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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Thursday, February 22, 2007

India's Haryana state utilities to buy electricity from 21 biomass projects worth US$ 745 million

Taking a big leap forward into the renewable energy sector, the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on power purchasing agreements with seven independent power producers (IPPs) to buy a large amount of renewable electricity.

The initiative will result in the generation of 686MW of power through 21 biomass power plants and four wind energy projects at a total cost of 33 billion rupiah (€570/US$745 million).

The State of Haryana is located in India's North-Western region and has a population of some 21 million inhabitants. It is the first state in the country to have achieved 100% electrification, reaching all villages. The average Haryana inhabitant consumes around 550kWh of electricity per year (compare this to the US average of 13,250kWh per person per year).

HAREDA recently analysed the power generation potential through renewables and found the following results:
  • Biomass: 1400 MW
  • Bagasse Cogeneration (bagasse is residual sugar cane biomass): 100 – 150 MW
  • Small Hydro Projects: 45 MW
  • Municipal Solid Waste: 17 MW
  • Solar Energy: 5.5 - 6.5MW
  • Wind Energy: being mapped
The Haryana government stresses that energy security and the abundance of supplies is of the upper most important for growth and development, and that it has given top priority to harness all types of energy - from nuclear and coal to renewables - through launching several large projects. In november 2005 a policy notification was released encouraging the private sector to set up renewable energy power projects in the state:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The policy is aimed at promoting generation of electricity through renewable energy sources. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says this would be the future of energy generation for the state, adding that only the speedy setting up of these projects with a time lag of 20 moths after signing the Power Purchase Agreement for biomass projects and 26 months for wind projects, the people, the producers and the Government would be benefited, he added.

Earlier, in his presentation, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Renewable Energy Department, Mr. S.C.Chaudhary informed that the biomass based power projects would generate 246 MW of power and the wind energy based power projects would produce 440 MW power and these would start generation of power by the mid of 2009.

The director of the Haryana Renewable Energy Department and of HAREDA, Sumita Misra signed the MoU's for biomass power projects M/s Starwire India Ltd., New Delhi, M/s Gammon India Ltd., Mumbai, M/s Tecpro Energy Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, M/s Jyoti Biomass Power Ltd., Hyderabad and M/s Turboatom -TPS Projects Ltd., New Delhi. Similarly, in case of setting up of wind energy based power projects, the MoUs were signed with two IPPs including, M/s Suzlon Energy Ltd., Pune and M/s. Enercon India Ltd., Mumbai.

Misra said that the power generated by these projects would be purchased by the Power Utilities on the tariff decided by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission as per provisions in the Electricity Act, 2003. The Commission has already fixed the tentative tariff and had invited comments from the stake holders for finalising the tariff. She said that these renewable energy projects would not only be environment friendly, but these would also help in reducing the power cuts during the peak hours. As these power generation projects would be located near the load centres, these would help in reducing the transmission losses.

More information:
HAREDA: Consultation Paper for fixation of Tariff for RE Power Projects [*.pdf].

posted by Biopact team at 12:53 PM  

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