Former energy minister Piyasvasti Amranand has called on the government to lift the 2,000- megawatt ceiling on the purchase of solar energy from the private sector and allow free trade to spur competition in Thailand. In his speech on “Thailand’s Energy Crisis” organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism on Monday, he said the government should eradicate redundancy in the private sector’s applicati ...

Sonnedix Group announces that it has reached over 100 megawatts of operating PV capacity with the completion of a 9.5MW solar plant in the Mae Chan district in Chiang Rai northern Thailand. The solar power plant is the largest built to date in northern Thailand, and was constructed by Assyce Fotovoltaica and Ch. Karnchang Group using 41,000 REC solar modules and 16 ABB inverters. Long term bank debt was pro ...

China-based Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd said it would close its only solar panel-making plant in the United States to cut costs, two years after opening the facility that never reached full production. Shares of the company, struggling to cover a convertible bond due this Friday, fell 9 percent to $1.05, their lowest in more than two months. Suntech opened the plant in Goodyear, Arizona in September 2010, ...

China's troubled solar-panel manufacturing industry should see light at the end of the tunnel as early as this year, the CEO of a major panel manufacturer said. Chen Kangping, who heads JinkoSolar Holding Co, said domestic solar companies who can survive 2013 should be able to make a profit next year. "We believe those companies that perform well, including Jinko, will be profitable in the second half of th ...

China's ambassador to Kathmandu was recently pictured in a traditional Nepali cap and silk scarf, digging with a spade to symbolize the laying of the foundations of a new dry port near the Tibet border. The photo opportunity marked the latest in a series of major projects that underscore China's growing economic influence in Nepal, where it is building roads and investing billions of dollars in hydropower a ...

Two Chinese power station builders completed the Zhanhua hydropower station in Vietnam on March 4th, Vietnamese media reported Tuesday. China Guangxi Electric Power Industry Investigation Design and Research Institute, and Guangdong No.2 Hydropower Engineering Co Ltd started the project in October 2009. With a total investment of more than $87 million, the power station will have a annual capacity to produc ...

Japan has extracted natural "ice gas" from methane hydrates beneath the sea off its coasts in a technological coup, opening up a super-resource that could meet the country's gas needs for the next century and radically change the world's energy outlook. The state-owned oil and gas company JOGMEC said an exploration ship had successfully drilled 300 metres below the seabed into deposits of methane hydrate, a ...

PUB has identified 100 more sites in Singapore that could potentially be developed in the ABC Waters Programme. ABC Waters integrates drains, canals and reservoirs with the surrounding environment to create water parks and community spaces. Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament three more projects will be completed this year at Sungei Pandan, Sungei Ulu Pandan and G ...

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is undertaking the Compostela Substation Expansion Project in Cebu. This is to keep up with the rapid growth of power demand in Visayas, said Elmer Cruz, NGCP Visayas Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Officer. A 150-megavolt ampere (MVA) transformer, power circuit breakers, and accessories will be installed at the Compostela substation. The e ...

Indian power equipment manufacturer EMCO Limited has secured an order worth INR4.58 billion from India’s inter-state grid developer Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for the turnkey execution of a transmission line tower package for the ±800 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) Champa–Kurukshetra line. The 1,365 km long bipole line will connect the Champa pooling station in Chhattisgarh to Kurukshetr ...