THE Ministry of Environmental Protection has started an assessment for the construction of a major hydropower plant in Sichuan Province.

Japan is ready to help Pakistan overcome the country's chronic power shortages, but at the same time it seeks comprehensive power sector reforms, a senior official from the Japan International Cooperation Agency said Friday.

In an interview with Kyodo News, JICA's chief representative in Pakistan, Mitsuyoshi Kawasaki, said the agency has already singled out four 400-megawatt power turbines at Mangla Hydro electric power station in Pakistan-administered portion of divided Kashmir and a coal-fired power plant in Thar in Sindh province for replacement with Japanese assistance.

Development of hydroelectric and coal-based power plants is central to Pakistan's plans to overcome power shortages.

TORONTO, May 17, 2013 /CNW/ - The first long weekend of the season is (finally) here, and it can be a busy time. Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro) is reminding customers to take a break and enjoy OFF-PEAK rates - the lowest electricity price all weekend long.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has given an assessment for the construction of a major hydropower plant in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

When news came that a ban on construction of hydroelectric dams on the Nu river, one of the last great unpolluted rivers in China, was being lifted, it sent shockwaves down the 2,800km length of the waterway.

In Liuku, a town in Yunnan province in southwest China, you can see where work has already started, before official permission has come from the central government.

Thousands of households have been relocated, and China's weary band of environmental activists, who have fought for years to slow the process of damming on the Yangtze and China's other great rivers, ask: why can't China have just one single river that is not polluted? Many identities One of the world's great waterways, the Nujiang begins life on a glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, twisting its way east, then swiftly working its pristine way west across China's Yunnan province, where it becomes the Nu river. It then heads south into Burma, where it is called the Salween, flowing down to the Thai border, before emptying into the Andaman Bay.

This series of dams on the Nu river will, in theory, generate more power than the mighty Three Gorges Dam, which serves the world's biggest hydropower station on the Yangtze River.

BEIJING, May 19 -- China's environment ministry has given the go-ahead for the construction of what will become the country's tallest hydroelectric dam despite acknowledging it will have an impact on plants and rare fish.

A spokesman for the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) clarified on Friday the confusion created by news reports appearing in a section of press about Wapda’s role in electricity load-shedding in the country, stating that as a result of the introduction of the power sector reforms and unbundling of Wapda’s Power Wing in 2007, Wapda’s mandate now includes only the construction of new dams and hydropower projects and operation and maintenance of the existing hydel power stations.

Dhaka, May 18 -- India-China border row in Ladakh has eclipsed unresolved water-sharing issues along the Brahmaputra. But for any agreement to work, it must involve the people who depend on the waters.

When India's prime minister Manmohan Singh and China's president Xi Jinping held their first meeting on the sidelines of the latest BRICS summit in Durban, the one specific item on Singh's agenda was the need for a joint mechanism to look at China's hydropower projects on the Brahmaputra, the river called the Yarlung Zangbo in China. Clearly aware of the many fears these projects raise in India, Xi was quick to assure Singh that China was aware of its responsibilities towards lower riparian countries and that he would ask his officials to consider a joint mechanism.

The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) spokesman has explained the Wapda's role in electricity load shedding in the country. Wapda spokesman has made it clear that subsequent to introduction of the power sector reforms and unbundling of Wapda's Power Wing in 2007, Wapda's mandate now includes only the construction of new dams and hydropower projects and operation and maintenance of the existing hydel power stations, whereas rest of the matters relating to power sector including load shedding do not fall within the ambit of Wapda.

VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a hydro-electric development in northeastern B.C. should be allowed to proceed without an environmental assessment.

The dispute over the assessment of 10 power generation sites along a 40-kilometre stretch of the Holmes River was launched by a coalition of conservation groups.

VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a hydro-electric development in northeastern B.C. should be allowed to proceed without an environmental assessment.

The dispute over the assessment of 10 power generation sites along a 40-kilometre stretch of the Holmes River was launched by a coalition of conservation groups.

(SeeNews China) - May 17, 2013 - China's Ministry of Environmental Protection okayed a 2-GW hydropower project which calls for the construction of a 314-m (1,030-ft) high dam in Sichuan province, the Xinhua news agency said Thursday.

KATHMANDU, May 17 -- The Industrial Promotion Board ( IPB ) has approved four projects that have collectively pledged Rs 31 billion investment.

The projects that were approved on Monday include capacity upgradation of Bottlers Nepal Tarai Limited and three hydropower projects - Kabeli, Balefi and Likhu.

OJSC Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Plant (HPP) saw net profits to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) drop 37.5% year-on-year to 334.3 million rubles in the first quarter, the company reported.

Ry Ninh II Hydroelectric JSC (HNX:RHC), Vietnam's 13th largest electric company by market capitalisation, decreased VND100.0 (or 0.8%) to close at VND12,400.0. The volume was 5.4 times the average trading of 1,939 shares. Compared with the VN Index, which fell 2.7 points (or 0.6%) on the day, this was a relative price change of -0.2%.

Bearish Signals

Beijing: China's Ministry of Environmental Protection has given an assessment for the Shuangjiangkou hydro-power plant, with installed capacity of 2 Giga Watt and annual power generation potential of 7.93 billion kilowatt-hours on completion, to be constructed in the Sichuan Province.

THE first hydropower scheme in Cardiff was finally given the go-ahead yesterday.

Cardiff council has been investigating the potential for harnessing the power of the River Taff to generate energy for three years.

It already has planning permission to install twin screw hydropower turbines at Radyr Weir. Yesterday, the cabinet agreed to proceed to the procurement and delivery stages.

It is estimated the £1.5m system will generate enough energy to power three of the city's leisure centres - and save 700 tonnes of CO2 - per year.

Councillor Ashley Govier said the authority was looking at another five locations for hydropower across the capital.

Naloi Hydropower (HNX:NLC), Vietnam's 11th largest electric company by market capitalisation, jumped VND1,000.0 (or 6.2%) to close at VND17,000.0. Compared with the VN Index, which fell 2.7 points (or 0.6%) on the day, this was a relative price change of 6.8%. The volume was 0.2 times the average trading of 3,884 shares.

Bullish Signals

Brazil's Cesp is still awaiting government compensation for the non-renewal of its Três Irmãos hydroelectric concession in the state of São Paulo, the company revealed in an investor webcast.

Coronado Resources announced that it has entered into a binding share purchase agreement dated May 13, (the "Share Purchase Agreement"), whereby Coronado has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Opunake Hydro Limited ("OHL") from TAG Oil and Opunake Hydro Holdings Limited ("OHHL") in exchange for common shares of Coronado (the "OHL Acquisition"), subject to the terms and conditions of the Share Purchase Agreement.

According to a release, under the Share Purchase Agreement, Coronado agrees to issue 13,015,410 common shares to TAG in exchange for 90 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of OHL and 1,446,157 common shares to OHHL in exchange for 10 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of OHL, representing an aggregate purchase price of CDN$5,584,000 based on the volume weighted average price of Coronado's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") for the 20 consecutive trading days ending on May 10.