Electricity authorities in the Middle East face oil deficits, budget cuts, decreases in natural resources and political disputes, leading them to consider cutting domestic power supplies as a way of power rationing, according to Roy Hodges, Vice President of the consultants Technology Partners.
Iraq has signed a new five-year deal to import natural gas from Iran to ease its electricity woes, an official has said. The agreement deepens Iraqi economic ties with Tehran as US troops prepare to leave at the end of this year.
Global demand for natural gas is expected to balloon in the next two decades according to a recent forecast from ExxonMobil. Rob Gardner, manager of the economics and energy division at the ExxonMobil corporate strategic planning department, predicts gas will become a key area of investment as fuel demand for power generation surges.
UK MPs have criticised the government’s current power market reforms and cast doubt on their ability to deliver enough investment for improved energy infrastructure, in a climate change committee report.
Zhejiang province in eastern China will impose punitive power prices on big power consumers from June 1 if their energy use exceeds stipulated standards, in an effort to curb demand amid rising capacity shortfalls.
Much of central China is facing power cuts and rolling blackouts as drought dries rivers, reducing hydroelectric capacity.
Pedro Sanchez, Peru’s Minister of Energy and Mines, and Erlon Artfelli of the Huallaga Generation Company, signed three procurement contracts for the construction and operation of the Chaglla Hydroelectric Plant, located in the Huánuco region in Peru.
Lanco Infratech Ltd., an Indian electricity producer controlled by billionaire L. Madhusudhan Rao, plans to borrow about $5.6 billion to quadruple power generation over the next four years.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state-owned oil company, plans to double its power- generating capacity to 4000 MW by 2015 in order to meet expected demand from crude and natural gas production.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has announced that the country will abandon plans to expand its nuclear power industry, and instead will make renewables a key part of its energy policy.