Reliance Power dumps Indonesian mines:Indian company Reliance Power has announced its intent to sell three coal concessions in South Sumatra, Indonesia to concentrate on domestic coal projects and expand solar generation. In 2008 the company bought the three Indonesian projects – which had a combined potential capacity of 30 million tonnes a year – to supply the company’s proposed 3960 MW Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project in Andhra Pradesh. However, the Indonesian Government’s September 2010 regulation banning the export of coal below an international benchmark price made the power project unviable. (Economic Times)
Falling price increases risk of South African stranded assets: An executive of the South African government-owned rail company Transnet has suggested the government should consider financial support for the coal sector if coal export prices fall to US$45 a tonne. Speaking in a personal capacity, Transnet’s General Manager Divyesh Kalan said if prices continued to fall marginal producers would struggle to meet their obligations under the take-or-pay rail contracts. “If the mines are in financial trouble, Transnet will also be,” he said. (Mining Weekly)
US utility signals exit from future CCS projects: NRG Energy, a major US electricity utility, has announced that while it will complete the construction of the Petra Nova Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in Texas it will not invest in further projects. The US$1 billion Petra Nova CCS project, to be commissioned in 2016, aims to capture 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide from the existing 240 MW Parish coal plant and sell it for use in ‘Enhanced Oil Recovery’ (EOR) projects nearby. NRG Chief Executive David Crane acknowledges that CCS for EOR was attractive when the oil price was between US$75 to $100 a barrel but, with oil selling for US$45 a barrel, it is no longer viable. (Houston Chronicle) |