Energy & Power

WORLD WATCH

Indian Companies Vie for 1,300 MW Projects in Nepal

Eleven Indian power companies are among the fourteen international firms which have expressed interest for developing three major projects meant for producing 1,302 MW electricity in Nepal.

The Indian companies vying for the survey licenses are Reliance Energy, GMR Energy, Jindal Steel and Power, Sutlej Jalbidhyut Nigam, Maytas NCC Consortium, JP Associates, Larsen and Tourbo, Bhilwara Energy, National Hydro-electric Project Corporation, KSK Electricity Finance India and Athena Consortium.

The power to be generated in these projects -- 600MW Budhi Gandaki, 402MW Arun III and 300MW Upper Karnali -- would be exported to India, sole buyer of Nepal's hydro power.

Netherlands' Brackel Corporation, China's Sino Hydro Corporation and China National Oversees Engineering Corporation are the three other international companies competing for the projects.

PTTEP, CNOOC Swap Stakes in Myanmar Assets

Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production PLC signed a final accord with China National Offshore Oil Corp. to swap stakes in their blocks in military-ruled Myanmar.

The agreement wrapped up a basic deal the two state-controlled energy concerns struck in February, although it is still subject to approval by the Myanmar government.

PTTEP will hand over a 20% share in gas Blocks M3 and M4, Gulf of Martaban, to the Chinese firm in exchange for a 20% holding of CNOOC's offshore A4 and onshore C1 acreages.

PTTEP Chief Executive Anon Sirisaengtaksin said PTTEP and CNOOC plan to jointly shoot seismic, interpret the data, and drill at least one exploration well in each of the blocks under the asset swap.

The accord will reduce PTTEP's holding in Block M3 and M4 to 80% from 100%. Both possess high gas potential.

Following the share swap, the ownership structure for Block A4 and C1 is 61.25% by CNOOC, 20% PTTEP, and 18.75% jointly by China Focus Development Ltd. and China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corp.

China Sets Exploration Goals by 2010

China's Ministry of Land and Resources has set a goal of discovering 10 medium-sized domestic oil fields and 8-10 major natural gas fields by 2010 in order to enhance the country's energy security.

The ministry, in its first national geological exploration blueprint, specified that the oil fields should each have at least 100 million tonnes of reserves, while the gas fields will each have at least 0.1 trillion cu m of reserves.

In its 5-year plan, covering 2006-10, the ministry said it wanted to add 4.5-5 billion tonnes of proved oil reserves and 2.5-2.8 trillion cu m of gas reserves. This would be up from the 4.42 billion tonnes of oil and 2.6 trillion cu m of gas achieved in 2001-05.

Two Proposals Aim to Pipe Natural Gas from Alaska
After years of legal wrangling, two proposals for an Alaska natural gas pipeline are now moving forward, promising to bring new supplies of natural gas to the continental United States and Canada.

The State of Alaska has established the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), which provides financial incentives for an Alaska natural gas pipeline. Proposals were submitted last year, and in January, Governor Sarah Palin announced that only one proposal, from TransCanada Corp., met the state's requirements. TransCanada is proposing a pipeline that would run from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Alberta, Canada, where it would connect to a grid of pipelines supplying Canada and the continental United States. TransCanada intends to begin operating the pipeline in late 2017, delivering 4.5 billion cubic feet per day to North American markets.

While that proposal is still under review, for now it is the only contender for state funds.

UK Launches 2.5% Biofuels Transport Requirement

Environmentalists and charities have criticized the UK government's requirement that all fuels must have 2.5% of biofuels, claiming the measure is raising food prices and damaging the environment through land conversion and increased usage of chemical fertilizers.

The new policy became effective April 15 under the government's Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) to ensure that it meets European Union regulations. By 2010 the share will reach 5% and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 million tonnes.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association said: "This initiative may be well intentioned, but it is highly flawed. Loopholes allow subsidized fuel from unsustainable sources to be certified. Companies are entitled to answer 'unknown' to the question of what the previous land use was and still be eligible for [an RTFO] certificate."

The Department for Transport will publish a report in June reviewing the use of biofuels, after which ministers may postpone or drop plans to increase the amount of biofuel in petrol and diesel to 10% by 2020.

Oxfam International warned that millions of indigenous people in Asia, Africa, and South America would lose their homes as land is cleared to build biofuel plantations such as palm oil.

But Jeremy Woods, leader of the biofuels working group at the Royal Society, said the RTFO could succeed if it promotes the best biofuels. This would be achieved by changing the RTFO to support the fuels with the lowest emissions by including a greenhouse reduction target.

Indo-SL JV for Thermal Plant in Sri Lanka

The Indian and Sri Lankan governments have come to a final agreement on the construction of a 500 MW coal-based power plant at Sampur in the Trincomalee district in Sri Lanka.

With an investment of 500 million US dollars, the project will be implemented by a joint venture company of which India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) hold equal stakes with a debt/equity ratio of 70:30.

Sri Lanka and India signed an agreement on the project in 2006, but progress was delayed by a disagreement on the exact location of the power plant. Sri Lanka identified Sampur as the best location, while India preferred a location close to the Indian Oil storage complex in Trincomalee harbor.