As nations look for alternatives to dependency on Russia for oil and gas, China, for one, may have found one: China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) in February announced its discovery of the largest natural gas reserves yet discovered in China — 440 billion cubic meters, of which 308 billion are technically recoverable. The reserves are located in Sichuan Province, and production facilities under construction will have an estimated capacity of 10 billion cu. m. per year.
In December, CNPC began gas delivery from Phase I of its new Tangshan LNG project, located in the Caofeidian Industrial Zone in the city of Tangshan, Hebei Province. Phase I can deliver up to 8.7 billion cu. m. per year, a capacity which will be doubled with Phase II. The project — which joins other CNPC LNG import terminals in Dalian and Jiangsu — will boost winter gas supply to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.
A new report from McKinsey says new exports of low-cost gas from Canada and the United States could threaten liquefied natural gas projects in other regions.
Among deals of the year recognized last week by M&A Advisor was Wind Works Power Corp.'s successful December financing of its 105-MW Thunder Spirit wind farm project in Hettinger, N.D. Shortly thereafter the project placed an order for up to 60 Nordex turbines.
It's official: The 377-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System built by Bechtel is delivering electricity to California customers. Ivanpah is the world’s largest solar thermal facility located in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. The facility, which is a joint effort of NRG, Google, and BrightSource Energy, will produce nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal energy now generated in the United States — enough to power 140,000 homes.
An aerial view of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System with Tower 3 in the foreground, Tower 2 in the middle and Tower 1 in the background. The towers are surrounded by 173,500 heliostats that follow the sun's path.
Photo courtesy of Business Wire
According to the Billings Gazette, the oil patch city of Williston, N.D., has the highest average rent in the U.S., at $2,394 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, exceeding the average rent in New York City or Los Angeles. That means increasing problems finding the money for worker housing, as well as municipal employee housing.
Liberty Property Trust announced earlier this month that Liberty Sky Harbor Center in Greater Phoenix — opened in May 2013 after a complete renovation and rebranding — had reached 100-percent occupancy with the execution of a long-term lease for 105,000 sq. ft. with Power-One Renewable Energy Solutions. Just minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, the property is within a short distance of another recently announced Liberty project, Liberty Center at Rio Salado (rendering below), a sustainable mixed-use business park on 100 acres to be developed in conjunction with the City of Tempe.
Watch a BBC report on the opening of a huge wind farm near Barrow that is expected to create enough power to serve up to 300,000 homes.
Pew Charitable Trusts’ Stateline team examines the challenges businesses, utilities and homeowners face in integrating solar energy into a smarter grid.
Just prior to the International Renewable Energy Agency's annual assembly in Abu Dhabi in January, energy ministers and delegates from 19 countries committed to the creation of the Africa Clean Energy Corridor in order to boost the deployment of renewable energy and help to meet the rising African energy demand with clean, indigenous, cost-effective power from sources including hydro, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar. Electricity demand is expected to triple in Southern Africa, and quadruple in Eastern Africa, over the next quarter-century.
Phillips 66 on Feb. 7 received approval from its board of directors to move forward with both its Sweeny Fractionator One and Freeport Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Export Terminal. “Given the anticipated growth in natural gas liquids production, we see substantial advantages in having fractionation and export facilities on the Gulf Coast outside of Mont Belvieu," said Tim Taylor, executive vice president, Phillips 66 Commercial, Marketing, Transportation and Business Development.
The Sweeny Fractionator One will be located in Old Ocean, Texas, close to the company’s Sweeny Refinery, and will supply purity natural gas liquids (NGL) products to the petrochemical industry and heating markets. Y-grade (mixed NGL) supply to the fractionator will come from nearby major pipelines, including the recently completed Sand Hills Pipeline, in which Phillips 66 owns a direct one-third interest. The 100,000 barrel-per-day NGL fractionator is expected to start up in the third quarter of 2015.
The Freeport LPG Export Terminal will be located at the site of the company’s existing marine terminal in Freeport, Texas. The terminal will have an initial export capacity of 4.4 million barrels per month. Startup of the export terminal is expected in mid-2016.
