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Energy & Environment
Topolánek: Southern Corridor should be modern Silk Road
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A summit of the European Union and the Southern Corridor countries started in Prague . In addition to the highest representatives of the Czech Presidency and the European Commission, the summit was attended by representatives of Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Observers from the USA, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also arrived in Prague to ...
Romania's Petrom borrows 400 mln eur for power plant
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Romania's top oil and gas group Petrom SNPP.BX said on last Friday it had borrowed 400 million euros ($536 million) from international financial institutions to build a power plant.Petrom, majority owned by Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI), got 200 million euros from the European Investment Bank and another 200 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Both loans have a 12 year maturity.The total value of the investment stands at 500 million euros. The power plant, which ...
Ruling coalition to examine energy strategy on May 25
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Central Coordinating Political Bureau of the ruling coalition (formed of the Social Democratic Party, PSD and the Liberal Democrat Party, PD-L) is to organize a special meeting on May 25 dedicated to the energy strategy, announced on Monday, at the end of the weekly meeting of the coalition's representatives Vice-Premier Dan Nica.'We are to convene on May 25 a special meeting of the coalition, to be focused on the energy strategy and we will organize an ample debate in the zones ...
Hedging saves a third of Petrom ptofit in Q1
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Petrom, the largest Romanian company, having the Austrian company OMV as the majority shareholder, recorded a net profit worth 506 million lei in 2009 (118.5 million euros), that is a drop by 48 percent against the same interval in 2008, with almost a third of this amount representing the gain obtained from the oil price hedging as early as from 2008, Ziarul financiar daily reads on Monday.Without these financial instruments, the Petrom profit would have stood at only 329 million ...
Romania’s largest biomass cogeneration plant opens in Radauti
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Austrian Holzindustrie Schweighofer company on Thursday opened the largest biomass cogeneration plant in Romania in Radauti, the northeast county of Suceava.The plant has a total capacity of 22 MW, 17 MW of heat and 5 MW of electricity, and is the outcome of a 20-million-euro investment. Owner of the Austrian company Gerald Schweighofer told the opening ceremony that Romania has a huge biomass potential and this plant is just a first step. He also announced that another biomass cogeneration ...
‘Wind energy – a certain way towards Romania’s energy independence’
Thursday, May 14, 2009
At the round table called ‘Wind energy – a certain way towards Romania’s energy independence’ Secretary of State from the Ministry of Economy Tudor Serban said, in Romania, investors were willing to develop wind farms with a total capacity of 12,000 Mw. He declared that the Ministry of Economy had the intention to develop non-conventional energy projects, both for wind energy and solar energy. In the Minister’s opinion, a windy area that would be favourable for wind energy units is ...
Athens Summit 2009 : "The road to Copenhagen"
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The two-day international Athens Summit 2009 conference on "The road to Copenhagen" opened Tuesday with speakers focusing on managing the security of energy supply, providing energy security in Europe and beyond, and assessing the role of the countries of Southeastern Europe as a gateway to energy security and diversification. Senior governmental officials, corporate leaders, financiers, and experts participate in the summit to discuss how the twin goals of energy security and managing ...
Romania to support use of renewable energy at EU - Rio Group Meeting
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Romania underlines at the EU - Rio Group Ministerial Meeting, organized on Wednesday and Thursday, in Prague, the importance of utilization of renewable energy sources for boosting energy security and diminishment of the climatic changes effects, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs in a release. Romania's delegation is headed by State secretary for global affairs Doru Costea. The Ministerial Meeting this year will approach two subjects: renewable energy sources - a sustainable ...
ForMin Diaconescu: US voice support for Nabucco
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The United States of America voiced support for the energy projects of interest for Romania: Nabucco and the liquefied gas terminal of Constanta, said on Tuesday in a news conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Cristian Diaconescu upon the visit to the United States of America. 'Regarding the energy projects of interest for Romania - Nabucco and the liquefied gas terminal of Constanta - the American side voiced support,' said Cristian Diaconescu, the energy security being on the agenda of ...
PM Emil Boc : Investment for the Tarnita-Lapustesti power station is a priority objective for the government
Thursday, May 7, 2009
An investment of approximately one billion euro for Tarnita-Lapustesti power plant to be part of the national energy strategy represents a priority objective for the government announced on Saturday at the town hall Cluj Napoca, premier Emil Boc. “ We will start an investment of approximately one billion euro for the Tarnita_lapustesti power plant to be part of the national electricity strategy and which represents a priority objective for the Romanian government” Boc said. He said, that, ...
Rompetrol Rafinare to invest 50 M USD in 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Rometrol Rafinare (refinery sector) plans investments worth 50 million USD, recently approved by most of the Company's shareholders during a recent General Assembly.Rompetrol is to process about 4.39 tons raw materials, 4.245 of it crude oil, in 2009, reads a release sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The Vega Refinery will process 308,822 tons raw materials per year.The Company's shareholders also approved the expenditure and the revenues budget of the Rompetrol Rafinare in 2009, ...
ANRE announces that gas price not to drop by end 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) officials say that the price the population pays for the natural gas will drop again by the end of the year, after it got by 3 percent cheaper starting May 1, the Ziarul financiar informs.' We surely can expect the gas to get cheaper by the end of the year. We, do our best to low the prize constantly,' ANRE President Petru Lificiu said.The electricity's prize may also decrease by 5 percent, ANRE official also said.The last natural gas price drop ...
Two co-generation plants to be built in Romania
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Two natural gas-fired co-generation plants will be built in Romania, one in Slanic Moldova, and one in Giurgiu, said, on Thursday, head of the Committee for Industries and Services of the Chamber of Deputies Iulian Iancu.The official participated in a conference of Evaluation of energy policies and practices in Romania.There are two projects for the achievement of co-generation energy capacities. The first will be made as part of the project Slanic Moldova - Green City. There will be a ...
Romania ranking first in nuclear power reactor table
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Romania, with its two nuclear power units at Cernavoda, is ranked first in a recent country table of the average load factor computed for the entire life of power reactors, with a value of 87 percent, the highest among the 28 countries included in a table drawn up by the Nuclear Engineering International journal, Nuclearelectrica reports.Absent from the table are China, Slovakia and Ukraine.The Cernavoda nuclear-power plant supplies nearly 18 percent of Romania's energy output.As of ...
Hydroelectric plants on Danube River produce 2.5 billion kWh
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Hydroelectric power plants on the Danube River - the Iron Gates 1 and Iron Gates 2 (western Romania) - on Friday hit 2.5 billion kWh produced since the beginning of the year for the National Electric Power Energy System. Nevertheless, this quantity of electric power was obtained in the context of favourable average water flow rates, which led to the maximum exploitation of the six recently upgraded hydro units at the Iron Gates 1, with an installed power increasing from 175 to 190 Kw, as ...
Regal Petroleum loss widens; sees rise in '09 revenue
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Ukraine-focused oil and gas explorer Regal Petroleum (RPT.L) said 2008 loss widened mainly on foreign exchange-related charges and forecast higher production from its existing wells in 2009 that would reverse the declining trend in revenue. The company, which also has operations in Romania and Egypt, said it had the cash, tools and resources for the initial development of the Ukrainian fields."With further investment in these assets from existing resources and additional capital, ...
Transgaz Q1 net at 145.6 mln lei, beats consensus
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Romanian gas pipeline operator Transgaz (TGNM.BX) posted a 58.2 percent rise in its first-quarter net profit on Monday, largely because of a leu currency depreciation and a hike in gas tariffs. The state monopoly's first-quarter net profit stood at 145.6 million lei ($46.2 million), compared to an average forecast in a Reuters poll of 100.2 million lei."Revenues rose mainly due to a rise in regulated tariffs for natural gas transport services (and) an increase in revenues from international ...
Hidroelectrica sells 19 micro hydropower plants
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Romania’s state-owned hydropower producer Hidroelectrica will put up for sale 19 micro hydropower plants this months, out of which 10 are at their third bid, according to company data. The process for the next bid will start in May. Hidroelectrica sold six of the 16 micro hydropower plants put up for privatization in October 2008 for almost 22 million lei. Five of them went to Wienstrom GmbH in Austria and one to the local company Beny Alex SRL.In February this year the electricity producer ...
Carbon trading boosts natural gas prospects
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Boosted by carbon trading schemes, natural gas will be the "preferred energy option" in decades to come, experts believe."High carbon prices are a very strong driver of gas-fired power," Ian Cronshaw, head of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) energy diversification division, told liquified natural gas (LNG) industry representatives in Brussels last Thursday (30 April). He argued that strong prices of around €25-28 a tonne witnessed at the beginning of last year gave gas-fired ...
Global climate deal needed to halt soaring coal production
Thursday, May 7, 2009
More of the world's electricity was generated from coal last year, reveals a new industry report, pointing at the futility of unilateral EU moves to cut down CO2 emissions.The 2008 market report of EURACOAL, the industry association representing the European coal industry, shows that global hard coal production increased by at least 200 million tonnes (Mt) last year, most of which was mined in China. Higher energy prices and technological advances make it even more profitable to use already ...