Staff Reporter

Both will develop new nuclear reactors. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said both countries will also encourage joint bids for projects elsewhere. He said Westinghouse Electric Company (Toshiba), one of the world's leading nuclear firms, was prepared to bid for reactor tenders in Britain with the China National Nuclear Corporation and the State Nuclear Power Technology Company.

Launches first cleantech incubator. The Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and six industry leaders have established the first cleantech incubator and accelerator in Singapore.

Solar farm will be located in Negros Occidental province. German solar firm Conergy AG has won a contract from San Carlos Solar Energy to build a 22 MW solar power plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental in the Visayas region south of Manila.

Displaces state-owned ONGC in global rankings. Reliance Industries, Ltd improved eight positions to grab the 19th position on Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings for 2013. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) retained its 22nd place ranking, the position it had in 2012. RIL improved from 27th place.

Solar accounts for over 2 GW. India’s renewable energy capacity grew from 3.9 GW in 2003 to 27.3 GW by January 2013. Solar power in India comprises 2 GW of India’s electricity generation capacity. Reaching the 2 GW milestone means India can provide enough energy for some 278,000 homes.

That’s compared to just 3% today.

Higher charges could come in November.

Projects will be located across Japan. Japan’s Solar Frontier, a supplier of thin-film PV technology, has supplied 86 MW of its CIS solar panels to a subsidiary of industrial engineering firm, the Chiyoda Corporation. Chiyoda is developing 18 individual solar power projects throughout Japan and will perform engineering, procurement and construction work on each of their plants.

Construction could begin by mid-2014. London-based Advanced Plasma Power Ltd., a waste-to-energy developer, intends to build a US$323 million waste-to-energy power plant at a still undetermined location. The plant will have a capacity of 60 MW. The company is negotiating with the operator of a landfill site.

This US$3.7 million project will be completed in three years. Bank of the Philippine Islands will enter into a build-operate-transfer agreement for the installation of solar panels at 400 of its branches nationwide. It will partner with Solarus Partners for the solar project, the first of its kind by a Philippine bank. Its branches at Ayala Avenue in Makati City and the town of Cainta in Metro Manila have been equipped with 5 KW solar panels. BPI expects to have half its branches fitted with solar panels that can produce 20 KW of power or 40% of its monthly electricity consumption.

Five-year project will cost US$1.25 billion. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will start by improving the transmission facilities of the 75 MW Ambuklao hydroelectric dam built in 1950 and the 132 MW Binga hydroelectric dam built in 1956. NGCP said the transmission development plan plans to increase the amount of electricity distributed by the Luzon grid from 7,969 MW in 2011 to 11,165 MW in 2021. Metro Manila consumes 74% or 8,305 MW of the 11,165 MW of electricity channeled daily through the Luzon grid. The plan intends to modernize the high-power voltage lines of the Ambuklao and Binga dams and the transmission lines connecting Binga to San Manuel, Pangasinan, and to La Trinidad, Benguet.

Region will be comparable to China and India. The International Energy Agency said people may be talking about Southeast Asia as the next emerging market for energy, just as people have been talking about China and India. has a combined population of about 600 million. Together, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and India are really gradually shifting the center of gravity of the global energy market towards Asia, IEA said. ASEAN economies are expected to diversify their energy sources to include more clean energies with natural gas as an important option.

Plant will supply electricity to Tokyo. JAG Energy Company, Ltd said the new solar farm will be built in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. JAG Energy is a unit of Japan Asia Group Ltd. JAG energy will start building the facility February 2014 and is expected to complete the project by March 2015. The facility will supply power to Tokyo Electric Power Company and will be equipped with Toshiba solar panels. JAG Energy is engaged in the development and operation of renewable energy plants and provides renewable energy consulting services.

Part of fallout from bogus safety certificates scandal. A government working group has recommended a cut in South Korea's reliance on nuclear power. It cited a fall in public confidence in nuclear plant safety triggered by Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011. The study recommended South Korea’s nuclear power capacity be kept between 22% and 29% of the total by 2035, well below existing plans to grow the sector to 41% in less than 20 years. In 2012, nuclear accounted for 26% of total generating capacity. The government will hold public hearings to decide whether to back the recommendation before finalizing its energy policy in December. Coal made up about 31% of power generation capacity in 2012 while LNG contributed 26%. Three of South Korea's 23 reactors are offline due to the fake safety certificates, while another will be shut on Oct. 30 to examine welding quality related to the safety of a steam generator. Two others are also offline for regular maintenance and a sixth one is shut, awaiting an extension of its 30-year life span. Of six reactors under construction, three have been delayed from start-up, also because of safety issues.

Will replace oil despite clean energy initiatives.

Energy will be “beamed down” to terrestrial stations.