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The government of Argentina, through the Energy Secretariat, has awarded 38 renewable power projects with a combined capacity of 259 MW under the third round («MiniRen») of the RenovAr renewable tender. This round 3 was open to small-scale projects distributed throughout the country to use the capacities available in the medium voltage networks. It offered 350 MW of capacity for solar and wind to compete for and was also open to biomass, small hydro and other renewable technologies. A total of 52 projects passed the stage of evaluation and technical analysis and qualified to present their financial offers. 38 projects were selected, while 12 projects (nearly 63 MW) were technically qualified but not awarded and were invited to enter into Renewable Electricity Supply Contracts.

Ten wind projects with a combined capacity of 129 MW were awarded (of which nine rated 12.9 MW each will be developed by Elawan Energy in the Buenos Aires, Cordoba and La Pampa provinces), at an average price of US$58.84/MWh (lowest price of US$52.50/MWh). 13 small solar PV projects ranging between 2 and 10 MW and totalling 97 MW were awarded at an average price of US$57.58/MWh (lowest price of US$54.22/MWh). In addition, 2 biomass-fired power projects (8.5 MW),  6 biogas projects (13 MW), one landfill biogas project (5 MW) and 6 small hydropower projects (7.4 MW) were awarded during the round.

Since the first round held in autumn 2016, the government has awarded 244 projects with a cumulated capacity of 6,300 MW.

BP and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) have agreed to create a new joint venture held at 51% by RIL and at 49% by BP. The new entity will control RIL’s existing fuel retail network of over 1,400 sites across India, which the two companies plan to expand to up to 5,500 sites over the next five years.

Dominion Energy Virginia (part of the US Dominion Energy group) has issued a Request for Proposals (RfP) for up to 500 MW of solar power capacity in both 2021 and 2022; the solar RfP is seeking bids for solar projects of at least 5 MWac and located in Virginia (United States). The proposals can be for power purchase agreements (PPAs) and/or the purchase of development projects.  …

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the largest oil producer in Oman, plans to raise its production capacity by more than 10%, from 610,700 bbl/d in 2018 to over 670,000 bbl/d within five years. The company is investing in exploration -especially in the center of the country- and is raising its production thanks to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. …

India’s independent power producer Adani Power has completed the acquisition of GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd (GCEL). Adani acquired a 52.38% stake from lenders and the remaining 47.62% from the GMR Group. GCEL owns and operates the 1,370 MW Chhattisgarh supercritical coal-fired power plant located in Raikheda, in Raipur district (India).

The French government has unveiled the results of the sixth auction round for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) projects ranging between 500 kW and 30 MW. A total of 107 projects with a combined capacity of 858 MW were selected at an average bidding price of €64/MWh (+2% compared to the March 2019 round).

China has approved an increasing number of new coal mine construction plans since the start of 2019, despite its air cleaning and CO2 reduction policies. According to documents from the National Energy Administration (NEA), Chinese regulators approved a total new coal production capacity of 141 Mt/year between January and June 2019, up from 25 Mt/year approved in 2018.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted Freeport LNG a permit to start exporting commissioning cargoes from the 15 Mt/year Freeport LNG plant on Quintana Island in Freeport, Texas (United States). The liquefaction project will be granted the approval for commencement of service after a FERC review.

TVEL, the fuel company of Russian state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom, has been officially selected as the sole authorised provider of nuclear fuel for the Rooppur nuclear power project in Bangladesh. All the used fuel will be repatriated to Russia under a March 2017 draft agreement for 22.5 t/year from each reactor. …