Albania

ČEZ weighs exit from Albania – (The Prague Post) World Bank says energy giant is getting ready to leave the Balkan country.  Energy giant ČEZ is tipped to abandon its troubled operations in Albania within months as the utility reels from multimillion-dollar losses there and strained relations with the country's government…

CEZ Eyes Albania Exit, Won't Fund Unit with Group Finances –CEO – (Fox Business) Czech 70% state-owned electricity company CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR) is likely to exit Albania amid steep losses there and the company won't pump any more money into the unit, the company's chief executive and chairman said Thursday…

CEZ Might Sell Its Albanian Electricity Distribution Branch – (Publics) Separately, CEZ and Hungarian gas company MOL Nyrt are nearing a final decision on whether to build a gas-fired power plant in Hungary.  Czech electricity company CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR) Wednesday said it aims to make a final decision by the end of this year whether it will build a gas-fired power plant in Hungary and sell its troubled Albanian electricity distribution unit…

Bulgaria

Bulgarian energy minister expects Russian natural gas price reduction of over 11% - (Focus) I hope the conditions for the price of Russian natural gas supplies will be better than the agreed reduction of 11%, Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev told the MPs on the parliamentary committee for economic affairs, FOCUS News Agency reported…

Bulgarian energy minister authorized to allow BEH to make South Stream final investment decision – (Focus) At the Bulgarian government’s meeting on Wednesday Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev has been authorized to allow the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) to make a final investment decision about South Stream gas pipeline, FOCUS News Agency reported…

Bulgaria's DKEVR assesses grid access fee for renewable energy producers as fair – (Balkans) Angel Semerdzhiev, Chair of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR), has argued that the introduction of the grid access fee for renewable energy producers helps to distribute the burden of the power price hike in a just manner…

Bulgaria Energy Min Deepens Mystery of Power Price Formation – (Novinite) Scrapping the grid access fee for renewable energy producers would lead to an increase in power prices for the population, stated Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev Saturday…

Bulgaria Ties South Stream Agreement With Gas Supply Contract – (Bloomberg Business Week) Bulgaria’s Cabinet authorized Bulgarian Energy Holding to sign an investment agreement on constructing the South Stream pipeline with OAO Gazprom (GAZP) on condition gas prices are cut in next year’s supply contract…

EC Probes Bulgaria over Renewable Energy Surcharge – (Novinite) The European Commission has launched a probe against Bulgaria over the decision to introduce grid access charges on all operating renewable energy producers…

Environmental review of Bulgarian section of Nabucco pipeline begins – (Utility Products) An environmental impact assessment procedure for the Bulgarian section of Nabucco gas pipeline project has been launched, Nabucco Gas Pipeline Bulgaria said…

Bosnia

Bosnia's utility EPRS sells 574 GWh of power to Serbia – (Reuters) Bosnia's second largest power utility EPRS has sold 574 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of 2013 power surplus to Serbia's utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) for 30.7 million euros ($39.80 million), the utility said on Wednesday…

Bosnian utility shortlists 11 firms for coal-fired unit in Tuzla – (Fossil Fuel) Bosnian power utility EPBiH has shortlisted 11 international companies and consortia to partner it in constructing a 450MW coal-fired unit at its power station in Tuzla, Bosnia…

Croatia

Croatia's power board HEP issues $500 mln bond – (Reuters) Croatia's state-owned power board HEP, one of the country's biggest companies, has launched a $500 million bond issue at 6.25 percent, Thomson Reuters' IFR service reported on Friday…

Croatia regrets loss of South Stream pipeline route – (Focus) Croatian President Ivo Josipovic on Saturday voiced regret that Gazprom's South Stream pipeline, an investment worth several hundred million euros, would not pass through his country but Hungary instead, AFP reported…

Kosovo

Kosovo plans significant infrastructure spending in 2013  -(SETimes) Kosovo's government will spend more than 40 percent of its 1.58 billion euro budget for 2013 on capital improvement projects, a figure that drew criticism from some economic analysts…

Romania

Romania has 750MW of wind farms in testing stage – (Business Review) A 250MW wind park entered into testing phase last week, taking the total wind capacities that are in testing stage to 750MW, said last week Zoltan Nagy-Bege, general manager of the energy regulator ANRE, during the AEEC (Associated European Energy Consultants) conference, which was organized by the law firm Pachiu & Associates…

Analyst Corner: Is Romania the Next Big Solar Growth Market? (Greentechsolar) While relatively new to the renewable energy scene, there have been impressive developments in the market of late…

The Romanian government wants to draw more Chinese companies to electricity investments of over 3 billion dollars – (Actmedia) Several Chinese companies are courted by the Romanian government to get involved in energy projects of over three billion dollars in production units, the state secretary of the ministry of economy Rodin Traicu, quoted by Mediafax said…

China's Guangdong mulls investing in Romanian nuclear plant – (AP) China's Guangdong Nuclear Power Group has shown interest in building two new reactors at Romania's sole nuclear power plant, deputy economy minister Rodin Traicu said Tuesday…

Serbia

Serbia's Energy Minister announced new incentive tariffs for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources – (Balkans) Serbia's Minister of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection Zorana Mihajlovic announced that new incentive tariffs (feed-in) for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources will be known in ten days…

Serbia prepares for construction of new two power plants – (Balkans) In the next two years construction of a reversible hydro-power plant and a power plant that uses oil as fuel should start in Serbia.  As special advisor, to the Energy Minister, Ljubomir Aksentijević said at the Economic Summit in Belgrade, Serbia, the realization of projects in the energy sector will depend on a financial position of Serbia…

Serbia: More details emerge on OneGiga PV project – (PV Magazine) At one GW, Serbia is planning to build the world’s largest photovoltaic project. Project developer, Securum Equity Partners & Associates shares more project and manufacturing details with pv magazine…

Serbia approves plans for global scale solar park – (Reuters) Serbia has approved Luxembourg-based Securum Equity Partners' final plan to start building a solar park next April that could make it one of the largest in the world when completed, an official for the equity group said on Wednesday…

NIS considering participation in electricity, alternative energy projects – (Power Engineering) Serbia's NIS might participate in two projects to build combined heat and power plants (CHPP) in Serbia and is considering taking part in wind power generation, the company's chief Kirill Kravchenko told the press…

Securum, Serbia Sign Agreement to Build 1,000MW Solar Park – (Bloomberg Business Week) Securum Equity Partners & Associates, a venture management company, said it signed a definitive agreement with Serbia on building the “largest solar park in the world” in the Balkan country…

Serbia’s 2020 Energy-Mix Target to Set Renewables at 27 Percent – (Bloomberg Business Week) Serbia will have to increase its use of energy from renewable sources by a third through 2020, under a European Union-backed regional agreement…

Biomass market association founded in Serbia – (Balkans) Six civic associations, manufacturers of pellet and individuals involved in the field of biomass, have founded the National Association for Biomass "Serbio", said in a statement from the association…

Armenia

Armenia to tighten regulations for construction of new reactor – (Power Engineering) Armenia intends to tighten regulations for the construction of a new generating unit at the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, the chairman of the government committee for regulation of nuclear safety, Ashot Martirosian told reporters on November 2…

Armenian energy safety impossible without new nuke power unit – official – (PanArmenian) The Chairman of the State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Commitее commented on Azeri demands to halt Nuclear Power Plant operations in Armenia.

Armenian nuclear plant’s operation to be extended for 10 years – (Vestnik) Armenia’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry is preparing a draft Government decision, whereby the operation of the second energy block of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) will be extended for ten years, Energy and Natural Resources Deputy Minister Ara Simonyan said on Tuesday at the National Assembly, News.am reports…

The ground breaking of Meghri HPP scheduled for November 8 – (ArmenPress) The Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are planning to build the most powerful hydro power plant in the South Caucasus namely Meghri hydro electric power station by the efforts  made from Armenian part and "Gharachilar"  HPP from  Iranian part…

Armenia, Iran to begin construction of Meghri hydro power station  -(hydro Energy) The Islamic Republic of Iran in partnership with the Republic of Armenia will break ground on the construction of the large Meghri hydro electric power station on 7 November 2012…

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan had no dynamics of power generation this October – (abs.az) Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Azerbaijani national energy producer Azerenerji OJSC generated the same volume of power in October as in September of the year.

Renewable energy development in Azerbaijan offers great opportunities for international financial institutions – (Trend) Azerbaijan is an oil and gas country and electricity producer. The country produces about 50 million tons of oil, 27 billion cubic meters of gas…

Azerbaijani energy operator continues development of SCADA system – (Trend) Azerenergy (production and distribution of electricity in Azerbaijan) conducted work on the installation of radio and tele-mechanical equipment and the laying of fibre-optic cables at the Cenub power plant, commissioning of which is envisaged in the near future, a statement released by Azerenergy reported on Monday…

Azerbaijan to increase energy system capacity by 2015  -(Trend) The additional power capacities of nearly 2,000 megawatts will be created in Azerbaijan as a result of implementing the projects envisaged for 2012-2015 , head of "Azerenergy" company (production and distribution of electricity in Azerbaijan) Etibar Pirverdiyev's article, published in the newspaper Azerbaijan said on Saturday…

Sumgait power plant produces more than 1.3 billion kW/h in January-September – (Trend) Sumgait power plant produced more than 1.3 billion kW/h of electricity in January-September, Azerenergy (production and distribution of electricity in Azerbaijan) said… 

Georgia

Enguri hydro power station is still on Georgian hands – (Democracy and Freedom Watch) Georgia’s Energy Minister says Enguri hydro power station has not been sold but is the property of Georgia. He says there were negotiations regarding the facility but they were suspended…

Georgia is no longer hopes for electricity from Azerbaijan  -(abc.az) Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The new government of Georgia formed by billionaire Boris (Bidzina) Ivanishvili, no longer sees Azerbaijan as the only energy partner…

Project introduces new methodology for electricity tariff  -(The Messanger) On October 26, the presentation of the project entitled 'European Union, Austria and Georgia: Twinning for updating the electricity tariff methodology' was held at the Sheraton Metechi Palace hotel…

Georgian Energy Ministry: SOCAR not monopolist – (Trend) The Georgian Energy Ministry does not consider SOCAR to be a monopoly on the Georgian gas market, Kommersant radio reported, quoting Deputy Energy Minister Mariam Valishvili.

SOCAR ups gas supply to Georgia  -(trend) As of November 6, SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) transported over 4 million cubic meters of gas per day to Georgia against 1.4 million cubic meters, as of October 19, SOCAR source told Trend on Tuesday…

Moldova

International bank helps Moldovans cut energy bills – (Energy Live) A London based bank has provided loans worth €10 million (£8 million) to a Moldovan bank to help households and businesses cut their energy bills…

Third energy package-the new Gordian knot – (bsanna) Moldova will request a postponement of the implementation deadline for the EU's Third Energy Package from 2016 until 2020 at the annual meeting of the European ministers for energy on 18 October…

Energy Community to set up a competition network – (Eu neighbourhood) The Energy Community Secretariat will be setting the basis for the establishment of an Energy Community Competition Network at an Energy Community seminar on competition law enforcement in the energy sector in Vienna on 23 November…

Russia

North American Natural Gas Development Ripples Across Europe and Russia to Asian Markets –(AOLEnergy) The potential implications of recent North American natural gas production increases stretch across the globe, with knock-on impacts for gas trading patterns, regional supply-demand balances and even geopolitics…

RusHydro Swings Abate as Kremlin Pledges Funds: Russia Overnight – (Bloomberg Business Week) OAO RusHydro (RSHYY) is posting the smallest price swings in two years after Russia’s government said it will inject cash into the biggest renewable energy producer to fund the construction of new power plants…

Rosneft helps Russia's oil output to post-Soviet high – (CNBC) Increased production by Rosneft helped to lift Russia's oil output by 0.5 percent in October to a post-Soviet high of 10.46 million barrels per day (bpd), data showed on Friday…

Turkey

Electricity Generation and Consumption down – (Turkish Weekly) Turkey's electricity consumption dropped by 4.2 percent to 18.1 billion kWh in October 2012 over to the same month of 2011…

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Calls for Urgent Scaling up of Climate Finance to Developing Countries – (Finchannel) The FINANCIAL -- The US$7.2 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF) wrapped up week-long meetings  here today with over US$500 million in financing allocated by the Trust Fund Committees and Sub-Committees for building climate resilience and disaster preparedness, REDD+, and clean technologies in developing countries…

Seoul Eyes UAE Support in Turkish Nuclear Deal – (Turkish Weekly) South Korea has quite an advantage in its bid to win the nearly $20 billion deal for Turkey’s second nuclear plant. It has a good design and has negotiated in the past for the deal, but there is one major disadvantage for its chances to grab the deal: it wants guarantees from the Turkish treasury that have been strongly rejected by Turkey…

Foreign Ministry: Implementation of TANAP jointly with Azerbaijan – important step for Turkey –(Trend) Implementation of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) jointly with Azerbaijan is the most important and strategic step for Turkey in the energy sector, Ihlas news agency quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Wednesday…

Ukraine

Ukraine starts gas shipments to Europe – (UPI) The Ukrainian prime minister said his country started preliminary natural gas deliveries to European consumers this month.

IEA report: Refusal to import Russian gas to cost Ukraine USD 207 b – (bsanna)  KYIV, November 6. /UKRINFORM/. The refusal to export Russian natural gas would cost Ukraine USD 207 billion, according to the International Energy Agency (IAE)…

Transeuro Energy produces 51,350 cubic metres of gas per day in October – (Proactiveinvestors) Transeuro Energy (CVE:TSU) said it produced 1.59 million cubic metres of gas from its Beaver River gas field in the Liard basin in British Columbia, Canada last month…

Ukraine inches forward on cleaner, affordable energy – (KyivPost) A handful of alternative energy investment projects unveiled in recent weeks are providing a glimmer of hope that Ukraine’s fragile economy may someday run on cleaner, more efficient power…

Ukraine Gets First Gas from Germany  -(RiaNovosti) Ukraine has received the first 3.3 million cubic meters of natural gas from Germany’s RWE, the newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli Ukraina reported on Monday, citing a source in the energy and coal ministry… 

Tokmak Solar Energy announces 22 MW PV project in Ukraine – (Solar Server)  Tokmak Solar Energy LLC (Zaporizhia region, Ukraine) is to launch the first phase of a 1.5 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant by the end of 2012, according to Tokmak Solar Energy Director Oleksandr Repkin…

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