News

India suffered a 6.6 percent deficit in power supply during the first quarter of the current fiscal, according to Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Japan plans to set up a new atomic safety regulator under the Environment Ministry by merging the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency with another government advisory body.

Vietnam persists in supporting efforts against proliferation of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction towards full disarmament, said Ambassador Le Hoai Trung. Ambassador Trung, Head of the Delegation of Permanent Representatives of Vietnam to the UN, was speaking at the July 27-28 UN General Assembly plenary meeting on revitalising the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in New York. As an active member of the UN, Vietnam has participated in and seriously fulfilled its obligations to significant international treaties on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the ambassador said. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is closely cooperating with ASEAN countries and other partners in implementing Treaty on Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, contributing to maintaining regional peace and security. The diplomat praised CD’s previous contributions and recognised recent progress in disarmament, naming the effectiveness of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the US in February this year and the success of the conference reviewing the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapon in May 2010. Ambassador Trung called on CD members to early approve a working programme and set up a negotiating mechanism for four major pillars of the agenda: nuclear disarmament, ensuring nuclear security for nations without nuclear weapons, cutting down the production of nuclear fission substance and preventing an arm race in the universe with priority giving to nuclear disarmament. The strengthening of peace and international security will create an essential environment for disarmament to progress, Trung said.

Vietnam's electricity sector will increase the capacity of power supply in the north, central and southern regions to meet domestic consumer demands.

A natural gas-fired thermal plant will be built in Tokyo by the city government.   Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said that the local government will get the help of private funding including foreign investment, as the capital faces uncertainty over future power supply. Construction of the plant is estimated to cost around JPY50 billion or $640 million and will be built and operated by a private sector on a site offered by the local government. The power generated from the plant will be equal to one nuclear plant.

Lanco Infratech will invest over Rs 13,000 crore in setting up a 2,000-Mw power plant and developing a coal block at Raigarh in Chhattishgarh.

J-Power has closed two thermal power plants due to a steam leak and a problem with a transformer.

The total electricity production of various cascade hydropower stations in the Yellow River Basin exceeded 20TWh this year.

The first 640MW ultra-super critical unit of CPI Guixi Power Plant passed the 168-hour full-load test running.

China has surpassed the US as the world's largest consumer of energy in 2010, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy released yesterday. China's share of global energy is now 20.3% while it was 19% for the US. India's share was a meagre 4.4% China's share of global coal consumption was a whopping 48.2% in relation to 14.8% only for the US and 7.8% for India. The following picture emerges when a comparison is made between India with China : At the end of 2010, proved reserves of oil were at 2 billion tonnes for China and 1.2 billion tonnes  for India. Despite being a large consumer, China's share of reserves of the global total was a meagre 1.1%, whereas India's share was 0.7%. The R/P ratio was 9.9 for China and a much more favourable 30 for India. Clearly, China is eating up its reserves at a much faster pace than India. China's crude production was 4,071 thousand barrels per day in 2010, an increase of 7.1% over 2009 in comparison to 826 thousand barrels for India, an annual increase of 9.8%. China's consumption of oil was 9,057 thousand barrels in 2010 in comparison to India's 3,319 thousand barrels. China's refining capacity is also big, at 10121 thousand barrels per day in comparison to India's 3703 thousand barrels. China imported 234.6 million tonnes of crude oil in 2010 in relation to India's 162 million tonnes. China imported 59.9 million tonnes of petroleum products in comparison to India's 16.5 MMT. India's export of petroleum products was much larger at 57.2 MMT in relation to 29.4 MMT by China. China's gas reserves at the end of 2010 were at 99.2 trillion cubic feet (TCF) in relation to India's 51.2 TCF. China's R/P ratio for gas was 24.7 in relation to India's 29. China's gas production was 96.8 BCM in 2010, while India's was 50.9 BCM. China's gas consumption was a 100 BCM and India's was 61.9 BCM. China's proved reserves of coal was a massive 1,14,500 MMT, making up 11% of the world's reserves, while India's reserves were at 60,600 TMT, approximating 7% of global reserves. The R/P ratio is 35 for China and 106 for India. China's production of coal was a whopping 1,800 MMT, whereas India's output was just 216 MMT. China's coal consumption was 1,713 MMT while India's was 277.6 TMT. China's hydel production was 161.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) as against India's 25,2 MTOE. India's renewal energy output was just 5.0 MTPE in relation to China's 12.1 MTOE. China's biofuel output was 1,399 MTOE, whereas India's was 151 MTOE. Overall, China's primary energy consumption in 2010 was 2432 MTOE against India's 524 MTOE.  

Reliance Industries Limited's 5 MW solar power plant at Khimsar, Rajasthan recorded the highest net capacity utilization factor at 18.8% among six grid connected solar plants.

ABB Ltd has won orders worth Rs 16.1 crore to supply turnkey power and automation solutions for three photovoltaic solar power plants with a combined capacity of 11 Mw in India.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission raised power tariff by 6.6 percent for bulk consumers in the country.

Turkey resumed discussing a potential with Toshiba and TEPCO to build the country's second nuclear plant in Sinop.

A natural gas-fired thermal plant will be built in Tokyo by the city government.

A Mongolian and a Chinese mining company have signed a coal deal worth US$ 250 million.