Energy News Monitor | Volume XII; Issue 22

[Are large projections for renewable only cosmetic?]

                             “Interestingly, as China reduces its consumption, India will be increasing its production level by 3 percent from 2012 level. So whatever space is vacated by China will be taken over by the India. Apart from this Australia and Indonesia will also be increasing their coal production by 2 percent and 3 percent respectively from 2012 levels. Therefore major consumers as well as major coal exporting countries will be increasing their production…”

Energy News

[GOOD]

Falling coal imports is good news for India even if it is coming at a time of falling demand!                                   

                                                                                            [BAD]

If the past is any guide rescue packages for discoms are not necessarily an incentive for reform!   

[UGLY]

No single country can make an important contribution to climate change unless all other countries make important contributions!  

NEWS BRIEF

[NATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

November 6, 2015. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 11 percent drop in its September quarter net profit as slumping global crude prices hurt its revenues. Net profit in the July-September quarter at ` 4,842.02 crore was 11 percent lower than ` 5,444.89 crore clocked in the same period of last fiscal, it said. While the net price for crude oil produced from nomination fields, on which the company has to pay a fuel subsidy discount, was up 18 percent at $48.83 per barrel, the rates realised for oil produced from market-lined joint venture fields slumped 40 percent to about $50 per barrel. ONGC said gross realisation from nomination fields was $51.24 per barrel and it allowed a $2.41 a barrel discount to PSU refiners to help them sell kerosene at the government controlled rate. Its net realisation of $48.83 per barrel compared with $41.45 per barrel of Q2 of last fiscal. Its subsidy payout of ` 596 crore in Q2 compared with ` 13,641 crore payout in the same period last fiscal. The impact of the subsidy discount on profit was ` 329 crore in July-September quarter of current fiscal, a small percentage of ` 7,645 crore impact ONGC had to bear on account of subsidy discounts a year earlier. ONGC said revenue was up 1.1 percent at ` 20,732 crore on account of higher production. Crude oil production from its fields was up nearly 3 percent at 5.36 million tonnes (mt) while output from joint venture fields soared 5.1 percent to 0.91 mt. Similarly, natural gas production from its own field was up 0.5 percent to 5.356 billion cubic meters (bcm) but joint venture output was down nearly a percentage at 0.346 bcm. The company has approved Field Development Plan of 140 square KM Madanam Field in north of Karaikal district of Tamil Nadu. ONGC said during the quarter it made three oil and gas discoveries in Mumbai offshore, shallow waters of Krishna Godavari basin off the east coast and in Tripura. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 4, 2015. The Gujarat government has approved a proposal of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Gujarat Refinery seeking acquisition of 75 acre land for its expansion projects, the company said. The expansion plans are for raising its crude refining process to 18 million metric tonnes (mmt) per year from the existing 13.7 mmt per year, IOC Gujarat Refinery said. The refinery located at Koyali village on the outskirts of Vadodara city needs a total of 130 acre land for its expansion projects, of which 55 acre have been acquired. The proposal was lying before the state government for over past two years and was cleared recently. The refinery authorities had sought clearance for purchasing the land needed for the expansion project vital for meeting the norms of government's Auto Fuel Vision Policy- 2025. Spread over 1,950 acre, the Gujarat refinery facility includes Asoj and Dumal terminal operations and five primary Atmospheric Distillations Units. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 6, 2015. Russia and India discussed the possibility of building a pipeline system for hydrocarbons between the two countries, the Russian energy ministry said. (in.reuters.com)

November 5, 2015. India’s oil imports from Iran fell 41.5% in October from a year ago to the lowest in seven months, according to tanker arrival data, as state-run refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) cut imports due to a maintenance shutdown. India, Iran’s top customer after China, took 181,200 barrels per day (bpd) oil from Tehran in October, down 22.3% from September, according to the data. MRPL, which operates a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) coastal refinery in southern India, is a key Indian oil client of Iran. The refiner had shut nearly 46% of its crude processing capacity for about a month from 18 September for planned maintenance. MRPL planned fewer purchases of Iran oil for last month as its biggest crude distillation unit (CDU) was shut, the company said. While MRPL received about 45,000 bpd Iranian oil in October, private refiner Essar Oil took about 136,300 bpd, the data showed. India, the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer, bought 21.8% less Iranian crude for the January-October period at about 212,600 bpd, the data showed. India’s imports from Iran for the year-to-date have been dragged down by deep cuts in shipments by New Delhi in the first quarter of 2015, under pressure from the United States to keep its imports within the limits of sanctions targeting Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. In the first seven months of India’s fiscal year, running from April through October, its oil imports from Iran jumped 5.6% to 249,100 bpd as refiners raised purchases after the July deal that may mean the removal of sanctions next year. (www.livemint.com)

November 8, 2015. Cairn Energy of UK is willing to suspend its appeal to International Court of Justice seeking appointment of an arbitrator on behalf of Government of India to resolve the ` 10,247 crore tax dispute, provided an arbitral panel is put in place by November 11. The British oil explorer wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reminding him of government’s promise to appoint an arbitrator “soon” to resolve the issue. Cairn told Jaitley that he and the government on two separate occasions in September promised to appoint an arbitrator but no tangible progress has been made even after more than six weeks. The IT Department says Cairn Energy allegedly made a capital gain of ` 24,503.50 crore in 2006 while transferring all its India assets to a new company, Cairn India. (www.thehindu.com)

November 7, 2015. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hinted of stopping supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) to the well-off as only 42.5 lakh out of nearly 15 crore cooking gas consumers have so far voluntarily give up subsidy. So far more than 42.5 lakh domestic LPG consumers have volunteered to give up their LPG subsidy. The subsidy surrendered is used to connect poor households with LPG connections and relieve them from cooking with firewood or biomass which leads to not only increased carbon emissions but adversely impacts on their health. (www.khabarindia.in)

November 7, 2015. The government tonight hiked excise duty on petrol by ` 1.60 per litre and the same on diesel by 40 paisa a litre to mop up additional revenue to meet budgetary targets. The basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol was increased from ` 5.46 per litre to ` 7.06 a litre, according to a Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) notification. After including additional and special excise duty, the total levy on petrol will be ` 19.06 per litre as against present levy of ` 17.46. Similarly on unbranded or normal diesel, excise duty has been increased from ` 4.26 per litre to ` 4.66 a litre. After including special excise duty, total incidence of excise duty on diesel will be ` 10.66 per litre as against present ` 10.26. The excise duty on branded petrol has been hiked from ` 6.64 to ` 8.24 per lire. Special and additional excise duty of ` 12 per litre will continue as before. (www.thestatesman.com)

November 7, 2015. The government is working on a plan to bring kerosene under direct benefit transfer (DBT), Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. Highlighting the success of DBT for cooking gas, Pradhan said 14.6 crore people receive cooking gas subsidy directly under the Pahal scheme. The minister made a pitch for targeted subsidies. (www.livemint.com)

November 6, 2015. India is in talks with Qatar’s RasGas Company to tweak a decade-old liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement deal. Indian firm Petronet LNG has been forced to cut down gas volumes from Qatar after the fuel bought through this long-term contract became nearly twice as expensive than spot purchases. India’s petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan is scheduled to visit Doha to attend the 6^th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable. Pradhan would discuss the Petronet-RasGas deal with Mohammed Saleh Al Sada, the minister of energy and industry of Qatar. On December 26, 2014, India received the 1,000^th cargo under its long-term contract with RasGas at Dahej LNG terminal in Gujarat. Nearly 16 years back, Doha-based RasGas and New Delhi-based Petronet LNG had signed the first sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to import 7.5 million metric tonne per annum (mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG) on take-or-pay basis and price linked to a 60-month average of crude oil. At present, the LNG through this route costs around $12.67 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) at India’s west coast, excluding other charges such as re-gasificiation, transportation, marketing margin and state levies. On the other hand, spot cargoes are available at nearly half the price at $6-6.5 per mmBtu. Since gas procured from Qatar is expensive, GAIL is not finding buyers for it and forced to utilise it at its petrochemical plant further hurting its revenues. (www.financialexpress.com)

 [NATIONAL: POWER]

November 8, 2015. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will consider establishing a nuclear power plant in Odisha if the State government evinces interest and provides adequate land, DAE secretary Sekhar Basu said. He said that Indian government is giving thrust on nuclear energy as it is clean energy. Fossil fuel cannot be used for all times to come, he said. At present, there are 21 nuclear reactors operating in different States and there are plans to establish 10 more reactors. Basu said signing nuclear treaties with different countries will enable India to avail more uranium for its nuclear power plant. (www.thehindu.com)

November 7, 2015. Country's largest power producer NTPC expects to commission the first 800 MW unit of its 4,000 MW Kudgi super thermal power project in Karnataka in the current fiscal. NTPC CMD A K Jha said that productivity and efficiency would help NTPC overcome the challenge of mounting fuel bills and bring down cost of power. Appreciating the contribution of every member of NTPC family on the occasion of 40^th Raising day of the company, Jha said that performance of each player matters for success of any team. He expressed faith that NTPC will soon be a leader in the solar sector like thermal for which we all need to work harder and faster to achieve its goals to be the best power producer in the world. Jha said that the company's financial results have been good with improved generation. The process of reallocation of coal blocks is also complete and mine developer and operator (MDO) has been appointed for PakhriBarwadih coal mine. He lauded the Vindhaychal team for commencement of timely commercial operations of 500 MW of Unit 13. (www.business-standard.com)

November 5, 2015. India is in talks to set up a joint venture (JV) for mining and owning coal blocks in South Africa, which, meanwhile, has looked at the Indian experience to evolve its own template for allocating coal blocks. The governments of the two countries are in discussions to set up the JV, which may also own the coal blocks, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said, who oversaw the coal field auctions earlier this year and put in place a template for the allocation of natural resources in the country. State-owned firms of the two countries will form the JV. India will be represented by Coal India Ltd (CIL). The talks with South Africa, one of the world’s biggest coal miners, come against the backdrop of India’s growing quest for energy. Coal fuels power plants that produce 169,118 MW of power, making up 61% of India’s total power generation capacity. (www.livemint.com)

November 5, 2015. Amid Coal India Ltd (CIL) eyeing production target of one billion tonnes by FY20, its arm Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL)is planning an output of 100 million tonnes (mt) in another five years. Lauding WCL for resetting its goal from 60 mt to 100 mt of coal production by 2020, the Minister said that enhancing coal production will help in providing electricity to the deprived parts of the country. The enhanced production will not only fulfill coal demand of Maharashtra but will also provide relief to the southern areas of the country, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said. Goyal hoped that through the pace with which coal mines are opening, the dream of providing 24x7 affordable power for all will become reality. By opening one project mine every month, WCL has already opened 10 projects in last 10 months. It has geared up to take a challenge of opening 36 projects in 36 months. (www.business-standard.com)

November 9, 2015. Government said coal imports have declined by 5 percent to 14.52 million tonnes (mt) in October over the year-ago period. In October 2015, it is down by 5.10 percent over October 2014, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said. Coal imports had dropped by 27.16 percent to 12.6 mt in September on rise in domestic production. Coal imports down from 17.3 mt in September 2014 to 12.6 mt in September 2015, Swarup said. India had imported 212.103 mt of coal worth over ` 1 lakh crore last fiscal, according to provisional coal statistics of 2014-15 released by the Coal Ministry. (www.thehindu.com)

November 8, 2015. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said he has set a target of providing 24x7 power around the year across the country by the time India celebrates its 75 years of independence. Modi referred to technology that can be used to save electricity as well as money while asking people to use LED bulbs to save power. He said 18,000 villages continue to be deprived of electricity across the country and said his dream was to provide them uninterrupted power supply in next 1,000 days. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 7, 2015. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) has begun selling electricity from its hydro power project in Himachal Pradesh, which will provide another revenue stream for the company which has been hit by low oil prices. The state-controlled oil exploration and power supply group swung to a net loss of 421 million dirhams ($114.7 million) in the second quarter as revenues from oil and gas nearly halved partly on the impact of the lower prices. The 100 MW Sorang hydro power project started selling power to northern India from Oct. 31, TAQA said. The facility can supply emissions-free electricity to 500,000 homes at full capacity, it said. TAQA said it began commercial operations at the expanded T2 power plant in Ghana. In April, TAQA announced full commercial operations at its Bergermeer gas storage facility in the Netherlands. TAQA’s India operations also include a 250 MW lignite power station in the Neyveli region of south India. (in.reuters.com)

November 4, 2015. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has lined up a slew of reforms in its bid to improve distribution of power and augment revenue. This includes repair of transformers and monitoring solar and wind power production through a separate distribution centre and channel. As a first step, the TANGEDCO has started installing mini-transformers statewide to benefit consumers and save a lot of money on repairs of transformers. These mini-transformers have a life span 10 years more than the current lot, the corporation said. The corporation said that from now on, every 200 connections would have a transformer as against one for about 1,000-1,500 at present. The advantage is supply to a vast area would not be affected if anything goes wrong with the transformer and repairs have to be done. (www.business-standard.com)

November 9, 2015. The city is likely to get its first gas-insulated substation (GIS) by March 2016. The 400-kV substation is being built by UP Power Transmission Corporation Limited (UPPTCL) at Kala Patthar near Indirapuram. The power corporation said a gas-insulated substation occupies only a fourth of the space required for building a conventional substation. The 400 kV substation project was involved in a case at the National Green Tribunal, as it is being built on a green belt adjacent to NH-24. Residents of a housing society adjacent to the project site had also opposed the substation out of concerns for health and environmental degradation of the green belt. However, the green tribunal cleared the project in August 2013 with certain riders, including the need for necessary permissions from the national highway authority of India and of re-location costs to be borne by the project proponent, in case a need arises for widening of the highway in future. The tribunal had imposed a stay on the project in July 2012, following the petition filed by local residents. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 9, 2015. Power Minister Piyush Goyal expressed hope that the recent cabinet approved financial restructuring package for state electricity distribution companies (discoms) will find a "pan India" acceptance. Noting that discoms were trapped in a vicious cycle with operational losses being funded by debt, he said they were not charging fair tariff for the electricity consumed and, as a result, are unable to supply adequate power at affordable rates. With the losses of electricity distribution companies inIndia touching a staggering ` 3.8 trillion ($58 billion), the cabinet approved a major restructuring and revival package for the sector, with both checks and incentives, to remove what is considered the weakest link in the government's ambitious plan of power for all by 2022. Announcing the cabinet decision to reporters, the minister said the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (Uday) package includes steps to reduce the interest burden of discoms by as much as 600 basis points, by converting 75 percent of their debt into state governments bonds. These bonds, he added, will bear the same interest as that for government securities, plus 50 basis points. Goyal told power ministers of states and union territories at a meeting in Kochi last week that the cabinet-approved Uday would help wipe out the accumulated losses of state electricity distribution companies (discoms) by 2019. He also assured the state ministers that their apprehensions regarding the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act would be addressed. (www.business-standard.com)

November 8, 2015. The Coal Ministry will soon seek the Cabinet's approval for a proposed policy on underground coal gasification (UCG). UCG is a method of converting coal still in the ground to a combustible gas that can be used for various uses, including power generation. On the proposed policy, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal had recently said that it was progressing very well. Goyal had said that a draft policy is under formulation for development of underground coal gasification from unexplored coal and lignite bearing areas in the country. The government had said that India should explore using coal gasification as feedstock to produce chemicals and petrochemicals in order to increase domestic output of these energy products. (www.asianage.com)

November 6, 2015. The state government has started the ground work to sell the crisis-ridden and loss-making 250 MW Giral Thermal Power project situated at Thumbali in Barmer district. The ` 1,600 crore power project has already run into losses of more than ` 700 crore. Out of the two units of 125 MW each, the plant at Thumbali is lying closed permanently and requires at least ` 50 crore to start it afresh. Since the government has refused to infuse any capital to revive the plant, selling off the unit remains the only possibility. Operational Energy Group India Pvt Ltd, which had the contract to operate the plant till October this year, has already issued notice to its 350 employees to terminate their services. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 6, 2015. In a bid to improve fuel supply to coal-based power plants across India, the government is planning to come out with a policy to allow inter-state and inter-company swapping of coal. To start with, the mechanism would first be allowed for state-owned NTPC, which has an installed capacity of 45,048 MW. The government estimates the policy could result in savings of around ` 20,000 crore. The policy would allow NTPC to use coal lying unused at one plant at other nearby locations. Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said a note will soon go to the cabinet on coal linkages and, in the days ahead, the power and fertilizer sector will have a different linkage policy. Coal-fuelled plants, which produce 169,118 MW of power, account for 61% of India’s generation capacity. The country plans to mine 1.5 billion tonnes of coal by 2020. Of this, 1 billion tonnes is from Coal India Ltd (CIL) and 500 million tonnes from other sources, in line with the government’s push to raise the production of natural resources to boost economic growth. The fuel will play an important part, given that around 280 million Indians do not have access to electricity. (www.livemint.com)

November 5, 2015. Delhi government extended its power amnesty scheme till December and also brought under its ambit the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots making it possible for them to settle disputes related to power theft, non-payment of bills among others. In case of outstanding bills, the families of riot victims will be charged ` 250 per month from the date of last payment till July 2015 and those who lines have been disconnected will be charged on similar basis till the date of disconnection. The late payment surcharge will be fully waived off in all such cases and the consumers will be given the option of paying the dues in instalments over a period of six months. (www.financialexpress.com)

November 5, 2015. India approved a rescue package for its loss-making power utilities, unveiled as a major reform that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes will end electricity blackouts and spur economic growth. Power Minister Piyush Goyal said states would over the next two years be allowed to take on 75 percent of the debts of their utility companies, which have grown to ` 4.3 trillion ($65.3 billion) after years of undercharging customers for electricity. By clearing past debts and putting them on a better financial footing, Goyal said the utilities would be returned to profitability before 2019. Modi has urged the power ministry and states to find a way to overhaul the power distribution sector, whose weak finances have limited bank lending and undermined the push to provide reliable electricity in Asia's third-largest economy. (in.reuters.com)

November 4, 2015. The government in the next couple of days will announce a major policy for the stressed power sector, which has been reeling under high debt, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. While Jaitley did not elaborate, it is believed that the Cabinet at its next meeting may consider recasting ` 4.3 lakh crore of loans of nine power distribution companies subject to states agreeing to raise electricity tariff over a period of time. Jaitley said India is generating more power than it needs. While an electricity transmission grid can take the electricity to every part of the country, discoms have now become extremely vulnerable because some of the states are not charging people adequately for user charges. Power sector is one area of infrastructure which has remained unaddressed for so many years. (www.businesstoday.in)

November 4, 2015. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydro Electric Project, especially the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Plan prepared by the state government for the project affected families. The Prime Minister held his monthly review meeting via video-conference under his Pro-active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) initiative, with Union Secretaries of various Ministries and Chief Secretaries of states. He said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B R Sharma participated in the meeting. The Prime Minister in respect of the state reviewed further progress on the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydro Electric Project and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Plan prepared by the state government for the project affected families. He said the chief secretary briefed the Prime Minister about the overall progress of the project and the status of the R&R Plan. (www.dnaindia.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

November 10, 2015. The Energy Information Administration cut its U.S. crude production outlook for next year as declining prices are prompting shale drillers to put rigs aside. Cheaper gasoline is expected to stoke demand for the motor fuel. The agency decreased its 2016 forecast by 1 percent to 8.77 million barrels a day. It boosted its estimate for this year to 9.29 million barrels a day from the 9.25 million predicted last month. America’s oil drillers have sidelined more than half the country’s rigs since October as prices have tumbled. The number of active oil rigs in the U.S. has fallen by 103 in the past 11 weeks to 572, the least in five years, according to data. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 10, 2015. International oil companies could boost production in Iraq beyond current targets if production contracts were changed to give more incentives for investment, according to BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Companies working in the country have proposed that the government change contracts from the current service-fee model to be closer to production sharing agreements, Michael Townshend, BP’s regional president for the Middle East, said. The suggestions were made earlier this year amid talks about development budgets needed to operate Iraq’s oil fields next year, he said. BP operates Rumaila, Iraq’s largest deposit. Production from the southern field will average 1.3 million to 1.35 million barrels a day this year. Output next year depends on spending approved by the government, which has asked foreign companies to decrease their 2016 budgets due to the drop in crude prices, Townshend said. Total capital expenditure on the field will be about $2.5 billion this year, with BP responsible for about half of that, he said. The government sees an opportunity to reach an agreement to decrease the 2016 budgets of foreign oil companies, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said. Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, pumped 4.3 million barrels a day in October, according to data. The country produced about 2.4 million barrels a day at the end of 2010 and plans to boost capacity to 6 million in 2018. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 9, 2015. Apache Corp., the oil and natural gas company worth more than $18 billion, has received an unsolicited takeover approach. Apache reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss and boosted its 2015 production forecast. It’s one of the biggest leaseholders in the Permian Basin in western Texas, the largest U.S. shale play and the only one where oil output has continued to grow even as drillers slash spending and idle rigs. It also explores in Egypt, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada and the Eagle Ford and Woodford shale basins in the U.S. A deal for Apache would be the largest for an independent oil and gas producer in the U.S. this year. Noble Energy Inc. bought Texas shale driller Rosetta Resources Inc. for $3.9 billion, including assumed debt, in an all-stock transaction in July. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 9, 2015. The oil and gas industry has cut $200 billion from investments this year as low prices discourage new projects, leading to cuts in crude supplies equal to half the daily output of Saudi Arabia, according to the kingdom’s Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman. Nearly 5 million barrels a day of projects have been deferred or cancelled, Bin Salman, who is also vice oil minister for Saudi Arabia, said in prepared remarks set to be delivered to energy ministers meeting in Doha. Saudi Arabia pumped 10.38 million barrels a day in October, according to data. Oil prices have dropped 42 percent in the past year as Saudi Arabia led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in maintaining production in the face of a global glut rather than make way for booming U.S. output. Supply from outside the 12-member group will start to decline next year, after oil prices near $150 a barrel in 2008 proved unsustainable, Bin Salman said. Energy companies will probably reduce investments another 3 to 8 percent next year, making it the first time since the mid-1980s that the industry cut spending for two consecutive years, he said. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 6, 2015. UK-based oil and gas major BP has signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum to advance the development of the Atoll gas field in the country. The deal enables the company to accelerate the development of the Atoll field, which is estimated to hold 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 31 million barrels of condensates, and commence initial production in 2018. The field is planned to be developed in two phases by Pharaonic Petroleum, joint venture formed by BP with EGAS and Eni. The first phase involves two development wells, which will be tied back to existing infrastructure. Further investment and wells will be included upon successful completion of initial phase. Upon completion of the first phase, additional investment and further wells will be included to increase production from the field. Besides providing additional production to the Egyptian domestic market, the new agreement is expected to help to meet Egypt's energy demands. The deal follows an agreement signed by BP in March for the West Nile Delta project to develop five trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates. By the end of the decade, BP plans to maintain its current oil production capacity and double gas production capacity to reach 2.5 billion cubic feet per day, with partners in Egypt. This increased production represents more than 50% of current gas production in the country. (drillingandproduction.energy-business-review.com)

November 5, 2015. Italian energy company Eni has signed an agreement with Angola's national oil company Sonangol for providing natural gas to the domestic market in Angola. Under the terms of the deal, the gas extracted by Eni in Angola will be supplied to Angola domestic market and to support the local economy. The partners plan to assess the development of gas fields in the Angolan basin of the Lower Congo. In 2014, Eni and Sonangol agreed to cooperate in activities and joint projects in the oil and gas sector to develop in the country. As per the deal, a joint venture will be launched by the firms to study the potential of the non-associated gas present in the Lower Congo Basin, which is considered to be a highly promising area in terms of hydrocarbon production located offshore Angola. Production of Eni in Angola currently amounts to 105,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. (explorationanddevelopment.energy-business-review.com)

November 10, 2015. Azeri state energy firm SOCAR is interested in buying stakes in refineries in Egypt and in participation in the African country's oil refining sector, SOCAR's president Rovnag Abdullayev said. Abdullayev made his comments a day after his return from Egypt, where he was discussing cooperation in energy sector. Azerbaijan is exporting about one million tonnes of oil and refined products per year to Egypt. (af.reuters.com)

November 5, 2015. South Africa's deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa will visit Iran to explore opportunities for co-operation in the energy sector with a view to attracting investment into a refinery Pretoria is planning to build. South Africa is considering building an oil refinery that will process Iranian crude to bolster its petrol supply and reduce its dependence on foreign companies. Plans for the new refinery are at an early stage, and estimated cost or time frame for construction have not yet been made public. South Africa has been diversifying its crude sources after the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Iran, its former top supplier. The country's Strategic Fuel Fund has said it is seeking to import 24 million barrels of oil a year from Iraq to boost its reserves in what would be South Africa's first crude imports from Baghdad for more than a decade. (www.reuters.com)

November 4, 2015. Pakistan is negotiating with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) on building a 10 million tonne per year refinery that would slash its oil products import bill by up to two-thirds, the minister for petroleum Shahid Abbasi said. He hoped the final details of the deal, expected to cost between $3 billion and $5 billion, would be hammered out early next year. The refinery might be built in modular stages, he said, with the first phase capable of refining 3 million tonnes per year (60,000 barrels per day). Pakistan is spending - at current low oil prices - about $9 billion per year importing 15 million tonnes a year of gasoline, diesel and fuel oil, he said, and another $3 billion to $4 billion on importing crude oil. Around 80 percent of the country's gasoline is imported, he said. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) currently holds 22.5 percent of the refinery and is finalising details of a deal to take another 26 percent within this fiscal year. Abbasi said Pakistan was also seeking to save money by changing the grade of fuel they import from nonstandard RON 87 - which is produced by Pakistan's ageing refineries - to standard RON 92 plus within the next few months, he said. Although the fuel would be slightly more expensive, it was more efficient and moving to a standard fuel would allow more bidders to offer supplies to Pakistan, he said. (af.reuters.com)

November 4, 2015. Asian oil refining margins will be robust in 2016, but are unlikely to return to the heights they climbed earlier this year as crude prices have started to pick up, industry executives and analysts said. Margins are likely to be buoyed as gasoline remains a bright spot in otherwise oversupplied markets for oil products, with double-digit growth in demand for the fuel from Asia's largest consumers, China and India, analysts said. Asian refining margins DUB-SIN-REF, the difference in value between crude and the products churned out by refineries, enjoyed a stellar run this year on weak oil prices. They hit their highest in more than two years above $11 per barrel in September, but have since eased to about $7 as crude prices began to inch up. Low crude oil prices have boosted petroleum demand-growth to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) globally, far outpacing this year's expansion in refining capacity of 800,000 bpd, according to analysts. Gasoline demand-growth will continue to drive refining margins as it feeds off low oil prices, they said. In Asia, India's gasoline demand has grown by 14 percent and China's by 12 percent so far this year. China is delivering a quarter of global gasoline demand-growth this year, with Asian refiners unlikely to keep up with such hefty appetite, they said. The main drag on Asian refining margins is likely to come from slowing demand for diesel combined with rising supply of the industrial fuel from mammoth refineries in the Middle East, industry executives said. New refineries are typically configured so middle distillates, comprising diesel and jet fuel, account for about 30 to 50 percent of their output, leading to a glut of these products. (www.reuters.com)

November 10, 2015. East Africa’s race to export its first oil will eventually be a tie between neighbours Kenya and Uganda because both need to share a pipeline rather than compete for different routes, a producer in the region said. The company sold stakes in some East Africa assets to Maersk Oil & Gas A/S. A pipeline to the Indian Ocean would allow Africa Oil, together with larger partner Tullow Oil Plc, to start exports from joint ventures. Tullow has found oil in both countries, with Uganda estimating finds at 6.5 billion barrels and Kenya at 600 million barrels. Maersk Oil said it will acquire half of Africa Oil’s shares in three onshore exploration licenses in Kenya and two in Ethiopia for as much as $845 million. The deal shows companies are willing to invest in East African discoveries even before a pipeline route is decided. It drove Tullow shares up 4.5 percent. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 10, 2015. French gas transmission network operator GRTgaz and its Belgian counterpart Fluxys have commissioned the new Hondschoote - Alveringem interconnection point. The project aims at delivering up to 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year from France to Belgium through the "Artère des Flandres" gas pipeline in France to the Hondschoote metering station at the border. In Belgium the project involved Fluxys Belgium building the Alveringem regulating station, a new interconnection station at Maldegem and a 75-km long pipeline between these two sites. The project will enable to export gas as of 2016 from the Dunkirk LNG terminal to the Belgian grid. (www.enerdata.net)  

November 9, 2015. Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) announced the completion of a new jet fuel pipeline from its storage terminals to Dubai International Airport to cope with an expected increase in demand. The $250 million project will be able to pump 850 cubic meters of jet fuel per hour to the airport, which is 55 percent of its total demand, the Dubai government-owned company said. (www.reuters.com)

November 9, 2015. Cheniere Energy's landmark Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas export plant in Louisiana will receive its first tanker for loading on Jan. 12, according to ship tracking data. The Energy Atlantic LNG tanker is the first in a string of test cargoes that will be loaded before commercial operations begin later in the year. The expected arrival of the tanker to Sabine Pass was confirmed by a source and by IHS Waterborne consultants that track LNG shipments globally. It marks a milestone for the long-awaited project, the first of its kind to be built in the United States in nearly 50 years, and for the U.S. gas market that has been swamped with new supply in recent years due to a domestic drilling boom. It is unclear when the Energy Atlantic will actually leave Sabine or where it will go. The test phase could take four to six months before the first shipments under a long term contract between Cheniere and LNG shipper BG Group begin. The first export shipment represents a turnaround for Cheniere, which in 2008 built an import terminal at the same site in Sabine Pass which was quickly rendered obsolete by the rise in U.S. production. Now, however, other headwinds exist for exports, including a global glut of supply that has pushed prices way below year-ago levels. (www.reuters.com)

November 6, 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada in a victory for environmentalists who campaigned against the project for more than seven years. The denial of TransCanada Corp's more than 800,000 barrels per day project will make it more difficult for producers to develop the province of Alberta's oil sands. It could also put the United States in a stronger position at global climate talks that start in Paris on Nov. 30 in which countries will aim to reach a deal to slow global warming. Keystone XL would have linked existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico coast. TransCanada first sought the required presidential permit for the cross-border section in 2008 but the proposal provoked a wave of environmental activism that turned Keystone XL into a rallying cry to fight climate change. Blocking Keystone became a litmus test of the green movement's ability to hinder fossil fuel extraction in Canada's oil sands. TransCanada and other oil companies said the pipeline would have strengthened North American energy security, created thousands of construction jobs and helped relieve a glut of oil. But since 2008 the United States has experienced a domestic drilling boom which has boosted oil production 80 percent and contributed to a slump in U.S. oil prices from above $100 a barrel to about $44. (www.reuters.com)

November 6, 2015. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has tendered to sell a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo of Australian origin. The tender suggests a loading date in late December from the BG Group-operated Queensland Curtis LNG export plant. CNOOC owns a stake in the plant. In September, CNOOC launched its first tender to sell two LNG cargoes from the facility. The decision to offload supply onto the spot market follows an acceleration in LNG oversupply as import demand from China and other Asian countries has fallen far short of forecasts. (af.reuters.com)

November 5, 2015. TransCanada Corp said it has scrapped plans to build a port in Quebec and will have only one crude oil export terminal for its proposed Energy East pipeline, a possible setback for the controversial project. The move comes days after TransCanada asked the U.S. State Department to pause its review of the company's long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline, a request that Washington turned down amid speculation President Barack Obama will ultimately reject the pipeline. Like Keystone, Energy East is opposed by environmentalists who want to stop expansion of the oil sands industry. The 1.1 million-barrel-per-day project is intended to carry crude from Alberta across Canada to New Brunswick, where it could be shipped abroad. (www.reuters.com)

November 10, 2015. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said he expects offshore natural gas exploration to accelerate in the next few months, with investment from some of the world's largest oil and gas companies. Steinitz said he recently met officials from ENI and 20-30 other energy firms, such as Shell, Hess, Exxon Mobile and EOG, in a bid to entice them to invest in Israeli fields off its Mediterranean coast. Under a framework agreement approved in August by lawmakers, a group led by Houston-based Noble Energy and Israeli conglomerate Delek Group will be allowed to keep control of the yet to be developed Leviathan field. Delek will have to sell its stake in another field, Tamar, and Noble will be required to cut its stake in the field to 25 percent from 36 percent. They will also have to sell their holdings in two smaller sites, Tanin and Karish. Steinitz said experts estimate there are between 10,000 and 15,000 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in the East Mediterranean basin that includes Israel, Egypt and Cyprus -- enough to supply domestic needs as well as Europe. Italy's ENI this year discovered the large Zohr field off Egypt's coast. Only 25-30 percent of Israel's economic waters have been properly investigated, Steinitz said. Leviathan's development remains a top priority, Steinitz said. With estimated reserves of 622 bcm, it is set to begin production in 2018 or 2019 and is expected to supply billions of dollars' worth of gas to Egypt and Jordan in addition to Israel. (af.reuters.com)

November 10, 2015. China and the Middle East, spurred by lower prices and ample supply, will drive global natural gas demand growth in the next 25 years as consumption in Europe fails to recover to peak levels seen in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Both regions will become larger consumers of gas than the European Union, the IEA said. Global demand for gas, a cleaner-burning fuel for power generation than coal, will rise almost 50 percent in the period to 2040, making it the fastest-growing fossil fuel. Emerging economies are increasing gas use to reduce the share of dirtier coal in power generation, which the IEA sees dropping to 30 percent from 41 percent. Gas is also being used to spare use of oil and to back up renewable energy generation. U.S. gas futures, used to price contracts for the first liquefied natural gas exports originating from the shale boom, declined 46 percent over the past year. Exports from the Sabine Pass terminal are scheduled to start early next year, adding to expanding output of the super-chilled fuel from Australia. Brent oil declined 43 percent in the past year, dragging down oil-linked gas contracts. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 10, 2015. Oil is unlikely to return to $80 a barrel before the end of the next decade, despite unprecedented declines in investment, as yearly demand growth struggles to top 1 million barrels per day, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The IEA said it anticipates demand growth under its central scenario will rise annually by some 900,000 barrels per day to 2020, gradually reaching demand of 103.5 million bpd by 2040. The drop in oil to around $50 a barrel this year LCOc1 has triggered steep cutbacks in production of U.S. shale oil, one of the major contributors to the oversupply that has stripped 50 percent off the price in the last 12 months. Oil companies have grappled with the downturn and a "lower for longer" price outlook by slashing spending, cutting thousands of jobs and delaying around $200 billion in mega-projects around the world. The IEA estimates investment has already fallen by 20 percent this year. Higher-cost producers in Canada and Brazil, as well as the United States are likely to fall victim to low oil prices faster than most exporters, but these declines could be offset by supply growth in Iraq and Iran. (in.reuters.com)

November 9, 2015. Pakistan has finalised a 15 year, $16 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with supplier Qatar and shipments are expected to begin next month, Pakistani energy minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said. The amount is 1.5 million tonnes per year, the minister said. The two sides have agreed a price, he said. (www.reuters.com)

November 8, 2015. OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said that despite uncertainties, OPEC members were ready to make the necessary investments to respond to the world's future energy needs. The secretary general said he saw Asia oil demand rising to almost 46 million barrels per day by 2040, an increase of nearly 16 million barrels per day from 2015. Oil-related investment requirements between now and 2040 are estimated at about $10 trillion, he said. (www.reuters.com)

November 6, 2015. Egypt anticipates a ramp-up in oil volumes through the SUMED pipeline once Iran re-enters the world market - a move that is welcomed by Cairo, the country's Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said. SUMED, which owns and operates Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, is half owned by state-run oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. A group of four other Gulf Arab countries - Iran's arch rival Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar - owns the other half. The 200-mile (320-km) SUMED pipeline runs from the Red Sea to the port west of Alexandria. Western sanctions imposed on Iran's oil sector have brought shipments through Ain Sukhna and Sidi Kerir to a virtual halt since 2012, compounded by a freeze on insurance provision. Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption. It is trying to speed up production at recent discoveries to fill its energy gap as soon as possible. El Molla said exploration in the Western Desert had enabled Egypt to maintain steady oil production as new finds have offset declines from mature fields. He said oil production would stay steady at around 700,000 barrels per day for the next two years, but may increase after that because of new wells. (in.reuters.com)

November 6, 2015. US shale oil producers have reduced the fat from their 2015 budgets after a 50% drop in crude prices. Shale companies including Devon Energy Corp, Continental Resources and Marathon Oil released their preliminary 2016 plans for spending. The cuts come after between 30% and 40% reductions earlier this year. Lower costs and improved productivity would allow them to hold shale oil production largely flat. While he did not provide a specific figure, Doug Lawler, the Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp, said 2016 spending would be “cut in a meaningful way” at the Oklahoma-based company. Devon said it expects to spend $2 billion to $2.5 billion on exploration and production next year, down from about $4 billion this year. Marathon Oil is cutting about $1 billion from its projections. Oasis Petroleum Inc, which produces oil in North Dakota, said it expects to spend $350 million in 2016 on drilling and completion of new wells, roughly $200 million below what it plans to spend for those services this year. (www.energyvoice.com)

November 5, 2015. Crude oil is flowing eastward as rising demand in Asia outstrips the West’s stagnant appetite. Next year, China wants traders—including oil speculators, refiners, and big state-owned companies that buy and sell futures contracts—to follow a similar path. By the end of 2015, China, the world’s No. 1 oil importer as of April, may start its own crude futures contract. As it becomes more exposed to price swings on global markets, China wants its pricing influence to match its purchasing power. State oil giant China National Petroleum predicts that this year, for the first time, China will import more than 60 percent of the oil it consumes. Over time, the new contract will give China more control over the price of oil it imports, because the value will reflect the supply-and-demand dynamics of China rather than those of the U.S. Midwest or Europe’s North Sea, where stored crude is represented by trading in New York and London. Before China can exert greater pricing power, traders will have to use its contract. Like any commodity derivative, this one will be backed by physical supplies. The Shanghai exchange is planning to use more than 14 million barrels of storage capacity along China’s coast. (www.bloomberg.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: POWER]

November 9, 2015. Nigerian power generation company Egbin Power plans to double the capacity of its 1,320 MW thermal power plant by 2019. The company aims to build an additional 1,350 MW on the site of its oil- and gas-fired power plant, to supply power to small, medium and large scale enterprises and ultimately make Egbin town a hub of industrial activities. The 1,320 MW Egbin power plant was commissioned in 1986 and has been rehabilitated after the privatisation of Egbin Power in 2013. (www.enerdata.net)    

November 4, 2015. Britain's energy system operator National Grid requested the energy industry to bring 500 MW of extra power generation capacity online between 1630 and 1830 GMT to cover shortages caused by plant breakdowns, it said. The National Grid said it wanted to have a bigger buffer for power held in reserve. (af.reuters.com)

November 10, 2015. The substations are part of PSE&G’s program to protect and strengthen utility substations against increasingly frequent severe weather occurrences and enable reliable and resilient energy delivery. ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $40 million in the United States, from Public Service Electric & Gas, New Jersey’s largest utility, to supply Gas Insulated Switchgear to two substations and help strengthen   reliability. The order was booked in the third quarter of 2015. (www.pennenergy.com)

November 6, 2015. Energy group EDF is reviewing the strategy of its power transmission grid activities, carried out by subsidiary RTE. EDF owns 100% of the share capital of RTE but does not control the company, which was spun off as an independent transmission system operator in 2005. The sale of a stake in the company has long been considered and could enable RTE to finance investments and new projects thanks to new investors. A sale could also help EDF finance the acquisition of Areva's reactor business, its nuclear new-build programme in France and in the United Kingdom and its €55 bn upgrade programme for its ageing nuclear power plants in France. (www.enerdata.net)  

November 5, 2015. Entergy Louisiana has signed an agreement to supply power to the proposed Lake Charles LNG project in southwest Louisiana. Under the contract, Entergy Louisiana could supply up to 255 MW of power to the LNG project that is being developed by BG Group with Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., which owns the existing LNG regasification facility in Lake Charles. (transportationandstorage.energy-business-review.com)

November 10, 2015. Pakistan's government, struggling to fulfil election promises to end daily power cuts, is shifting from big generation projects to less splashy reforms including new transmission systems, privatisation and better management. Since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to office in 2013, his government announced a string of big-ticket power plants that have failed to live up to their fanfare billing. A 6,000 MW coal powered park has been quietly put on the back burner. A planned 1,000 MW solar park only has an installed capacity of 100 MW so far, and the Nandipur plant of 425 MW closed days after the prime minister inaugurated it over management and pricing disputes. It recently reopened. Pakistan produces about 16,000 MW and faces a shortfall of around 6,000 MW, although supply and demand fluctuate, the planning ministry said. (in.reuters.com)

November 9, 2015. Coal consumption is poised for its biggest decline in history, driven by China’s battle against pollution, economic reforms and its efforts to promote renewable energy. Global use of the most polluting fuel fell 2.3 percent to 4.6 percent in the first nine months of 2015 from the same period last year, according to a report released by the environmental group Greenpeace. That’s a decline of as much as 180 million tons of standard coal, 40 million tons more than Japan used in the same period. The report confirms that worldwide efforts to fight global warming are having a significant impact on the coal industry, the biggest source of carbon emissions. It comes a day before the International Energy Agency is scheduled to release its annual forecast detailing the ways the planet generates and uses electricity.

In China, responsible for about half of global coal demand, use in the power sector fell more than 4 percent in the first three quarters and imports declined 31 percent, according to the report. Since the end of 2013, the country’s electricity consumption growth has largely been covered by new renewable energy plants. The share of coal used to generate electricity in the U.S. will fall to 36 percent this year from 50 percent a decade ago. More than 200 coal-fired power plants, with total capacity of 83 GW, have been scheduled for retirement, including 13 GW expected to retire this year. Coal consumption in the 28-nation European Union was flat in the first nine months, after declining a record 6.5 percent in 2014, according to Greenpeace. In India, domestic coal production has been on the rise, with sales by Coal India increasing 7 percent in the first nine months, and consumption increasing about 5 percent. India’s efforts to promote renewable energy is also eating into demand for coal, and stockpiles in the country have increased sharply. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 5, 2015. Dr Steven Andzenge, the Commissioner in charge of Legal, Licensing and Enforcement, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the organisation issued 126 licences since it was established. Andzenge said this in Abuja at the formal presentation of the licence to Ibom Power Limited to generate 685 MW of electricity in Akwa Ibom. The commissioner said the total capacity of on-grid was 35,314 MW; Off-grid 428,12 MW and embedded 298 MW. Other licences issued include those for Diverse Energy Mix 4; Hydro 1968 MW; Coal 6 with 1,815 MW; Wind 2 with 110 MW and Solar 189 MW. Adzenge said that NERC had also issued licences for undertakings in all the six geo-political zones of the country. (nannewsnigeria.com)

November 4, 2015. Brazil’s turbulent politics are getting in the way of a major auction of power-plant concessions, increasing the likelihood that the government won’t be able to meet this year’s already reduced fiscal targets. President Dilma Rousseff’s administration is looking to auction contracts to operate 29 existing power plants as part of an effort to shrink the nation’s massive budget hole. An auction set was estimated to have raised at least $3 billion in upfront fees that would have gone straight to the National Treasury to help Brazil balance its books. But the Mining and Energy Ministry announced that the auction will be pushed back until Nov. 25.

Funds coming from the power-plant auction are meant to reduce the budget hole without imposing more belt-tightening on Brazilians who are already seeing unemployment rise to double digits and real income being reduced by a 9.8% annual inflation. Its approval is crucial to ensure bidders will compete for the power-plant auction, analysts said. The bill sets rules for the electric sector that give operators more price power and are considered more market-friendly. Winning bidders will have to pay a total of 17 billion Brazilian reais ($4.5 billion) in upfront fees. The bulk of it, or 11 billion reais, is to be paid immediately after the auction. (www.wsj.com)

November 4, 2015. South Africa’s plan to build nuclear power plants will go ahead, with the nation’s cabinet “poised to make a decision” on the way forward soon, the country’s atomic energy company said. The country has signed nuclear cooperation accords with Russia, China, France the U.S., Japan and South Korea. South Africa’s government plans to add 9,600 MW of atomic energy to the national grid by 2029 as the country grapples with shortages that have curbed mine and factory output and limited investment. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state-owned utility, operates the continent’s only nuclear power plant -- the Koeberg facility near Cape Town that supplies about 4 percent of the nation’s electricity. (www.bloomberg.com)

 [RENEWABLE ENERGY / CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDS]

November 10, 2015. With the world expecting to sign a global climate deal in Paris next month, India said that the crucial issue of post-2020 finance would be fundamental to the success of the climate summit in the French capital where the countries would hopefully arrive at an agreement next month. The issue where rich nations are supposed to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) - a multilateral fund to help poor and developing countries fight climate change - is currently revolved around nature of contribution and beneficiaries. The entire issue of the climate finance has, of late, become quite tricky as rich nations want the emerging economies like India, Brazil and South Africa should also contribute to the GCF and the money should go to poorer countries. Besides, the rich nations also want loans and existing overseas development assistance (ODA) as counted as the climate finance -- the points which have strongly been opposed by G77 plus China group. India is part of this group comprising 134 developing countries. India's environment minister Javadekar clearly said that any attempts to enlarge the donor base by 'countries in a position to do so' or 'countries willing to do so', will not be appropriate from India's perspective. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

November 10, 2015. With President Barack Obama set to push for a global agreement at the upcoming climate talks in Paris, the US has expressed the hope that India would step up and make an important contribution. Obama would be attending the climate talks in Paris on Nov 30 and Dec 1 with the US pushing for an agreement that does three things: First, it reflects the ambitious climate targets from all of the participating countries; Second, it puts in place a long-term framework that incentivises countries to ratchet down their emissions over time in a transparent manner, with high standards of accountability, and with the goal of achieving a low-carbon transformation by the end of the century. Third, it mobilises ongoing financial and technical support for low-carbon development and climate adaptation, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable countries. (www.business-standard.com)

November 9, 2015. The coal mine project to be built by India's Adani group in Australia's Queensland state, faced a fresh legal challenge from an environmental group seeking cancellation of the government approval. The group contended that the project would damage the ecologically sensitive Great Barrier Reef and cited that as the reason for seeking its cancellation. The Australian federal government gave a fresh approval for Adani's 16 billion Australian dollars (US $12 billion) Carmichael coal mine project in remote central Queensland. Challenging the government approval, the Australian Conservation Foundation said Environment Minister Gregv Hunt failed to consider whether the impact of climate pollution, resulting from burning the mine's coal, would be inconsistent with Australia's international obligations to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. First proposed in 2010, the Carmichael project will dig up and transport about 60 million tonnes of coal a year for export, mostly to India. The mine will cover an area seven times the size of Sydney Harbour. It includes a railway project and was first approved by the government last year. The opposition from Green groups got significant traction when Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg commented recently that there is "a strong moral case" for mining and exporting coal to poor countries like India. (www.business-standard.com)

November 9, 2015. The Tata Power Company Limited announced renewed focus on Renewable energy capacity addition and restructuring of its renewable energy assets as part of its growth focus in the renewable energy space. The assets include 376.5 MW of wind assets in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, 3 MW solar asset in Mulshi and 120 MW of waste heat recovery based power plants at Haldia in West Bengal. The proposed structuring involves carving out of 500 MW of renewable assets of the Company to its subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) and its subsidiaries. TPREL proposes to grow its capacity through organic and inorganic means over the next few years. TPREL is the primary vehicle through which Tata Powers goal of 20-25% generation capacity from clean energy sources will be achieved. The current installed capacity of TPREL is 220 MW (158 MW of wind and 54 MW of Solar) with 250 MW of renewable energy projects under construction. Post structuring, the total installed capacity of TPREL will be about 720 MW with additional 250 MW under construction. (www.newkerala.com)

November 9, 2015. Coal India Ltd (CIL) is likely to invest ` 6,000 crore to set up 1,000 MW of solar power generation capacity over the next five to six years. The state owned company is set to fund 70 percent of the project cost through debt, which will come mostly from banks, while the rest will be through internal resources. The coal producer is also looking at setting up floating solar panels on water bodies that are formed when a mine is closed down. It aims at firming up the technology for setting up floating solar panels on the shallow sides of the lakes, whereas the technology for setting up such panels on deep water is being worked out by CIL. CIL has numerous water bodies under its command areas and they streamline to use them for setting up floating solar panels. This will be the first time in several years that CIL will be raising debt from the market. (www.thehansindia.com)

November 9, 2015. The Indian government will push to achieve renewable energy installation targets two years in advance, as it looks to enact more aggressive policies to promote development of renewable energy infrastructure. India has set a target to have 100 GW solar power, 60 GW wind energy, 10 GW small hydro power, and 5 GW biomass-based power projects operational by March 2022, but Minister of Power, Coal, and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal recently stated that the Indian Government will try to achieve this target of 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2020 instead of the set timeline of 2022. The Central Government has taken several initiatives to increase the uptake of renewable energy through policy initiatives including enactment of a national offshore wind energy policy, and throwing support behind generation-based incentives and accelerated depreciation. The Government is also looking to address the biggest issue in the Indian power sector — the huge financial debt faced by state utilities. Several billion dollars of debt on state power utilities has prevented them from increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix, despite mandatory renewable energy procurement targets. This fact has only been strengthened by the failure of the Renewable Energy Certificate scheme, and low compliance of the renewable purchase obligation. (cleantechnica.com)

November 7, 2015. India's ambition of deploying 175 GW of green energy from renewable sources by 2022 was a big challenge, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said. Solar energy was the ultimate solution for India, Prabhu said at the Global Energy Technology Summit 2015 organised by NTPC. He said that wind and solar were the real sources of energy. Needing an investment of $150 billion, the Indian government aims to deploy 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind energy in the next seven years. (www.business-standard.com)

November 6, 2015. Though coal will continue to be India’s main source of power, solar power will account for around 18% of it by 2030 compared with only 1% at present. India estimates 175,000 MW of renewable power by 2022 which it aims to ramp up to 250 GW by 2030. According to government solar energy will become the main pillar in India’s target to achieving 40% installed power capacity from renewable energy by 2030. Ahead of the global climate summit at Paris starting 30 November, India last month submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) where it committed to achieve 40% power installed capacity from renewable power. India has a solar generation capacity of 2,900 MW. But Bharatiya Janata Party-led government substantially revised an earlier target of achieving 20,000 MW capacity by 2022 to 100,000 MW, unveiling the world’s most ambitious solar power generation programme. This would require an investment of around ` 6.5 trillion over five years. The government estimates that wind energy generation will be at 10% from the current 9% while nuclear power would remain at 2%, as at present. (www.livemint.com)

November 5, 2015. State-owned utility National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has selected global renewable energy development company SunEdison for the development of 500 MW of solar capacity in Andhra Pradesh. In the e-reverse auction, SunEdison offered a lowest tariff of ` 4.63 ($0.0706) per kilowatt-hour for the 500 MW project, breaking the previous record of SkyPower's ` 5.05 per kilowatt-hour for a 150 MW project in the state of Madhya Pradesh. NTPC received a total of 30 bids, totaling 5,500 MW of solar capacity. Besides SunEdison, bidders included SoftBank Group, Trina Solar, Enel Green Power, Reliance Power, ReNew Power Ventures, Solar Arise, Acme Solar and Orange Renewable Power, among others. The project involves construction of 10 solar farms, each with 50MW capacity, at Gani-Sakunala Solar Park in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, and under the government's Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. The Indian government has set a target to have 100GW of installed solar capacity by 2022 in an effort to reduce dependency on coal to generate electricity and combat climate change. The country currently has 4GW of solar capacity. In September, SunEdison has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop 2,000 MW of renewable energy projects in Tamil Nadu, with an investment of around ` 130 bn ($1.9 bn). The deal is a part of the company's effort to build 15.2 GW of clean and cost effective wind and solar power projects in the country by 2022. (solar.energy-business-review.com)

November 9, 2015. A German company has agreed to build several solar power plants in the Tehran province. The company will build a 1,250 MW solar power plant in the Iranian capital, Great Tehran Electrical Distribution Co. Said. The deal also will build 500 MW solar power plants in the cities of Karaj, Kahrizak and Varamin located in the Tehran Province, the company said. The company will fully fund the projects in exchange for a guarantee on electricity purchase and 20-year lease on land at a low price. A nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers in July means sanctions may be lifted from early 2016. That would herald the return of international companies in industries including its energy sector that has been starved of investment and technology. The company said the unidentified German company will begin the construction of a first solar power plant early 2016, which would become operational in May. Iran is in talks with Chinese investors to build solar-panels-producing factories as well as discussing the construction of solar and wind power plants in Tehran province with several Asian and European investors, the company said. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 9, 2015. Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems has signed an agreement to supply turbines for two wind projects, which have a combined power generation capacity of 200 MW, in Inner Mongolia, China. Under the firm and unconditional deal, signed with clean energy solutions provider Hanas Group, Vestas will supply 50 V110-2.0 MW turbines for the Azuoqi 1A project. The company will also be responsible for the delivery of 25 V100-2.0 MW and 25 V110-2.0 MW turbines for the Azuoqi 1B wind project in the country. Vestas said that the contract represents its largest order received this year in China. The turbines are planned to be delivered and commissioned in the second quarter of 2016. The deal is a part of a cooperation agreement signed between the two parties in October 2015 aimed at strengthening mutually beneficial collaboration in future. In 2013, China added more than 16 GW of wind power, accounting for more than 45% of the world's total wind energy installations, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. By the end of 2017, the country intends to have 150 GW of total wind installed capacity as a step toward a target of producing at least 15% of overall energy output from renewable sources by 2020. (wind.energy-business-review.com)

November 9, 2015. Lekela Power, a pan-African renewable power joint venture of Actis (60%) and Mainstream Renewable Power (40%), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for a 250 MW wind power project, to be developed in the Gulf of Suez region in Egypt under a build, own and operate framework. Lekela Power is already developing two projects in Egypt, the 50 MW West Gulf of Suez wind project and the 50 MW Aswan Solar PV project, which should enter construction phase in 2016. (www.enerdata.net)

November 9, 2015. Coal producer Peabody Energy Corp. reached an agreement with the New York attorney general to provide fuller disclosures to investors about the financial risks it faces from regulations to fight climate change. The deal comes as New York, with 17 other states, is trying to join litigation to defend the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan from a block of 26 states, including Texas and Florida. The regulatory initiative is meant to steer the U.S. away from coal power and toward renewable energy sources. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is also probing Exxon Mobil Corp. to determine whether the company lied to investors and the public about the effect of climate change on its profits. Schneiderman issued a subpoena to the company seeking a lengthy list of documents and disclosures, including communications with trade associations and industry groups, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the probe isn’t public. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 7, 2015. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects need a $60 to $80 price for carbon dioxide to justify building them, Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said.That’s more than five times the current price of C$15 ($11.27) a ton in Alberta, Canada, where the oil company began commercial operations for a CCS project. The technology is still too expensive for wide-scale use without government support, van Beurden said in a briefing with journalists at the company’s Scotford refinery near Edmonton, Alberta. The price of carbon dioxide varies around the world and is expected to increase to C$20 a ton in Alberta next year. United Nations climate talks that begin in Paris this month are unlikely to result in a carbon price high enough to spur construction of more CCS projects, van Beurden said. With global energy consumption expected to double in the coming decades, the technology is seen as a necessary part of the international effort to keep the planet’s temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Shell’s Quest carbon capture and storage facility will extract 1 million tons of the gas from its Scotford refinery each year. The carbon dioxide will be injected into an underground saline formation about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the plant. It’s the first in North America to store CO₂ in a deep saline formation. Among the largest commercially operating CCS projects is the C$1.4 billion ($1.05 billion) Boundary Dam coal station in nearby Saskatchewan that began collecting and transporting CO₂ last year for use in oil fields. Capturing carbon from refineries, electricity generation and cement plants before the gas gets into the atmosphere is one of the few ways to commercially tackle emissions from existing sources. Fossil fuels will likely provide about 60 percent of the world’s primary energy consumption by 2040, according the Global CCS Institute. There are 15 large-scale CCS projects operating around the world. CCS technology is being counted upon to carry 14 percent of the burden of holding greenhouse-gas emissions at bay between now and 2050, according to the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based policy adviser for developed nations. That’s the equivalent of eliminating hundreds of the world’s coal plants. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 5, 2015. Oil and gas producer Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and GlassPoint Solar have started construction of 1 GW Miraah solar power project in South Oman. The move follows a deal signed between the two firms in July to build one of the world's largest solar power plants. Expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by over 300,000 tons annually, the Miraah plant will feature GlassPoint Solar concentrating solar power (CSP) technology which enables production of steam from solar energy. This steam is used in heavy oil production. The solar thermal facility is designed to produce an average of 6,000 tons of steam a day that will be used in thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to extract oil at the Amal field. Featuring 36 glasshouse modules, the project is planned to be built in four phases with first stream generation scheduled in 2017. The use of solar for oil recovery is a part of a plan to develop PDO's viscous oil portfolio while reducing natural gas consumption. (solar.energy-business-review.com)

November 5, 2015. Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in Chile, according to Deutsche Bank AG. That conclusion is based on the results of an energy auction in October when renewable projects offered the lowest prices and won contracts to supply 1,200 gigawatt-hours of power, Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah said in a report. That may lead to more than 1 GW of new solar capacity installed in Chile this year, Shah said. It will help the country reach a target set in 2014 by Chile’s government of having 45 percent of its installed electric capacity powered by renewable sources. Three solar farms offered to sell power for $65 to $68 a megawatt-hour in the auction, Shah said. Two wind farms bid $79 a megawatt-hour, and a solar-thermal plant with storage offered power at $97. Coal power was offered for $85 in the same event. In Chile’s power auctions, developers offer to provide a certain amount of capacity at a specific price, without saying what type of power plant they’re planning to build. Bids are listed from cheapest to most expensive, and distribution companies select the lowest-cost proposals available until reaching their target capacity. Shah’s report is based on information compiled from the participants. While demand for solar power in Chile will remain strong, growth may be hindered by limited access to transmission lines. Shah forecasts solar installations will decline by 50 percent to 500 MW in 2016 and then slip to 400 MW in 2017. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 5, 2015. China Everbright International has signed a concession agreement with the People's Government of Lankao County for the development of household waste-to-energy project in Henan Province. As per the deal, Everbright International will build, operate and own the Lankao project for a period of 30 years. The project, which is expected to have a daily household waste processing capacity of 800 tons, is planned to be developed in two phases. First phase of the project is planned be built with an investment of approximately CNY280mn ($44mn) and will have a daily household waste processing capacity of 500 tons. Additionally, the waste-to-power plant is expected to generate approximately 52,000,000 kWh of green electricity annually while complying with the Euro 2000 Standard. Everbright International also signed an investment cooperation framework agreement with the People's Government of Lankao County for an environmental protection veinous industrial park. (biofuelsandbiomass.energy-business-review.com)

November 5, 2015. A unit of Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to double capacity of a solar power plant to 100 MW at a cost of about $106 million. TOO Samruk-Kazyna Invest signed a deal with United Green Group to expand the capacity of their venture in the Zhambyl region of southern Kazakhstan, the Astana-based fund said. Last year, Kazakhstan’s government set tariffs for energy produced by renewables in a bid to get 3 percent of electricity from cleaner sources by 2020. Kazakhstan, the largest oil producer in Central Asia, has sought development of renewable energy, including investment in solar panel production by state-run uranium producer Kazatomprom. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 5, 2015. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s move to raise the profile of climate change within his new cabinet signals a clear change in direction on carbon emissions from the policies of his predecessor. Trudeau named Catherine McKenna as minister of environment and climate change, a portfolio the previous government didn’t have, and created a new special cabinet committee on “environment, climate change and energy” aimed at balancing natural resource development and ecological impact. Former Environment Minister Stephane Dion was also appointed both as foreign affairs minister, ahead of the Paris climate summit later this month, and to chair the climate committee. The choice of Dion, who lost the 2008 election as Liberal leader while pledging a “green shift” to cut emissions, suggests Trudeau views climate and the environment as a major aspect of international relations. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 4, 2015. Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. are among the companies doing the most to fight climate change, according to a global ranking that grades corporations according to their environmental credentials. The three U.S. technology giants, worth a combined $1.6 trillion, are among the 113 corporations awarded an ‘A’ grade for their efforts to reduce heat-trapping emissions, according to the report from the U.K. nonprofit CDP. That list was whittled down from a larger pool of 1,997 companies around the world that submitted data to the group formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project. The efforts by companies from Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. to South Africa’s Nedbank Group Ltd. illustrate a growing trend by corporations around the world to step up efforts to protect the environment. Nine in 10 companies now have actions in place to reduce greenhouse gases, up from less than half in 2010, CDP said. The United Nations has sought to engage companies as 195 nations work to seal a global deal to fight climate change at a meeting in Paris in December. The UN has set up a separate online portal to collect emissions-reduction pledges from companies, complementing those of countries. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 4, 2015. Hitachi Zosen Corp. completed a 6-megawatt biomass power plant in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. The 3 billion yen ($25 million) plant will produce enough electricity for 12,000 homes, the Osaka-based company said. Hitachi Zosen and its partners built a 1.3 billion yen manufacturing plant for wood chips adjacent to the power station, according to the company. (www.bloomberg.com)

November 4, 2015. French President Francois Hollande issued a thinly veiled call to the U.S. to pay its promised share into a United Nations fund for climate projects in developing countries. The U.S. Congress has blocked America’s $3 billion contribution to the UN’s $10 billion Green Climate Fund, while France has paid its $1 billion share. Hollande said financing is key to success at this month’s COP21 climate conference in Paris because developing countries will only sign up for ambitious carbon-cutting targets if they receive help to shift to cleaner technologies. While the countries that account for about 90 percent of carbon emissions have submitted national plans, Hollande said funding clean energy projects would help nations such as India where Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces domestic opposition to his carbon reduction targets. The fund’s board announced its first set of eight projects worth $168 million at a meeting in Zambia. They include solar projects in East Africa, water treatment in the Maldives and Fiji, development of green bonds in Latin America, and improved energy networks in Bangladesh. (www.bloomberg.com)

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