Staff Reporter

Thousands of homes in storm-ravaged parts of the North Island of New Zealand remain without power.

A new dam has allowed the Theun-Hinboun hydropower plant in Borikhamxay province of Laos to generate energy at its full capacity of 220 megawatts.

Small solar lighting devices are becoming increasingly popular among

Himal Power Limited is giving away $2 million (about Rs 160 million) to

Construction of the Nam Ngiep 2 hydropower plant in Xieng Khuang province is about 10

Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC) will install 5,500 solar water heaters in 21 provinces nationwide with VND1 million worth of support for each customer participating in its promotion program. Nguyen Van Hop, deputy general director of EVN SPC, said that the corporation installed around 1,400 heaters with the same support last year. Households, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, restaurants and hotels are all able to take advantage of the discount, he added. According to the company, there are currently in use over 2.5 million electrical water heaters with the power capacity of 2-5 kilowatts and consuming up to four billion kilowatts each year. With the advantage of the tropical climate, southern provinces can use solar energy almost all year round and thus, the use of solar water heaters can save a large amount of power and money. The firm calculated that a household of five members using a 200-liter solar water heater can save 150 kilowatts of power per month. EVN SPC on Monday signed cooperation agreements with manufacturers who will provide solar water heaters to the program. They are Gia Nam Co., Back Khoa Investment and Development of Solar Energy Corp., Phu Lac Khang Co., Son Ha International Corp., Tan A Dai Thanh Group and Toan My Energy Co  

Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC) will install 5,500 solar water heaters in 21 provinces nationwide with VND1 million worth of support for each customer participating in its promotion program. Nguyen Van Hop, deputy general director of EVN SPC, said that the corporation installed around 1,400 heaters with the same support last year. Households, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, restaurants and hotels are all able to take advantage of the discount, he added. According to the company, there are currently in use over 2.5 million electrical water heaters with the power capacity of 2-5 kilowatts and consuming up to four billion kilowatts each year. With the advantage of the tropical climate, southern provinces can use solar energy almost all year round and thus, the use of solar water heaters can save a large amount of power and money. The firm calculated that a household of five members using a 200-liter solar water heater can save 150 kilowatts of power per month. EVN SPC on Monday signed cooperation agreements with manufacturers who will provide solar water heaters to the program. They are Gia Nam Co., Back Khoa Investment and Development of Solar Energy Corp., Phu Lac Khang Co., Son Ha International Corp., Tan A Dai Thanh Group and Toan My Energy Co  

The government and China´s Three Gorges Corporation (TGC) on Wednesday signed an agreement on construction of the 750-MW West Seti Hydro Electricity Project

Project to block China's largest freshwater lake sparks widespread controversy, Li Jing reports from Beijing.

The Nepalese authorities' inordinate delay in resolving the pending issue of funding for the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (MPP) has resulted in a decade long wait for the formation of a mutually agreeable detailed project report (DPR).  8During the recently convened Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) meeting, it was pointed out that Nepal is yet to furnish a detailed action plan to undertake identified field works of joint observation at the Pancheshwar and Rupaligad sites, along with necessary investigations for the proposed re-regulating dam at the alternative dam site of Rupaligad.  8With no definite work plan or rough estimation of associated cost estimates in sight, the decision making process regarding funding has stalled. Moreover, the Terms of Reference (TOR) for establishment of the Pancheshwar Development Authority (PDA), whose responsibility includes finalization of project funding details, is still awaiting approval from the Indian government.  8That apart, India is still to agree to single stage development of the 5,600 MW project and pay extra-cost towards irrigation, as requested by Nepal.  8For reference purposes, the Pancheshwar (MPP) is proposed on river Mahakali, which forms the international boundary between India and Nepal. The project envisages a 315 metre high dam across the river Mahakali (known as Sarda in India) at about 2.5 Km. downstream of the confluence of river Sarju and Mahakali.  

China insists its hydropower project on Brahmaputra river in Tibet is "not big" enough to affect water flow to India.

Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp said on Thursday that it plans to lift by one-third its domestic production capacity of turbine generators to meet demand from fossil-fuel plants as nuclear power usage declines. Mitsubishi Electric said it is boosting production capacity to 60 generators in the year ending in March after investing 11 billion yen ($136 million) to expand its Kobe plant in western Japan. It said it plans to raise its annual production capacity to 80 generators in the future, including overseas production.  

A Japan-led joint venture will build and operate two geothermal power plants in Indonesia, each able to generate 220 megawatts.

One of India’s largest business organizations wants to reduce India’s rising power rates by lessening the tax burden of power producers.

Despite its ongoing problems with its nuclear power industry, Japan is going ahead with plans to export nuclear technology to Turkey and other countries.

Coal miner New Hope Corp has scrapped plans to sell itself for more than $5 billion after a five-month sale process failed to seal a deal, a sign that tighter credit has taken the sizzle out of Australia's hottest deal sector. New Hope's shares slumped as much as 11 percent after it called off the sale, but clawed back half the losses to trade above where it was before the auction. New Hope reluctantly put itself up for sale in October after being approached by potential suitors, with Indian conglomerates Tata Group and Aditya Birla, a Korean consortium and China's Shenhua Group among those who had expressed interest, hungry to fill coal demand for power plants and steel mills. "We were never really willing sellers. With A$1.5 bln in the bank, I don't think we're distressed in any way whatsoever," Managing Director Robert Neale told Reuters. New Hope put itself up for sale under pressure from its 60 percent shareholder, Washington H Soul Pattinson and Co . Soul Pattinson itself was being pressured by its own shareholders, including Perpetual, to unlock value. Portfolio managers at Perpetual, which also owns a 7 percent stake in New Hope, were not available for comment on Thursday. Investors had considered a New Hope sale unlikely in light of the company's high price target for its unique mix of assets, local opposition to the expansion of its main coal mine, at least one suitor turning to another target, and debt drying up for deals. New Hope Chairman Robert Millner said access to debt and controversy over its Acland mine expansion turning into an issue in the state of Queensland's upcoming elections, may have been factors that put off bidders. "Obviously around the world, money's getting harder to get your hands on," Millner told Reuters. Millner and Neale declined to comment on how much the company had expected to fetch for its assets. Analysts have said a price of up to A$5.8 billion for its coal assets alone would have been fair as the coal is high-quality thermal coal for power stations and the company has coveted port access. "That's not over the top. They are really good assets. They've got a dedicated port, which these days is worth an awful lot," said Peter Arden, an analyst at broker Ord Minnett. "They've also been unfortunately caught up in a bit of a political storm over their main coal asset. I think that would have been a really difficult scenario to conduct a fair sale under," he said. Arden also said the company's coal-to-liquids technology and other alternative energy assets would be worth a further A$830 million. 'NO DEFINITIVE PROPOSAL' The Queensland-based miner, one of the last substantial coal companies left after a string of takeovers, said it had been in discussions with third parties on a number of incomplete proposals right up to Wednesday. "Discussions with those parties did not produce a definitive proposal which appropriately reflects New Hope's strategic value and growth prospects and therefore the process has been terminated," the company said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange on Thursday. One of the key potential bidders, China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co, chose instead to bid for Australia's Gloucester Coal in December, combining assets in an A$700 million deal. People close to the New Hope talks told Reuters earlier this month bidders pulled out partly due to the size of the deal, which, at more than $5 billion, would have required sizable debt raisings at a time when European credit markets were drying up. Some bidders had explored buying individual assets rather than the whole company, but it was never clear whether New Hope was willing to consider that route. Millner and Neale declined to comment on any aspect of the discussions with the bidders or say how many bidders were finally in the frame, except to say they were major overseas companies. New Hope's open-cut New Acland mine, west of Brisbane, produces thermal coal, with about 65 percent of its coal going overseas and the rest to the domestic market. The company also has another mine called Colton and some exploration assets. Unlike many other Australian miners desperate to raise funds for their projects, New Hope has A$1.5 billion in cash and does not need a partner to finance its expansion program. Two further Australian coal takeovers in process are expected to go ahead, with Yanzhou due to release a bidder's statement for Gloucester soon, at the same time that rival Whitehaven Coal releases deal documents on its A$2.7 billion takeover of Aston Resources. ANOTHER SALE ATTEMPT LATER? New Hope shares touched a high of A$6.42 in October after it put itself on the block, but earlier this week were only 10 percent higher than before the auction, in line with the broader market's gains over the same period, indicating investors doubted a deal would go ahead. Its shares ended down 4.9 percent at A$5.43, after hitting a low of A$5.11 immediately after Thursday's announcement. Chairman Millner, who is also chairman of Soul Pattinson, said he expected coal assets would remain in demand and did not rule out considering a sale later this year. "If someone comes back with an indicative offer -- who knows?" he told Reuters. He pointed to rising thermal coal prices underpinning demand for coal assets. "So there's no reason for the heat to come out of (the sector). If you read and hear around the world, people are still very, very positive on thermal coal, copper and a couple of other commodities," Millner said.