aging infrastructure

August 21 2008

Canada (Alberta): Petro-Canada gas shortage affecting up to 90 stations in BC, Alberta

A problem at Petro-Canada's refinery near Edmonton has led to gas shortages or pumps running dry at as many as 90 Petro-Canada and independent stations in B.C. and Alberta, CBC News has learned.

The Calgary-based company is still scrambling to fix a catalytic cracking unit necessary to refine fuel at the facility that broke earlier this month, said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens.

China: China tells firms to cut coal exports from Sept

China has asked its coal exporters to reduce exports, as it is in the grip of its worst power crisis since 2004, largely caused by a coal shortage and high prices.

The government is eager to keep more supply back for local generators, many of which have been unable or unwilling to buy expensive coal.

China: Olympics add to China's power crisis

China's industrial heartland is facing crippling power shortages, with more than a dozen provinces already rationing electricity.

The country is suffering from its biggest power crisis since 2004, when a 40-gigawatt shortfall left three quarters of China in the dark.

India: Chennai IT industry hit by diesel shortage

The city's cup of woes on the power-supply front may overflow with another problem on hand. After petrol being in short supply, it is now the turn of diesel to disappear from fuel outlets.

And the most affected by this shortage is the IT sector, which needs barrels and barrels of the black gold.

India: City suffers three-hour power cut

Barely two days after the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) announced adequate availability of power to keep Pune free from load-shedding, Puneites were on Wednesday subjected to over three hours of power cut on the ground that electricity was not made available by Tata Power Trading Company Ltd (TPTCL).

India: Load - shedding back in Thane, Navi Mumbai

Over 20 lakh electricity consumers in Thane, Mulund, Bhandup, Navi Mumbai and Pune areas are again experiencing nearly six-hours of load-shedding.

“This will continue till we are assured of firm power to serve these areas,” a Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) official said.

India: Promised and forgotten - zero load shedding

Power cuts are back in the city, days after the authorities had announced that there would be zero load shedding.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) had announced that there would no more load shedding as long as Tata Power Company (TPC) was able to maintain supply. But the MSEDCL made it impossible for TPC by instructing the company not to buy power from the energy exchange, even though it is available as cheap as Rs 4.50 per unit.

Norway: StatoilHydro May Shut Kvitebjoern Field in Norwegian Sea Until Next Year

StatoilHydro ASA, Norway's largest oil and gas producer, may shut its Kvitebjoern natural-gas field in the North Sea until spring next year after a leak was discovered in a pipeline, sending U.K. gas prices to a record.

The pipeline to Kollsnes will shut down until repairs scheduled for spring 2009 are completed, spokeswoman Rannveig Stangeland said today from Stavanger, adding that the company may be able to get the work done earlier.

August 20 2008

Canada (Alberta): Petro-Canada gas supply still coming up short

A gas shortage is causing more and more Petro-Canada stations in our city to run on empty.

The company's refinery has had problems with a machine and that has forced Petro-Canada to ration its fuel shipments.

El Salvador: De la crisis integral, contradicciones oficiales y despidos masivos

No sector of the Salvadoran population is foreign to the crisis overwhelming the country. The high cost and shortage of propane gas, high fuel prices, the hike in the cost of basic food basket and unemployment are, among others, the main determinants for concern and uncertainty that increase every day.

India: Diesel still short, LPG runs out too

The city continued to face a shortage of diesel for the fourth day on Tuesday with most fuel stations running out of stock or getting insufficient stock.

India: Rationalising coal prices

We are facing a double whammy here with coal imports for the power sector shooting up even as its international prices have zoomed about 125% in the past eight months or so. Coal is the mainstay of energy resource of our economy: Of the total installed power capacity, more than 50% is coal based and the power sector consumes about 75% of domestic coal production. Yet locally mined coal isn’t enough for our needs. Coal imports have shot up by almost 130%, an increase of almost 17 million tonnes between 2004-5 and 2006-7, and India’s appetite for coal is growing at a particularly fast clip.

Indonesia: Black Out in Timika

The electricity cut happened started on Tuesday morning.

Hormat Pakpahan, supervisor of the state power plant for Timika, said that the power cut was caused by a diesel shortage.

Indonesia: Shopping centers say no to forced power-saving plan

Shopping centers have rejected a planned govt regulation requiring them to switch to their own power generators for ten hours every week starting Aug. 25, citing burdensome extra costs.

The Indonesian Shopping Center Association (APPBI) is not ruling out the possibility of temporarily closing down its operations and staging a rally if the government goes ahead with its plan, chairman Stefanus Ridwan said Friday.

Papua New Guinea: Lae in PNG hit with power blackouts

Papua New Guinea’s second largest city, Lae, is being hit with power blackouts after the breakdown of two power generators led to the rationed supply of electricity to the city.

The power crisis is expected to last up to three weeks, as work is done to repair the broken generators.

South Africa: Get real - there is no power

Maroga initially spelt out the situation in a press release on June 12 in which he said, "Our operating reserve margin is such that Eskom cannot accommodate any new connections unless space is created on the system." On July 17, he described SA as being at a crossroads and stated that Eskom would not be able to get on top of SA's power supply crisis purely through building new power stations until about 2014.

South Africa: Power cut hits Joburg

POWER cuts in several areas of Johannesburg yesterday morning were not due to load shedding, but were caused by too great a strain on distribution equipment as a result of Eskom’s constant blackouts that occurred earlier this year.

A malfunction at City Power’s Kelvin substation caused outages in several areas including Highlands North, Halfway Gardens, Houghton, Dunkeld, Rosebank, Bez Valley, Killarney, Illovo, Atholl and Glenhazel.

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