MHI to build small engines in China

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Shanghai T&E Industrial Company of China have signed a technology licensing agreement relating to small-size air-cooled 4-stroke petrol engines. Production will start in summer 2004. MHI expects the agreement to increase its opportunities to sell engines to manufacturers of portable power generators.

Aggreko supplies commissioning power

Aggreko supplied the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) with two load bank packages totalling 35 MVA in Abu Dhabi and Iran during the final commissioning stages of the Shell Nowrooz and Soroosh permanent production platforms.

The package consisted of a

25 MVA load bank and transformer, which was delivered to NPCC in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, and a 10 MVA load bank and transformer were supplied to NPCC at Qeshm Island, Iran. The load bank package for Soroosh was delivered, installed and commissioned within two days of the signing of the contract.

Bulgarian wind farm planned

A wind farm is to be constructed in the Bulgarian coastal town of Kavarana. A total of 20 2 MWe turbines will be built by the Bulgarian-German joint venture Universum Energy.

It is due to become operational by the end of 2004.

Vietnam’s first private power plant inaugurated

Vietnam’s prime minister Phan Van Khai has inaugurated the country’s first and largest private power plant, the 716.8 MWe Phu My 3 plant.

The $450 million BOT project is the first of its kind in Vietnam, and is owned equally by BP Holdings, SembCorp Utilities of Singapore, and a consortium of Kyushu Electric Power and Nissho Iwai, known as Sojitz Corporation.

The power plant was built under a 23-year contract between the Ministry of Industry and the Phu My Power Company, which stipulates that the company will operate the plant for 20 years before transferring unit 3 to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

$620 million to meet renewableS target

Hungary’s Ministry of Economics and Transport has said that the country will need $620 million to increase its renewable energy capacity by 2010 to a level that will meet EU requirements.

To meet EU power directives by the 2010 deadline, Hungary would have to increase its renewable energy production from 266 GWh to 1600 GWh. This would increase the percentage of electricity produced in Hungary to nearly 5% of the total production, compared to the current figure of about 0.8%.

Duke sells Asia Pacific assets

Duke Energy is to sell its Asia-Pacific assets to Alinta of Australia for $12.4 billion The deal will include all Duke’s assets in Australia and New Zealand, and is due to be completed by summer of 2004.

It is expected that other US companies still feeling the aftershocks of the collapse of Enron will pull out of overseas investments. In Australia and New Zealand alone, these assets total 2300 km of pipeline and 450 MWe of generating capacity, and are worth $7.5 billion.

Meanwhile, another US energy company taking steps to improve its financial position is Calpine. It has sold $2.4 billion of debt. The new debt replaces loans and bonds that were to come due in November 2004.

Eesti underway

Narva Elektrijaamad’s Essti power plant in Estonia has started full-scale continuous generation of 215MWe. The new boiler and modernised turbines at the company’s Balti power plant is scheduled to start operation in summer 2004. The r250 million upgrading project for the two plants was awarded to Foster Wheeler as a complete turnkey project in May 2001. It involved the repowering of 430 MWe of capacity at the world’s largest oil shale-fired power plants with circulating fluidised bed (CFB) technology. The project will increase the efficiency of the plants from 30% to 36.5%, and will cut emission levels dramatically. When fully commissioned, the repowered capacity will cut emissions of SO2, particulates, NOx and CO2 by 95%, 97%, 55% and 23% respectively.