and discuss oil sales. China’s March imports from Iran were well above the 2014 average of roughly 550,000 bpd, which was about the same as seen before the United States and the European Union toughened sanctions over Iran’s disputed nuclear programme in early 2012. In the first quarter of 2015, China’s oil imports from Iran fell almost 2 percent compared to the same period last year. Before the framework nuclear agreement was signed in early April, Chinese state trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp renewed a one-year supply contract for condensate from Iran, increasing the volume by 50 percent. The deal for the National Iranian Oil Company to ship 100,000 bpd of condensate to China from August will raise volumes contracted with Tehran to above 600,000 bpd. In March, China’s crude imports from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia rose 23 percent from a year ago to 952,700 bpd, putting Saudi imports in the first quarter up 0.5 percent on year. Imports from Russia were 692,900 bpd, up 16 percent on the year. Russia became China’s third-largest crude supplier last year, behind Saudi Arabia and Angola. (www.hellenicshippingnews.com)

April 22, 2015. Colombian subsidiary of Technip, Tipiel, has received contract from the Consorcio Constructor Ductos del Sur for front-end engineering design and detailed engineering design of a pipeline project in Peru. Tipiel will develop a new pipeline for transportation of gas from the Camisea field to Southern Peru. The project is expected to support the development of an Energy Node and Petrochemical Hub in Southern Peru. Work under the contract will be carried out from Tipiel's offices in Bogota, Colombia. (transportationandstorage.energy-business-review.com)

April 22, 2015. BP Plc is seeking buyers for as much as $2 billion of U.S. pipelines and storage terminals, making the U.K. energy giant the latest looking to offload some of its non-drilling infrastructure. BP is following Chevron Corp., and Royal Dutch Shell Plc in selling infrastructure that helps move and store oil and gas, in order to raise money that can fund drilling. BP North America Inc., the company’s Naperville, Illinois-based subsidiary, operates more than 4,000 miles of pipelines and 21 terminals. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 22, 2015. Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, said crude prices won’t drop below $50 a barrel for sustained periods because that’s a level some producers need in order to invest in new supply. Oil prices collapsed almost 50 percent last year as Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) kept its output ceiling at about 30 million barrels a day, insisting producers outside the 12-nation group help tackle a surplus. While the U.S. pumped 9.38 million barrels a day last week, the most for the time of year in at least three decades, its output slid 0.4 percent in the past month. Prices will trade from $50 to $70 a barrel in the second half of this year, Vitol Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor said. Brent, the global benchmark, ended at $62.08 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. grade, was at $55.26. Taylor said that prices could rise by the end of the year. Brent jumped by 16 percent since then. Still, an expansion of supply from shale deposits is working as an “automatic price stabilizer” in oil markets, he said. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 28, 2015. BP and Total reported higher than expected profits thanks to steep increases in profits from refining, showing the resilience of global oil firms in the face of slumping oil prices. Large oil companies have closed down dozens of refineries in the past few years due to over capacity and because refining, or downstream in industry jargon, has been long seen as a drag on earnings compared to more profitable oil and gas production. But a slump in oil prices, benchmark Brent prices almost halved to $55 a barrel in the first quarter of 2015 from a year ago, meant refineries could process much cheaper crude and generate higher profits on fuels such as diesel or gasoline.

As a result, BP's underlying pre-tax replacement cost profit from downstream businesses in the first quarter of 2015 more than doubled to $2.2 billion (1 billion pounds). At the same time, pre-tax profits from oil and gas production, or upstream, collapsed to $0.6 billion from $4.4 billion a year earlier. At Europe's largest refiner Total, adjusted net operating income from refining and chemicals more than tripled from the first quarter last year to $1.1 billion, almost matching contributions from upstream of $1.36 billion, down 56 percent.

Weaker refining margins so far in the second quarter as a result of higher crude oil prices mean next quarter's results might not benefit so much from downstream, analysts said. BP's overall profit fell 20 percent from last year to $2.58 billion and Total's was down 22 percent at $2.60 billion, but in both cases their strong refining performances meant the results beat analysts' expectations. (www.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. Venezuela, struggling to pay for essential items such as food and medicine amid strict foreign currency controls, may have failed to collect about a third of its potential oil revenue in 2014, the analysis suggests. The OPEC member nation likely realized just over $50 billion in oil revenue in 2014, according to an analysis of publicly available data and estimates based upon past performances of Venezuela's oil sector.

But as a result of generous financing mechanisms to allied nations through cooperation agreements and imports of crude oil and various products, Venezuela potentially deprived itself of about $24 billion in oil revenue last year, the analysis suggests. An exact figure for both realized and deprived revenues is unavailable given the absence of specific data from Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and the government. (www.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. Fair and stable oil prices will benefit producers and consumers, allowing global supply and demand to grow at a steady pace, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said. While a roughly 50 percent drop in global oil prices since June last year has helped growing economies in Asia, it had posed "difficult challenges" for many oil producers, the minister said. Naimi reiterated Saudi's pledge to meet oil demand in Asia.

Naimi said that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, was producing "around 10 million" barrels per day in April, near a record high. Saudi Arabia is seeking to deepen its oil and gas cooperation with China which has overtaken the United States as the kingdom's largest trading partner. The country's top oil companies - Saudi Aramco and Sinopec - operate joint venture refineries in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, and Fujian, China. (www.reuters.com)

April 24, 2015. The start-up of Norway's giant Johan Sverdrup oil field may be delayed by six months to mid-2020 from the original schedule of launching production in December 2019, according to the country's oil ministry. The forecast, made by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, also predicted a cost overrun of 10 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.28 billion) for Sverdrup's first phase, compared to the 117 billion crowns prediction made by operator Statoil and partners Lundin Petroleum, Maersk and Det norske. The Oil Directorate believes the schedule for the first phase is ambitious compared to comparable projects in the petroleum industry, the ministry said. Statoil presented its development plan for Sverdrup in November 2014. (af.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. South Korea's energy ministry said it will lower retail prices of natural gas for households and businesses by 10.3 percent on average from May 1, in line with weakening global gas prices. South Korea, which is the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer after Japan, has already cut retail gas prices twice this year. The latest cut will mean so-called city gas prices are 24 percent lower than at the end of last year, the ministry said.

The city gas price has a 2.06 percent weighting on the consumer price index Asia's fourth-largest economy, statistics data shows. South Korea reviews price every two months. Seoul imported 10.24 million tonnes of LNG equivalent in the first three months of 2015, down nearly 20 percent from the same period of last year, as its overall gas consumption dropped due to higher nuclear power and slower economic growth. (af.reuters.com)

April 23, 2015. New England's governors met to update their long-term energy strategy that increasingly relies on natural gas and efforts to build more pipelines. The region has limited natural gas pipeline systems, which are reaching maximum capacity, the region's power grid operator, ISO-New England, said. System reliability is helped by a reliance on older oil and coal plants that are set to retire in a few years, ISO-New England said.

Underlining their challenges to broaden natural gas pipeline network, the governors and state environmental officials were confronted by a group of protesters who denounced hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used to drill for natural gas. The Laborers International Union, which represents 70,000 New England and New York construction workers, maintained a presence outside Hartford's Connecticut Convention Center to voice support for pipeline construction. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

April 22, 2015. Ghana's decision to seek arbitration in a dispute with Ivory Coast over an oil-rich basin in the Atlantic could prove costly for the country and a consortium led by Tullow if a court halts development there. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will rule on Ivory Coast's February request for a moratorium on activity in the basin. The decision is part of legal proceedings on a maritime border dispute sought by Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama in September. Although many expect the dispute to be ultimately settled in Ghana's favour, analysts say a ruling that prevented the $4.9 billion offshore TEN oil and gas field opening in mid-2016 would be a further blow to the battered Ghanaian economy. A final ruling by the court is expected in 2017 or 2018. Ben Boakye, of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy think-tank said the loss to Ghana from an injunction could be up to $6 billion over two years, while Carmen Altenkirch of Fitch Ratings said revenues could be 1.5 lower than the government projects. By contrast, Ivory Coast has almost nothing to lose. Ten rounds of talks have failed to resolve the dispute over the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) block and several others which Ivory Coast says lie at least partly within its waters. It revived its claim after Ghana discovered oil in 2007. When Ghana began pumping oil in 2010 at the Jubilee field adjacent to TEN, annual economic growth soared to nearly 15 percent in the West African country, which already produced gold and cocoa. A suspension would imperil dozens of Ghanaian companies that have helped develop TEN, forcing many to lay off staff, said Boakye. Ghana's rising fortunes over the last decade made it an economic rival to Ivory Coast, which until a coup in 1999 was the region's most powerful country besides oil giant Nigeria. The Ivorian economy is now booming but its oil sector lags Ghana's and analysts say it will struggle to increase oil output nearly five-fold to 200,000 barrels per day by 2018 as planned. The two countries have enjoyed strong relations but Ghana told the court its neighbour sent "threats" to oil firms drilling there last year. In September, Mahama wrote to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara to inform him of the arbitration request, court documents show. (uk.reuters.com)

April 22, 2015. Canada will extend natural gas export licenses to 40 years while cutting taxes for small businesses and the manufacturing industry in a budget designed to boost flagging business investment. The extension of natural gas export licenses from 25 years comes amid a global race for liquefied natural gas projects. The extension is in addition to recently announced measures to allow faster write-offs of LNG equipment, according to budget documents presented in Ottawa by Finance Minister Joe Oliver. There are 19 proposals to export chilled gas by tanker from Canada’s Pacific Coast. Final decisions on some of the British Columbia projects, including one involving U.K.’s BG Group Plc, have been delayed as energy prices slump. Moody’s Investors Service said Canadian LNG terminals are unlikely to move ahead amid lower oil prices. The drop in crude oil, Canada’s top export, led Oliver to delay his budget after the new fiscal year began on April 1. Lower crude prices will trigger a 30 percent drop in oil and gas investments this year, the Bank of Canada says, and Governor Stephen Poloz is counting on investment and exports to feed an economic recovery through next year. The government is basing its budget projections on West Texas Intermediate crude oil at $54 a barrel this year and $67 a barrel next year, down from $95 in September. In the oil industry, companies from Suncor Energy Inc. to Strad Energy Services Ltd. have cut thousands of jobs, with the Alberta government predicting 31,800 oil-related workers will lose their jobs this year. (www.bloomberg.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: POWER]

April 27, 2015. The Brazilian and Bolivian governments are negotiating over the joint development of a bi-national 3 GW hydroelectric power project on Bolivia's side of the Madeira River. The project is expected to boost the countries' economic growth and power output, Brazil Mines and Energy Minister Eduardo Braga said that the plans for a hydroelectric power station 'make strategic sense'. The plant will be producing power in 2022 under the timeframe to be decided by the two governments. The plan involves Bolivia to export excess electricity generated from the project to Brazil and use the proceeds to cover its financing cost portion for the project. Part of a Brazil-funded energy investments package in the border region, the project will be operated under a similar model to that of Itaipu hydroelectric dam, a Brazilian-Paraguay joint venture and the second-largest dam in the world. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 27, 2015. FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating has resumed operations of the 1,268 MW Perry nuclear power plant in Ohio, US, following the completion of refueling and maintenance outage. The power plant features single unit boiling water reactor that can produce electricity required to power more than one million homes. Currently, the 1,268 MW unit is operating at 22% while the power levels will vary over the next several days as part of routine testing, the company said.

The plant is scheduled to reach full capacity in the next several days. The maintenance outage involved replacement of 280 of the 748 fuel assemblies and safety inspections on the unit's reactor vessel, turbine and electrical generator aimed to ensure continued safe operations. FirstEnergy installed a new, large transformer and two new feedwater heaters. Perry plant underwent its last refueling in 2013, and generated more than 18.6 million megawatt hours of electricity since then. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 24, 2015. Voith has been awarded a contract by Sri Lankan Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), for the refurbishment of Polpitiya hydropower plant. Under the order, Voith will provide electro-mechanical equipment for the 2x37.5 MW generating units of the power plant until mid-2017.

The company will be responsible for the delivery of the accompanying spherical valves, overhaul of the spiral cases and draft tubes, and erection and commissioning of the plant. The modernization contract is expected to boost the performance of the Polpitiya hydropower plant, which was commissioned in 1969, as well as increase the reliability of electricity production in Sri Lanka. CEB operates power plants with a total installed capacity of 3.4GW. It develops and maintains a coordinated system of electricity supply in Sri Lanka. Voith Hydro was selected to modernize three hydro power facilities in Italy. Under a €16 mn contract signed with ACEA, Voith Hydro will modernize the Alessandro Volta plant in Castel Madama, Rome province, by mid 2016. (hydro.energy-business-review.com)

April 23, 2015. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (JAPEX) said it would partner with Mitsui & Co to build a 1.2 GW gas-fired plant in Fukushima to contribute to stable power supplies and help an area hit by a nuclear disaster in 2011. The two firms have set up a joint venture for the project and JAPEX would hold a 50.7 percent stake, the upstream developer said. The two 600 MW units will be in Soma port, next to an LNG terminal that JAPEX is aiming to open in 2018. The No.1 unit is scheduled to start operations in January 2020, followed by the No.2 unit in April that year. JAPEX said the cost of the plant would probably be around 100 billion yen ($834 million) at least. (af.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. The German-Dutch transmission grid operator TenneT has commissioned the high voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore wind grid hub SylWin1 in the German North Sea, following its delivery from Siemens. The grid connection is capable of transmitting 864 MW of clean electricity from offshore wind units. Power generated from the three offshore wind farms, including 288 MW Butendiek, 288 MW DanTysk and 288 MW Sandbank, will be transmitted to the land-based station Büttel in northern Germany, through the SylWin1 grid connection.

The electricity supplied is enough to meet the needs of more than one million German households. The offshore platform of the SylWin1 grid connection is located around 70km west of the island of Sylt. The government's offshore expansion goal aims at implementing 6,500 MW by 2020. Siemens has already completed three of five North Sea grid connection projects for TenneT, including 800 MW BorWin2, 690 MW HelWin1 and 864 MW SylWin1, while 690 MW HelWin2 and 900 MW BorWin3 projects are under construction. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 24, 2015. Brazil-based renewables company Casa dos Ventos has selected ABB to provide substations and related power infrastructure to facilitate integration of renewable energy from two wind complexes. Under the $30 mn contract, ABB will provide power infrastructure to allow integration of power from 13 wind farms, into the country's transmission grid. Scheduled for completion in 2016, the projects are expected to generate power required to meet the needs of about 300,000 local households.

The company will also supply the 230kV and 69kV air-insulated switchgear substations including compact 34.5kV substations with distribution transformers, connection bays and overhead lines, as part of the contract. ABB will be responsible for the delivery of reclosers circuit breakers in order to reduce the disruptions impacting the integration of wind power into the grid. (www.energy-business-review.com)

April 23, 2015. A $2 trillion push in the U.S. to blend renewable energy into the power supply and fortify transmission lines against extreme weather means that Americans must act more like Europeans to keep their power costs down. Even with electricity rates as much as three times higher than what the average American pays, French, Italian and German consumers still enjoy lower monthly bills. That’s because they use less energy due in large part to new smart technology, smaller homes, denser populations and more efficient appliances.

The U.S. government and the energy industry are now taking the first steps toward that goal, with smart thermostats, more efficient air conditioning and systems that better regulate power grid current. Still, the U.S. ranks only 13^th of 16 countries in energy efficiency among the world’s major economies, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The U.S. grid, described as the most complicated machine in the world, needs about $2 trillion in upgrades by 2030, according to a report from the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Snowmass, Colorado-based energy consultant. U.S. power companies are beginning to step up.

Power sellers in Texas and the U.S. Northeast are offering smart thermostats such as Google Inc.’s Nest in exchange for signing long term contracts. The device, which memorizes and automatically adjusts to users’ preferences, can save customers as much as 15 percent on cooling bills, according to Google. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 27, 2015. China's National Energy Administration is analysing whether the country should build inland nuclear power plants. The topic has aroused fierce debate. China Nuclear Energy Association has released a research report about the environmental security of inland nuclear power plants, and has come to the conclusion that such a facility would be safe. Professor Zhou Ruming with the Association claims that the impact of liquid radioactive waste over underground water is within the allowable range, if nuclear power plants are running properly. However, different from the US and France, China is densely populated and short of water resources. Additionally, earthquakes frequently happen in this country. Some people doubt if proper locations for nuclear power plants can be found. Chang Xiangdong is the vice chief engineer of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center, an agency directly under China's Ministry of Environmental Protection. He says they take all that factors into consideration when selecting locations. Lessons have been learned in the four years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Nuclear officials in the country like Takuya Hattori admit that radiation pollution from the damaged plant is not fully under control. And fixing the problem will not be cheap. After the Fukushima leak, Germany, Italy and Switzerland announced plans to abandon nuclear projects. Despite the risks that come with nuclear power, the head of nuclear power department of China's National Energy Administration, Liu Baohua, says the power source has its benefits. (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

April 27, 2015. The federal government is examining whether struggling U.S. coal companies still qualify for an exemption that allows them to avoid having to fully insure against billion-dollar mine cleanup costs, the top regulator for the mining industry said. Coal states regulate mining operations - including the federal self-bonding program - on a day-to-day basis but federal officials may step in if not enough is done to guarantee cleanup work, or "reclamation". Industry and legal experts say many U.S. coal companies would struggle to pay for full coverage against cleanup costs and lifting the exemption could push them closer to bankruptcies. Coal companies are required to have financial assurance or cash on hand to protect taxpayers from the costs of cleaning up abandoned mines and reclaiming damaged land in the case of bankruptcy. But self-bonding has allowed the most financially fit coal companies to leave a share of their total liabilities uncovered. Four of the nation's largest coal producers - Peabody Energy Corp, Arch Coal Inc, Cloud Peak Energy Inc and Alpha Natural Resources Inc - are all making use of the self-bond program. (www.reuters.com)

April 24, 2015. The Economy, Trade and Industry ministry in Japan is setting a target of 20 percent to 22 percent of the country's electricity generation to come from nuclear power plants by 2030, a draft of the government proposal says. The target is a significant decline from the 28.6 percent in 2010, before the Great East Japan Earthquake that jolted the industry worldwide by triggering a tsunami event that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 180 miles north of Tokyo. Japan, in response, shuttered all 48 of its nuclear power plants and revamped safety standards, especially those related to potential damage from earthquakes or tidal waves. The plan calling for the resurrection of most of the country's nuclear power capacity was presented to the cabinet by Yoichi Miyazawa, the head of the ministry's division for power. Miyazawa proposed Japan's energy mix include about 22 to 24 percent electricity generated from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power. (nuclearstreet.com)

April 24, 2015. French power utility GDF Suez said it was changing its name to “Engie,” in a bid to reflect a changing energy industry and prepare for the departure of the company’s long time chief executive officer (CEO) Gérard Mestrallet. Mestrallet’s scheduled exit comes after 20 years at the helm of a company he has transformed through a series of large mergers and acquisitions. He said he and his anointed successor Isabelle Kocher, who is currently GDF Suez’s deputy CEO, decided to change the name. He said the new name is shorter—two syllables instead of five—and is easier to associate with the group’s business: energy. The management decided to spell the name Engie—pronounced like the Rolling Stones song Angie—because it’s reminiscent of the French word “énergie” to keep faithful to its roots. Mestrallet said the idea is to gradually place the company’s different units under the “Engie” brand. The new name will be set up gradually and approved definitely at the general shareholders’ meeting in mid-2016 when he is due to leave the company after reaching retirement age. (www.wsj.com)

April 24, 2015. Russia and Argentina have strengthened their ties in energy sector with the signing of framework agreements, estimated to value up to $5 bn. Rosatom's subsidiary TVEL Fuel Company has signed two memorandums of understanding (MoU) with the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina and state-owned construction company Invap, for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. The MoUs will see TVEL supplying low-enriched uranium fuel and its components for power reactors in Argentina, and zirconium components of the nuclear fuel cycle. Rosatom has signed a separate MoU to construct a 1,200 MW nuclear power plant featuring VVER, the Russian version of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) in Argentina. A preliminary project development agreement was also by JSC Rusatom Overseas and the Argentinian nuclear energy company Nucleoeléctrica Argentina for a nuclear power plant in Argentina. Russia's state electricity holding firm Inter RAO Group has entered into an implementation protocol for Chihuido-1 hydro power plant in Argentina. (nuclear.energy-business-review.com)

April 23, 2015. The US Government has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea following five years of negotiations. Under the terms of the agreement, the US will ensure a stable supply of fuel for South Korea's nuclear reactors while South Korea can enrich uranium to produce non-weapons grade nuclear fuel. The deal, which is due to secure Congress approval, will enable South Korea to research a nascent nuclear-reprocessing technology, known as pyroprocessing, to allow for nuclear energy production without separating plutonium. The new 20-year deal will replace an agreement signed in 1972 by the US to provide nuclear fuel and technology. Although the 1972 agreement was initially to expire in March 2014, the allies extended the deadline to March 2016 to allow more time for the negotiations. The new agreement will enable South Korea to promote its policy of exporting nuclear power plants. The country will have the right to transfer the US-made nuclear material and equipment to third countries without authorization. South Korea, however, cannot reprocess its spent fuel. The Obama administration has sent a similar deal with China, for the approval of the Congress. (nuclear.energy-business-review.com)

 [RENEWABLE ENERGY / CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDS]

April 28, 2015. Uttar Pradesh (UP) has signed two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) for establishing a solar and an ultra-mega solar power project in the state. While the first MoU was signed between Uttar Pradesh and the department of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, the second was inked between the Solar energy Corporation of India and Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Agency (UPNEDA). These solar plants were being established under the solar policy 2013. Once these plants are commissioned, the state would get 600 MW solar energy. The state has also implemented a solar power and rooftop solar photo-voltaic power plant policy. Under an ambitious solar power policy, the state has already approved 105 MW capacity grid run solar power projects and the letter of intent for five projects has also been given to the developers. These power projects would be commissioned between May 2016 and October 2016. Besides, it was also informed that the light and fan facility in Lohia houses - an ambitious scheme of the state government of low-cost housing for poor, will be run by solar power. (zeenews.india.com)

April 27, 2015. The Government is still working out a target for renewable energy generation capacity addition for the 2015-16 fiscal, even though it has already announced a long-term target of 175 GW by 2022. Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister, Piyush Goyal was flagging of three mobile science labs for the underprivileged students in rural India. The labs are funded by NTPC’s corporate social responsibility fund and will be supported by the Agastya International Foundation. (www.thehindubusinessline.com)

April 27, 2015. Admitting that emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from thermal power plants in India was higher than global standards, government said it was due to inferior quality of coal and its higher consumption. Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said renovation, modernisation and life extension of old thermal power generating units and retirement of old and inefficient thermal generation units has been undertaken in a phased manner. The CO₂ emission from thermal power plants in the country is comparatively higher than the global standards due to inferior quality of coal and higher ambient air temperature and cooling water temperature in India, resulting in more consumption of coal, he said. Goyal said one of the first steps the government took was to lay out a policy for completely rehabilitating and changing over the old plants to new ones of supercritical technology. He said one of the constraints for changeover from old technology to new had been that the coal linkages were given for a particular plant only and were not allowed to be enhanced or changed and the old plants were not able to go in for new technology. (www.business-standard.com)

April 26, 2015. To tap the opportunity in the non-conventional sources of energy, the Odisha government plans to come out with a new policy for development of the sector in the state. Instead of formulating separate policies for different sources of renewable energy, the state government is coming out with one combined policy named as Odisha Renewable Policy-2015, the Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (Gedcol) said. Odisha, by virtue of its geological position, has potential for generation of power from all type of renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, hydro, etc. Rough assessments put state's gross renewable energy potential at 53,820 MW. Odisha, due to its locational advantage, receives good amount of sunshine for over 300 days a year. As per solar radiation map of India, the daily average solar radiation incident on Odisha ranges between 5.4 to 5.6 Kwh per sqm. The district wise solar radiation data, calculated over the mid coordinates of each district on the basis of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimates, shows the daily average solar radiation of around five kWh per sqm for almost all the districts. The feasible potential for power generation using solar photovoltaic and the solar thermal technologies are pegged at 80,00 MW and 2,000 MW respectively. The state has been encouraging private developers to set up renewable energy plants in solar, biomass, small hydro and co-generation sectors. Presently, 18 MW solar power, 20 MW biomass and 5 MW small hydro-electric power projects are in operation in the state. (www.business-standard.com)

April 26, 2015. The WTO ruling on the US' stand-off with India over the latter's solar power programme is expected soon as the dispute settlement panel of multilateral trade body will have its final meeting. In February last year, the US had filed a complaint in the WTO alleging discrimination by India's national solar mission against American products. After both the sides failed to reach an agreement to resolve the matter bilaterally, the US approached the WTO for formation of the dispute panel under the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism. As per the procedure of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), consultation is the first stage of a complaint filed with the global trade body. The US had alleged that India's programme appears to discriminate against US solar equipment by requiring solar energy producers to use locally manufactured cells and by offering subsidies to those developers who use domestic equipment. It is also alleged that forced localisation requirements restrict US exports to India markets. On January 11, 2010, India launched its national solar policy -- the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. India has an ambitious target of generating 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022. US companies, which have large manufacturing facilities, want to export solar power equipment to India which they consider as market with huge potential. The US solar industry wants India to remove the clause of local content requirement. (www.business-standard.com)

April 25, 2015. As many as 48 hamlets and villages in Nemili union under the Arakkonam assembly constituency have been lighted using solar energy, owing to the efforts of the State administration. Arakonam MLA S Ravi said these remote hamlets are inhabited by people belonging to Adi-Dravida, a scheduled tribe community. He allocated funds to the tune of ` 22 lakh from the MLA development fund to install the lighting. The MLA said that the reason he opted for solar lighting was to encourage the practice of drawing power from a renewable sources of energy. This is the first time, an MLA has taken the initiative to provide solar lighting in his constituency, he said. The first solar light was fixed in Arikalapadi village. (www.newindianexpress.com)

April 24, 2015. The Telangana Government will soon come out with an exclusive policy for Solar Power. It will also call for bids to establish solar power capacity of 2,000 MW by May 15. The government had already called for bids for the first phase that sought to create a capacity of 550 MW. Arvind Kumar, Secretary (Department of Industries and Commerce and Energy), of Telangana Government has said that Solar Power policy would remove obstacles and reduce time lags in assigning permissions for setting up the solar power units in rural areas. He said the Government was preparing Detailed Project Reports for setting up six industrial corridors giving a special focus on the strengths in respective districts. (www.thehindubusinessline.com)

April 24, 2015. Sembcorp Industries, Singapore's leading utilities and ship building group, is looking to invest over a billion dollars over the next 5-7 years to double its clean energy generation portfolio in the country while gradually moving away from large, greenfield thermal coal projects that are still facing land acquisition and fuel linkage logjams. The recent confusion over capping of fixed tariffs after the recent coal auctions has also made them wary. In February, Sembcorp Utilities, a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired a 60% stake in Green Infra -a leading renewable energy platform -from its private equity owners IDFC Alternatives for ` 1,051 crore. This was their first invest ment in the space in India, after having backed two coastal thermal coal projects in Andhra Pradesh in 2011. Sembcorp with S$16 billion of assets across the utilities value chain and S$8 billion, is also one's of the world's leading offshore rig and ship builders. The Green Infra acquisition was strategically done to broaden its renewable energy footprint to include solar and to almost triple its clean generation capacity to over 1000 MW. On the face of it, the focus on wind -at a time when the government's solar mission is dominating the policy conversation -seems contrarian. But the company would still tread cautiously. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

April 24, 2015. NTPC Limited and Andhra Pradesh (AP) power utilities signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for procurement of power to be generated from the 250 MW solar plant, first phase of the 1,000 MW ultra solar power project being set up by NTPC in the economically backward Anantapur district. The state discoms have fixed the procurement price of ` 6.14 per unit for a 25-year PPA period. This price is substantially lower compared with the ` 6.40 per unit determined during the recently concluded bidding for the 619 MW installed capacity involving several small and medium size developers in the state. In February, the NTPC had approved a commitment given to the Government of India to develop 10,000 MW solar power capacity in the next five years. The company is planning to build 3,000 MW solar capacity in the current financial year as compared with the existing installed capacity of 110 MW under the solar sector. In September last year, NTPC had signed an MoU with the AP government for the development of 1,000 Mw solar project, which was dubbed as the world’s largest solar power project at a single location by a single developer, in the state. A total of 5,400 acres of land has been identified for the project, most of which has already been acquired, according to government. AP has drawn ambitious plans to develop 5,000 MW solar power and 3,000 MW wind power in the next five years. As the country’s largest power utility with an installed capacity of 44,598 MW comprising predominantly coal-fired thermal power capacity, NTPC has been trying to bring a judicious mix renewable energy under its portfolio. (www.business-standard.com)

April 23, 2015. In a bid to boost the generation of renewable energy in Karnataka, the State government is working towards evolving a consortium of about 10 countries that are blessed with abundant solar radiation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. The three-day Green Summit 2015 aims at bringing the policy makers, industry representatives, investors, customers and other stakeholders on one platform to focus on current issues and future strategies in the renewable energy sector. Participants from over 14 countries are participating in the three day event. There are challenges such as finance and duty structures which are impending the growth of renewable energy sector. It requires a consistent policy over a long period of time and our government is committed in this regard, the chief minister assured. Siddaramaiah urged the investors to support the State government's programmes and invest in the State to meet the additional energy targets. The dates for the Global Investors Meet will be announced soon, he said. The research report suggests the government agencies and corporates to develop an energy efficiency policy. If energy efficient devices are adopted, the State can save ` 3,750 crore annaully in power bills. (www.deccanherald.com)

April 23, 2015. Delhi-based auto component manufacturer JBM Group announced its foray into the solar energy sector with a committed investment of ` 1,600 crore over the next three years. The group plans to have a combined capacity of 300 MW under the newly formed entity - JBM Solar (P) Ltd. JBM Solar plans to be an independent power producer (IPP) with focus on both, ground mounted and solar rooftop projects. JBM Solar has already commissioned a rooftop solar installation at the India Habitat Center, Delhi generating 250 KW. The company recently also an order from Haryana Govt. for a capacity of 20 MW. The country receives one of the highest global solar radiations - an energy of about 5,000 trillion kWh per year. According to recent data, renewable energy contribution stood at 31.70 GW of the total installed capacity of 245 GW in the country as on 31.03.2014. Under the original National Solar Mission target, India had planned to add 9 GW between 2014 and 2017 and an additional 10 GW between 2018 and 2022. The current installed solar power capacity in India is just less than 2.7 GW. (www.business-standard.com)

April 23, 2015. Prakash Javadekar – Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, addressing the first meeting of Environment Ministers of BRICS in Moscow, said that India, by launching various campaigns including ‘Fresh air, my birth right’, ‘Save Water, Save Energy’, ‘Grow More Plants’ and Urban green’ will ensure peoples’ participation. Javadekar said that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is “confident that India will lead by example in its effort to combat climate change” as the lifestyle in India is comparatively simple and uses less energy, with greater stress on need-based consumption. He said that the success of BRICS Environment Ministers’ meeting lies in its decision to launch a cooperation on environmental issues by setting up a steering committee to coordinate efforts and sharing of technologies and best practices. Javadekar said there are many issues related to water, air, industrial pollution, waste management, sewerage treatment etc., which can be effectively tackled by joint efforts among the BRICS countries. Javadekar said Rural India has already a lifestyle which is sustainable and environmental friendly. Javadekar said India will launch “Fresh air, my birthright”, “Save Water, Save Energy”, “Grow More Plants” and “Urban green” and such other campaigns for mass awakening and ensuring peoples’ participation. (www.thenewsreports.com)

April 22, 2015. The government of the Indian state of Maharashtra plans to reach a non-conventional power capacity of 14,400 MW by 2019, in an attempt to reduce its power generation costs and its CO₂ emissions. More than half of this capacity should come from solar (7,500 MW), while wind capacity should reach 5,000 MW. The remainder will come from biomass, waste and CHP: 1,000 MW from bagasse (sugar industries), 300 MW from biogas, 200 MW from CHP and 400 MW from industrial waste. The government will seek to attract ` 70,000-80,000 crore (US$11.1-12.7 bn) from private investors. In January 2015, the renewable power capacity in Maharashtra stood at 5.6 GW (16% of its installed capacity). (www.enerdata.net)

April 27, 2015. A new proposal from Latvia, holder of the EU presidency, puts forward a date of January 1, 2019 to start reforms of the Emissions Trading System (ETS), according to EU. The latest proposal says a Market Stability Reserve, to hold surplus carbon allowances, should be set up in 2018 and start operating from Jan. 1, 2019, two years earlier than the European Commission's original proposal. It also says unallocated allowances, surplus because of factory closures, should be transferred to the reserve in 2020. The presidency is working to build a compromise position ahead of a meeting of diplomats representing all 28 member states that is meant to prepare the ground for negotiations on a legal text on May 5. (uk.reuters.com)

April 27, 2015. The biggest advanced economies plan to signal to poor nations they’re willing to spend more money to help them cope with climate change, a move that could inject fresh life into United Nations (UN) talks on greenhouse gases. Germany will put climate financing on the agenda of the Group of Seven nations meeting in the Bavarian Alps in June, Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said. Germany, which chairs the G-7 this year, also expects Japan and Canada to submit their national climate protection targets to the United Nations before the meeting in Elmau. A deal at the Paris meeting may be reached only when rich nations cough up more aid, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said. Nations and investors in 2009 pledged to provide developing nations with $100 billion a year by 2020 to nudge them onto a greener developmental path. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 27, 2015. Blame global warming for about 75 percent of the world’s unusually hot days and 18 percent of its extreme snow or rain, according to a new paper in the journal Nature Climate Change. Heat waves and heavy storms are occurring at least four times more often than they did before carbon pollution started driving up thermometers. Global average temperatures are now about 0.85 degrees Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) higher than before industrialization. Additional heat and precipitation are expensive. Severe weather costs the U.S. economy as much as $33 billion a year, according to a U.S. Energy Department report. And those figures will increase as the planet continues to warm, as climate change may not be smooth or gradual, according to the new paper. At 2 degrees Celsius -- United Nations climate negotiators’ avowed upper limit -- extremely hot days may be twice as likely as at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. After 2 degrees Celsius, the odds of high-heat days may be five times greater than today. (www.bloomberg.com)

April 23, 2015. US President Barack Obama said that climate change "can no longer be denied" and immediate measures are needed to mitigate its effects. Obama said during his Earth Day address at the Everglades National Park -- the largest subtropical wilderness in the US -- that global warming threatened the 600,000-hectare (1.5-million-acre) park and the communities that depended on it, posing a risk to the $82 billion tourist industry of the state of Florida. Obama said climate change was a problem that could not be left for future generations to address and urged the US Congress to approve new funds for environmental protection. The US president said that $2.2 billion had already been spent on restoration efforts in the Everglades and that this year he had proposed an additional $240 million for that South Florida wetland system to restore its natural water flow. Obama noted that the wetland system was "one of the best defences against climate change and rising sea levels". (www.newindianexpress.com)

April 22, 2015. The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy of France has announced revisions for the T4 solar feed-in tariff applied to rooftop installations integrated on buildings below 1,000 m², in order to boost small-size solar PV. As of 1 April 2015, small installations (0 to 36 kW) will benefit from a tariff of €13.95c/kWh, while the tariff for 36-100 kW installations was set at €13.25c/kWh; this corresponds to the tariffs applied during the third quarter of 2014, whereas solar PV tariff decrease by 10%/year on average. The tariffs will remain in force throughout 2015, until the targets of 50 MW per quarter are met. As of 2016, the feed-in tariff degression rate will be cut from 10%/year to 3%/year. (www.enerdata.net)

  

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