Category: News

August 18 2017

Energy Capital Is Said to Plan $5.5 Billion Calpine Takeover

Private equity firm Energy Capital Partners has reached an agreement to buy U.S. power generator Calpine Corp. for $5.5 billion in cash, people familiar with the matter said. Energy Capital may announce the takeover as early as Friday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t yet public. Calpine investors would […]

August 18 2017

Philippines Courts China, Japan for $135 Billion Power Push

By Cecilia Yap and Clarissa Batino The Philippines is seeking investment from China and Japan for $135 billion worth of power projects that President Rodrigo Duterte’s government is ready to fast-track. The Southeast Asian nation has held discussions with China, Japan, Russia and other countries about helping it boost generation capacity by 43 gigawatts in the […]

August 18 2017

How a Harley-Riding Ex-Ally of Villains Is Leading a Nuke Revolt

By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Emi Urabe In the basement of a three-story house in a leafy neighborhood in Tokyo, about 40 lawyers crowded together, plotting against Japan’s massive nuclear power industry. The host was 73-year-old Hiroyuki Kawai, one of Japan’s most colorful litigators. The end game? To close all of the country’s 42 reactors for […]

August 17 2017

GE and Tesla to Outfit 50 Home Depot Stores With Solar Panels

General Electric Co.’s Current unit and Tesla Inc. will install solar systems on 50 Home Depot Inc. stores and sell the power output to the retailer. The solar rooftops will generate enough electricity to reduce each store’s demand from local utility grids by about one third, Atlanta-based Home Depot said in a statement Thursday. It’s […]

August 17 2017

The Gas Tankers Lurking at Sea Looking for a Better Deal

By Anna Shiryaevskaya When the tanker Provalys left Louisiana for Chile last month with a full load of U.S. liquefied natural gas, it sailed around South America instead of taking a shortcut through the expanded Panama Canal. Not only may the route be cheaper without canal transit fees, but advances in technology mean less of […]

August 17 2017

Dyson’s Aston Martin Hire Fuels Speculation on Electric-Car Push

By Thomas Seal and Alex Webb Home appliances maker Dyson Ltd. has recruited its second Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. executive in a year, making it the latest hire to fuel speculation that the company is building an electric vehicle. After 22 years at the firm, the luxury carmaker’s director of purchasing, David Wyer, will become […]

August 17 2017

Africa’s Richest Man to Invest Up to $50 Billion in U.S., Europe

By Francine Lacqua and Paul Wallace Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to invest $20 billion to $50 billion in the U.S. and Europe by 2025, in industries including renewable energy and petrochemicals. The 60-year-old Nigerian cement tycoon aims to move into these territories for the first time in 2020 after completing almost $5 billion […]

August 17 2017

India Enters Global Smart-Meter Race to Fight Utility Losses

By Anindya Upadhyay India is aiming to help its ailing power distribution companies by buying five million smart meters for two of its northern states in a global tender to be conducted later this month. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd., the government agency responsible for running the country’s energy efficiency programs, will conduct the tender, Managing […]

August 17 2017

An Eclipse Is Just What the U.S. Power Sector’s Been Waiting For

By Naureen S. Malik, Chris Marin and Mark Chediak Solar Eclipse Casts Shadow on U.S. Energy Prices Source: Bloomberg Turns out the solar eclipse, set to plunge parts of the U.S. into total darkness on Monday, will offer exactly what the power sector’s been looking for: a completely predictable stage for experiments. It’s not often […]

August 17 2017

China’s Menswear Maker Swaps Stitching for Lithium Batteries

Ten years ago, Ningbo Shanshan Co. was primarily a maker of menswear turning out shirts, casual wear and business suits from its base of Ningbo, an industrial hub in China’s Zhejiang province. Not anymore. This week, the company announced that it will spend 3.81 billion yuan ($570 million) on a new energy-storage project in China’s […]