financial crisis

Indonesia: Blackouts will slow city's economic growth: BPS

The blackouts conducted by the state power company PT PLN are likely to slow economic growth in the fourth quarter of this year, said an official at the Jakarta chapter of the Central Statistic Agency (BPS).

“If the blackouts go on until December, it will tend to slow economic growth in the fourth quarter, which will affect economic growth for this whole year,” BPS head Agus Suherman told reporters Friday.

He said electricity was the energy source for all industrial businesses, regardless of their size. “Large enterprises may have generators, which will help, but small enterprises like restaurants will suffer,” he said.

Arianto A. Patunru, the director of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM) at the University of Indonesia, voiced a similar view on a possible slowdown in economic growth during the fourth quarter.

Malawi: Mugabe Blamed for Malawi Fuel Shortages

Fuel shortages in Malawi have occurred because the country is running out of foreign currency, partly because the Malawian government lent Zimbabwe 100 million US dollars which has yet to be repaid, according to a report in Wednesday’s issue of the Malawian online paper, the “Nyasa Times”.

The Malawian authorities have tried to blame Mozambique for the country’s fuel woes, claiming that fuel has been held up because of congestion in the ports of Nacala and Beira. This claim was strongly denied on Monday by managers of both ports.

Fernando Couto, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), which runs the Nacala port and rail system, said that Malawi had simply run out of foreign exchange and had even asked to borrow fuel.

Malawi: Malawi begs Mozambique to lend it fuel after being depleted of forex

The Malawi Government has been pressing the Mozambique Government in a bit to borrow fuel as Malawi has run out of foreign exchange, it has been learnt.

Malawi is facing a serious fuel shortage following the scarcity of foreign exchange. Fernando Couto, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), which runs the Nacala port and rail system, says that Malawi asked Mozambique to borrow fuel.

“The Malawians have even asked us to lend them fuel”, Couto revealed, denying claims by Malawi authorities that the current shortage of fuel is due to congestion at the Mozambican ports of Nacala and Beira.

Nigeria: Shell sees rise in Nigeria oil theft

Suspected oil thieves in Nigeria have increased their attacks on Royal Dutch Shell-operated (RDSa.L) oil facilities, the company said on Friday, reporting five separate incidents already in the last three months.

Shell said suspected thieves sabotaged five oil wellheads in the oil-producing Niger Delta since Aug. 14, some resulting in fires. No production was affected since most of the oilfields were already shutdown because of insecurity in the region.

Nigeria is the world's eighth biggest exporter of crude oil but thieves take a sizeable proportion of its output by drilling into pipelines or hijacking barges loaded with oil, a type of theft known locally as "bunkering".

Pakistan: Gas load shedding to hamper industrial activity

President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad has expressed fear that two-day gas load shedding will hamper industrial production in the country.

“This may cause a negative growth in industrial sector and affect the overall GDP performance”, he said while talking to media after inaugurating 5th international Machine Tools and Automation Pakistan (MTAP) and Auto and Auto Parts Pakistan (AAPP) 2009, organized by Pegasus Consultancy at Karachi Expo Center here Thursday.

He said that this will not be a two-day load shedding, but its affect will be felt on “third day” as it will take another day to build up the pressure in gas pipelines before the gas is supplied to industry.
“We will oppose it with full pressure and keep forcing the government to defer this decision as it had postponed the two-day holiday decision in the country”, he maintained.

Philippines: More brownouts in Cebu: Power outages seen until 2010

Sporadic brownouts will continue to hit Cebu until next year unless there would be additional power from new power plants imbedded into the Cebu-Negros-Panay Grid.

Antonio T. Corpuz, senior vice president and chief operating officer of SPC Power Corp., in a power briefing with Cebu media yesterday said that the entire CNP grid has a very thin reserve of only 13 megawatts, which is short by 106 megawatts.

The ideal power reserve for the grid should be 119 megawatts.

Zimbabwe: No Light to Zesa's Tunnel of Power Woes

MOST households and industries in Zimbabwe are currently limited to less than 10 hours of electricity supply daily because of power cuts which are a result of lack of investment in power generation since Independence. The hardest hit areas are limited to about five hours of electricity daily.

Only about 30% of the country has access to grid electricity.

What is more worrying is that despite not having electricity during the greater part of the day, households are receiving electricity bills as high as US$1 600.

India: 'We hardly get 5-6 hours of electricity '

The weavers associated with Purvanchal Bunkar Morcha held a Bunkar Panchayat at Madarsa Faizul Uloom, Lohta, on Wednesday, to protest against excessive power cut in the weaver dominated area.

It was decided in the panchayat that a delegation of weavers would call on the divisional commissioner on Thursday to apprise him of the problems being faced by the weavers due to power shortage.

"We are hardly getting 5-6 hours electricity supply in Lohta, the hub of power loom industry, and adjoining areas," said Shamim Nomani, the convener of PBM. According to him, there are over 4000 units of power looms, alone in Lohta village, that give employment to the many weavers of the neighbouring villages. About 16000 weavers are directly engaged on power looms in two shifts.

Mozambique: Maputo Hit By Fuel Shortage

The city of Maputo is once again being hit by disruption of fuel supplies, mainly petrol, which is the main reason behind long queues in most filling stations in the capital.

On Monday, long queues and confusion were the main features in most of the filling stations around Maputo, mainly from the state owned fuel company "Petromoc" that still had some stocks of fuel.

However, even Petromoc that responded by increasing supplies to its filling stations, was selling under some restriction, reports Tuesday's issue of the daily "O País".

South Africa: Eskom shortfall worries analysts

Electricity parastatal Eskom has put five projects, worth more than R54 billion, on hold as a result of its funding shortfall, Business Report said today.

This raised the threat of future power crises, the newspaper said.

It quoted Cornelis van der Waal, a Frost & Sullivan energy analyst, as saying the project halts would reduce Eskom’s spending, deepen South Africa’s recession, cut opportunities in employment creation, and affect suppliers of cement, steel and other commodities.

Van der Waal said the cautious spending was aimed at helping Eskom focus on its priority projects.

Syria: Syria Faces Electricity Shortage

From an abundance of electricity in 2000 to a shortage in 2009, mismanagement and subsidies have taken their toll on Syrian electricity.

Syrian will have to get use to more rolling blackouts within the coming years due to a lack of power production capabilities.

The current shortage of 1,000 megawatts (MW) is expected to grow to 1,400 MW in 2011 according a report by the official daily Ath Thawra.

"There has never been an abundance in Syria, it was able to produce enough electricity to cover its needs but for many years there has been a shortage of electricity in Syria," Jihad al-Yaziji, publisher of the Syria Report business newsletter, told The Media Line.

Vietnam: Viet Nam faces severe power shortage for next few years

Viet Nam imported about 2.2 billions kWh of electricity from China in the first seven months of this year, 13.2 per cent more than in the same period last year, according to Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN).

EVN said the country is facing a severe power shortage of about 1,400MW or 10 per cent of total capacity at rush hours.

Its experts have also forecast the shortage will persist over the next few years. Breakdowns at electrical plants nation-wide, as well as the delayed operation of new plants have been blamed for the shortage.