policy

Bangladesh: Meeting the shortfall

MAJOR primary commercial energies used in Bangladesh include natural gas, petroleum products, coal and hydro. 90% of Bangladesh's power generation is tied to indigenous natural gas, and urea production is also based on natural gas. Since 2001, Bangladesh has been unable to meet the demand for natural gas required by the power, fertilizer and industrial sectors and, at the same time, the gap between the generation capacity of electricity and demand has been widening. The situation has been worsening because of inability on the part of the government to act expeditiously. Its dependence on the bureaucracy of the energy sector for guidance, policy, planning and implementation is at the root of today's crisis.

India: Wind unplugs power crisis in TN

It’s a bleak festival season ahead on the power front. With the winds almost dying down, monsoon failure adding to the woes and the
sweltering heat continuing to take a heavy toll on dwindling power stocks, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is grappling with an acute shortage which ranges from 1,500 MW to 2,000 MW everyday. The state government might have little option but to bring back a load-shedding regime for Chennai

Mexico: Mexico's fading oil output squeezes exports, spending

Mexico's oil output is falling faster than expected, increasing the chance that the country will lose its status as a major oil exporter in coming years and face a worsening budget shortfall.

Output at state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos's offshore field Cantarell, once the world's second-largest oil field, has plunged to 500,000 barrels a day from its peak of 2.1 million in 2005.

"I don't recall seeing anything in the industry as dramatic as Cantarell," says Mark Thurber, assistant director for research at the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University.

Pakistan: 3150MW power shortfall on Tuesday

With a resurgence of hot weather, the power shortfall is on persistent rise and on Tuesday reached 3,150 megawatts (MW) from 2,264MW.

The demand for power increased due to a rise again in hot weather after continuous cold days. Total generation of electricity today remained 13,077MW against the total demand for power 16,227MW, showing a net shortfall of 3150MW in the system. Duration of load shedding would again rises due to shortfall of electricity in the system.

Philippines: Reyes warns of power crisis

Filipinos can expect electricity disruptions when they cast their votes for the general elections next year as Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes reiterated Tuesday his warning about a looming power crisis.

Reyes, in a budget hearing at the House of Representatives, said the country’s power supply is at a critical level that may lead to power interruptions in Luzon by 2010.

He said the Visayas region started to experience power shortage last year while Mindanao is beginning to experience the same problem this year.

Zimbabwe: Power supply to Zimbabwe mines a concern

Power supply to Zimbabwe's mining industry was a key concern and there was an urgent need to resolve the issue through privatising the state power company, the country's chamber of mines said on Wednesday.

"Power to mines still remains a challenge, but there is a great opportunity to increase electricity output," Victor Gapare, the president of Zimbabwe's Chamber of Mines told Reuters on the sideline of a mining conference in the country.

Burkina Faso: Pénurie de gaz à Ouagadougou

It had to be expected. The gas shortage facing the city of Ouagadougou has opened the door for speculations of all kinds. The misfortune of both being the happiness of others, the opportunity is great for some to do good business. This applies to merchants who normally sell empty bottles and accessories, converted for the occasion by butane gas resellers.

India: Auto-owners cry foul as Admn fails to step on the gas

Faced with shrill protests from city’s auto-rickshaw owners over the shortage of LPG, the administration has said two more filling stations will come up in a month that will make it easier to phase out autos running on petrol and diesel.

While the administration sought to downplay the opposition saying it happened in Delhi too at the time of its transition to the CNG regime, auto-owners say they have run against a wall since there are only two LPG filling stations and clearly they cannot meet the demand for gas that will increase manifold.

Pakistan: City brought to its knees as power shortage crosses 500MW

The electricity situation in the city has witnessed a sharp decline over the last week, and reached a nadir on Monday, with the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s supply-demand deficit crossing the 500MW barrier.

With instances of loadshedding plaguing the city on a near unprecedented level for the last two days, no government authority or elected representative has stepped forward to hold accountable officials of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) for subjecting Karachiites to frequent power failures in the midst of Ramazan - a time when smooth power supply was promised by the utility.

Senegal: Crise de l' électricité au Sénégal

This catastrophic situation is partly due to our carelessness to do advanced searches or unwillingness of authorities to disseminate the results of research done by our researchers to develop other forms of energy such as hydro, wind or solar. What a pity that interesting research is now abandoned or frozen for lack of resources. Again, it is reasonable to ask where are the priorities of the state.

What we need now is a policy that takes into account people's concerns and increased demand. This policy will be supported by a regulatory framework which operates in complete transparency in all markets in this sector could help alleviate the electricity problems.

Venezuela: Low energy investment cause Venezuela blackouts

Two blackouts across several Venezuelan states in under a month have put electricity back on the political agenda in one of the world's top energy producers and threaten President Hugo Chavez's image among supporters.

The socialist leader nationalized Venezuela's electricity sector in 2007 along with the main telephone company and multibillion dollar oil projects.

Since then, rising demand and a legacy of low investment in transmission and distribution lines has caused dozens of power outages in the OPEC member country, a major oil exporter.