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Chinese state-held oil and gas company Petrochina has approved a US$3.46bn investment in the Canadian LNG liquefaction terminal project, in which it holds 15%. Besides, the other project partners are set to announce a decision on the CAD40bn (nearly US$31bn) project shortly.

The up to 26 Mt/year gas liquefaction project (two 6.5 Mt/year LNG trains, with an option to add two similar trains) is developed in Kitimat (British Columbia, western Canada) by Shell (40%), Petronas (25%), Petrochina (15%), Mitsubishi Corporation (15% through its affiliate Diamond LNG Canada) and Kogas (5%). Petronas acquired its 25% stake in June 2018, prior to which Shell, Petrochina and Kogas held 50%, 20% and 15%, respectively.

The final investment decision (FID) was put off twice in 2016 because of a difficult market situation but the outlook for the project has brightened. It will be taken according to the overall competitiveness and affordability of the project and will also depend on external factors such as global energy markets.

The French Ministry for an Ecological and Solidary Transition has approved 392 rooftop solar power projects with a total capacity of 230 MW (40% of which to be deployed on agricultural buildings) under a multi-year tenders plan launched in 2016 to develop 1,450 MW of solar capacity over a 3-year period.

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has launched a new technology neutral tendering scheme offering a price premium for solar photovoltaic (PV), onshore wind and open-door offshore wind projects. The scheme has a total budget of DKK842m (roughly €113m), which the DEA estimates to result in an equivalent to around 140 MW of onshore wind.

The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has paved the way for restarting the 1,060 MWe Tokai-2 nuclear power reactor located in the Ibaraki prefecture of Japan, after concluding that safety measures submitted by Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) – including the construction of a sea wall expected to be completed in March 2021 – passed the required revised safety standards.

South Africa state-owned power utility Eskom has secured a US$218m loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for its Eskom Transmission Improvement Project (ETIP), which includes 555 km of new 40 kV transmission lines in the KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces and substation equipment upgrades in Mpumalanga.

Chinese state-held oil and gas company China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), through the Southwest Oil and Gas Field Company, plans to build 5 new gas storage sites with a total working capacity of 10 bcm by 2030. Three gas storage sites will be built in Chongqing – 730 mcm in Tongyuxia,…

Italian power company Enel has completed and connected to the Mexican grid around 1,089 MW of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity through its subsidiary Enel Green Power Mexico (EGPM). The capacity comprises namely the 828 MW Villanueva solar park located in Viesca, in the state of Coahuila and the 260 MW Don José solar park located in San Luis de la Paz, in the state of Guanajuato.

Project company LNG Croatia has extended the deadline for submitting binding bids concerning the use of a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) project on the island of Krk (Croatia) from 28 September 2018 to 20 December 2018. The company reports having received additional requests from interested terminal users to extend the submission deadline.