Energy Holdings International Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 200 megawatt, $400 million power plant in Bangladesh.

Through a wholly owned subsidiary, EHII signed the deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board for a single cycle electrical power generation plant with room to expand to a 450 MW combined cycle facility.

Houston-based EHII (NYSE: EGYH) is currently talking with a handful of engineering, procurement and construction contractors to build the plant while EHII will serve as the independent power producer.

About the company

Energy Holdings International, Inc. is a U.S. based, American-Saudi Arabian company; focused on acquiring, developing and managing energy assets in the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. Its website is http://www.energyhii.com. Four of its Board of Directors are from Riyahd, Saudi Arabia.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains certain forward-looking information and statements that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in EHII’s SEC periodic and interim reports.

SOURCE Energy Holdings International, Inc.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.energyhii.com

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US oil company Chevron has given a high hope to solve recent gas crisis of Bangladesh. Chevron has been operating three gas fields (Moulvibazarfield, Jalalabad field, Bibiyana field) of Sylhet.

Chevron Bangladesh is now?exploring a new Block 7 in Patuakhali. They hope it will be successful in the upcoming year. If they successful the gas production will increase 100 million cubic feet per day.

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Overcoming the energy problem Bangladesh govt is just serious on reality and execution .A government committee has recommended creation of Bangladesh Energy and Power Investment Fund in an effort to fix the shortage of finance in the power and energy sector.

The government is expected to provide Tk 1,500 crore in initial capital for the project.

A company will be set up to manage the fund, technically known as an infrastructure private equity fund.

In its report submitted to the power and energy ministry last month, the committee said the government can form the fund of Tk 1,500 crore-Tk 2,500 crore under public-private partnership.

The committee put forward a draft of the terms and conditions of the proposed company.

The government will have a 51 percent share of the fund, while the private sector will own the rest.

The 12-member committee headed by Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui was formed in October 2009.

The fund will invest in power, energy, hydrocarbon, solar and wind power, biomass and biogas, energy-efficient products, LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal, and recycling waste into products.

Both public and private entities can be financed under the project. This is not a subsidy fund but a commercially focused one with an appetite for long-term returns, the report says.

The government will appoint a professional fund manager from the private sector to run the fund.

An ‘investment committee’ composed of five members will be nominated by the fund manager.

The company to manage the fund may invest in listed or non-listed issuers or new projects with sponsors who have established operating track record and positive cash flow and projects sponsored by such type of entities.

The company will generally hold minority positions in the equity or debt profile of an issuer.

The tenure of the company will be 12-14 years and after that it will be liquidated, according to the report. The projects to be financed by the company will be commercially viable and the profit accruing from it will return to the fund and the profit will be distributed as per stake of the shareholders.

Power and energy ministry officials said a meeting has already been held with the finance minister over the formation of the fund.

The finance minister has asked the officials concerned to work out any possible problems, they said.

The minister has also called for such funds for other sectors, the power ministry officials added.

Power Division officials said initially the government will create the fund with Tk 1,500 crore but ultimately its size would go up. Bonds may be sold to the expatriates and released in the stockmarket for raising the fund.

They said the government considers a provision for whitening black money for making investment in the company.

According to the report, the government needs investment of about Tk 66,000 crore or $9.5 billion in the next five years for generation, transmission and distribution of power.
The government will issue bonds and debt instruments to local and foreign investors in a bid to raise a fund for financing projects including those of power and infrastructure.

The finance ministry yesterday issued a circular about creation of the Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund (BIFF).

The circular said: “The BIFF will attract investment from local and foreign investors through internationally practised financing options such as bonds, debt instruments and equity offering. It will also invest in different companies that are implementing projects in Bangladesh’s infrastructure sector.”

Finance ministry officials said, of the Tk 2,100 crore kept for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the revised budget of the current fiscal year, Tk 1,600 crore will go to the fund as its initial capital.

This is the first-ever allocation to be used for PPP projects.

The fund will soon be registered as a company

The government has declared its vision for power sector to free the country from load shedding beyond 2010 and make electricity available for all by 2020, the report said.

The government has set a target to generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity by 2013 and 20,000 megawatts by 2021

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Bangladesh – Bulgaria to develop interactivites in possible sectors.President Zillur Rahman has urged Bulgaria to import more Bangladeshi products and also recruit skilled and semi- skilled manpower from the country with a view to further increasing bilateral cooperation between the two countries. The President made the call when newly appointed Delhi-based Bulgarian Ambassador to Bangladesh Borislav Kostov presented his credentials to him at Bangabhaban on Monday.

During the meeting, Zillur Rahman said the Bulgarian businessman could import world standard Bangladeshi products like readymade garments, leather and jute goods, ceramic and pharmaceuticals considering their very competitive prices.

He also said the Bulgarian entrepreneurs might come forward for individual or joint investments in the fields of RMG, textile, energy, petroleum, leather ceramic, pharmaceuticals and agro- processing in Bangladesh.

The President mentioned that Bangladesh and Bulgaria have enormous possibilities for expanding their ties in trade, commerce and cultural sectors but the volume of trade between the two countries does not reflect the true potential.

Saying that Bulgaria was one of the countries who recognized Bangladesh immediately after its independence, Zillur Rahman said Bangladeshis are grateful to Bulgaria in this regard.

Zillur Rahman also congratulated Bulgarian leadership for their efforts in ascending to the European Union as a full-fledged member sate.

The new envoy appreciated the achievement of Bangladesh for maintaining a ‘high’ 5-6% percent of GDP growth rate over the years amid ongoing global economic crisis.

He also appreciated Bangladesh for playing the leading role in raising its voice against the adverse effects of climate change worldwide.

Kostov emphasised increasing high level political, business and cultural visits between the two countries for further increasing the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Bulgaria.

The evoy sought President’s cooperation in discharging his new responsibilities and assured the president that he would do this to his level best to bring the trade and commerce relations between the two countries to new heights.

Secretary to the President’s office M Safiul Alam, Press Secretary AKM Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan and Additional Secretary to the Foreign Affairs Ministry Mostafa Kamal were present during the meeting.

Earlier, the Ambassador was given a guard of honor by a contingent of the President’s Guard Regiment.

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The first U.S. offshore wind farm, a giant project 5 miles/8 km off the Massachusetts coast, was approved on Wednesday after years of opposition involving everyone from local Indian tribes to the Kennedy family.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave the green light for the 130-turbine, 420-megawatt Cape Wind project in Horseshoe Shoal, Nantucket Sound, in what supporters considered a huge step forward for renewable energy in the United States.

“This project fits with the tradition of sustainable development in the area,” Salazar said in Boston.

Although small in terms of its production — the $1 billion facility would produce enough electricity to power about 400,000 houses — its approval raises hopes that other offshore wind projects will follow.

Several projects that could power hundreds of thousands of customers have already been proposed for the East Coast and the Great Lakes.

The turbines, more than 400 feet high, will dot an area of about 24 square miles (62 square km), larger than Manhattan, and be visible low on the horizon from parts of Cape Cod.

German conglomerate Siemens AG will provide the turbines.

The decision to approve Cape Wind, subject to certain conditions designed to protect offshore waters from damage and reduce visibility, is expected to face legal challenges, but Salazar said he was confident the approval would stand.

Supporters have argued that wind farms represent a giant push for renewable energy efforts and reducing dependence on foreign oil, and fit well with the Obama administration’s energy strategy.

“Greenpeace has been campaigning to get the Cape Wind project built for nearly a decade, and today’s victory is worth celebrating. It long overdue,” said Kert Davies, research director at the environmental group.

YEARS OF REVIEW

Cape Wind was subject to years of environmental review and political maneuvering, including adamant opposition from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose six-acre (2.4 hectare) family compound in Hyannis Port overlooks Nantucket Sound.

A final ruling was near in 2009, but delayed further after two Wampanoag Indian tribes complained that the giant turbines would disturb spiritual sun greetings and possibly ancestral artifacts and burial grounds on the seabed.

Opponents have deemed the project an eyesore, and raised issues ranging from a detrimental effect on property values in the popular vacation area south of Boston, to possible damage to birds, whales, fishing, aviation, and historic sites.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a federal agency in charge of safeguarding historic landmarks, recommended this month that the project be rejected.

The governors of six eastern U.S. states shot back in a letter to Salazar, arguing that other offshore projects will likely be abandoned if the Cape Wind project was rejected.

Salazar cited that letter as part of his decision. “We believe there is huge potential for offshore wind along the Atlantic. We don’t want to be second to anyone,” he said.

U.S. wind generation increased by 27 percent last year, accounting for 2 percent of total electricity supplies, according to the Energy Department. Wind power supports about 85,000 American jobs.

“Renewable energy projects like these not only help fight climate change, they can create jobs and play a central role in our economic recovery,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Several countries have achieved much higher levels of wind power generation, often with large government subsidies, including Denmark, Spain and Portugal.

…………………OVERVIEW
LOCATION: Wind farm developers Cape Wind would build 130 turbines over a 25-mile stretch of Nantucket Sound. The 400-foot turbines would be between five miles off Cape Cod at their closest point to land to 14 miles off Nantucket at the greatest distance.

ENERGY: Cape Wind says it can generate power by 2012 and eventually would supply three-quarters of the power on Cape Cod, which has about 225,000 residents.

COST: Estimated at more than $2 billion, to be privately funded with opportunities to obtain federal stimulus dollars and tax credits.

OPPOSITION: Native American tribes say the project would interfere with sacred rituals and desecrate tribal burial sites. Others claim it would hurt the ecology of Nantucket Sound and endanger marine traffic while raising energy prices.

sources

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Sources :Bangladesh seeks financial help as imported oil bill to meet growing energy needs.State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corp is seeking help to pay for an estimated $4.3 billion of oil imports in the next fiscal year to run new power plants to meet growing energy needs, a top executive said on Monday.

BPC, Bangladesh’s only fuel importer and distributor, normally buys up to 3.8 million tonnes of refined and crude oil annually at costs between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion, its chairman Anwarul Karim said.

“But for the next fiscal year our import may rise to 4.4 million tonnes as the government plans to set up several oil-fired power plants,” he told.
Bangladesh now imports oil from Vietnam, Malaysia, Maldives, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, India and United Arab Emirates.

But officials said it was also looking for other sources to buy the additional fuel.

To meet the rising fuel bill, Bangladesh has asked the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to provide more funds, Karim said. The IDB gives Bangladesh about $1.2 billon a year now to pay for oil imports.

“We have also asked Bangladesh’s central bank to allocate additional funds for oil import,” Karim added.

The new power plants fuelled by diesel and furnace oil will add more than 1,350 megawatts of power to the national grid, a partial fulfilment of promises by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to ease a nagging power crisis that affects households and industries.

But BPC, which sells many fuels below cost as part of a complicated subsidy programme, has accumulated losses of $2.83 billion that may rise to $3.05 billion at the end of the current fiscal year ending in June 2010

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The Bangladeshi government has invited bids from interested local and foreign firms for setting up three more power plants in the country on build, own and operate (BOO) basis to generate upto 550 megawatts (mw) of electricity, energy officials said Saturday.

“All the three plants will be run by either furnace oil or natural gas,” chairman of Power Development Board (PDB) ASM Alamgir Kabir told the FE.

Two of them, to be built at Keraniganj and Madanganj, will have 150 mw to 225 mw capacity each and generate electricity for 22 years and the remaining one at Jamalpur with 100 mw will generate power for 15 years.

State-owned PDB earlier invited pre-qualification (PQ) bids for the three plants and set June 6 next as the last date for submission of documents.

With these three, 11 fossil fuel run power plant projects are now put on offer for the private bidders from home and abroad to generate a total of 2,120 mw electricity.

The BPDB will provide land for the power plants and purchase electricity from the operators at their offered rates.

The state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will provide fuel for the furnace oil-run IPP power plants.

Contract signing with the bid winners for all the power plant projects is expected to take place in January 2011.

The power ministry will appoint an evaluation committee for each of the projects to scrutinise the applications.

The aspiring sponsors may apply either individually or as a consortium for the power plant projects, but they must have previous international experience in this field.

In case of consortium, the lead member and the operating members must have required equity participation and experience and must meet financial and technical criteria as stated in the bid documents.

The government is putting electricity generation high on agenda as it has pledged to increase the country’s overall electricity generation to 5000 mw by 2011 and to 7000 mw by 2013.

Bangladesh’s electricity generation is now hovering around 4000 mw against the demand for over 5500 mw during peak hours.

The power ministry recently presented a number of power plant projects, including those already offered, before the investors during three overseas road-shows in London, New York and Singapore.

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Dhaka: Bangladesh .Considering the power saving policy as a helpful step of power shortage of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked countrymen “not to waste electricity” as the nation plunges into severe power crisis forcing the government to enforce austerity measures including restriction on using air conditioners.

“We are currently faced with nearly 2000 megawatts of power shortage…the problem cannot be solved overnight. I urge all not to waste electricity,” she told a function late yesterday as the electricity crisis subsequently disrupting the water supply process exposed her one-year-old government to a severe crisis.

Besides, she held the past Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four-party alliance and the subsequent caretaker governments responsible for the present power and gas crises.

She alleged that the erstwhile governments did not take any measure to resolve the energy crisis in the country.

Her comments came as lawmakers of ruling Awami League and its partners in the grand alliance have expressed fear that the commotion over power, water and gas situation may go beyond control as residents of the capital city were staging sporadic protests at different areas of Dhaka.

Earlier this week, the government had issued an order asking all private households, public and private offices, businesses, shopping malls and shops in city to keep their air conditioners switched off from 6:00pm to 11:00 pm as part of an austerity campaign.

The authorities also ordered rationing of power under a load management measure called load shedding switching off the supply to certain areas for certain periods of the day while army troops were called out to guard and monitor the water distribution systems as the distribution plants could not pump out adequate waters for want of electricity.

The state-run Power Development Board sources said they could currently produce nearly 4,000 megawatt power against the demand for 5,200.

In Bangladesh, the demand for power was increasing at a rate of eight to 10 per cent every year while the crisis intensified as the authorities were forced to divert the power to rural areas for irrigation for major Boro crop cultivation.

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Sources ;The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Sunday it will provide a $266 million loan to meet about half the cost of a major expansion of Bangladesh’s natural gas supply network in a bid to spur economic growth.
Bangladesh faces gas shortages of up to 300 million cubic feet a day. The funds will be used to build new transmission and distribution pipelines and to expand gas supply to less developed areas in the impoverished south Asian country’s southwest.

Bangladesh’s reserves of natural gas provide about 70 percent of its total primary energy supply and fuel 85 percent of its power generation.

Its gas transmission and distribution infrastructure have not kept pace with new investment in gas exploration and the development of new fields.

About 200,000 new households in the southwest, along with 1,400 industrial and commercial establishments, will receive gas as a result of the expanded distribution network.

Korea Eximbank will provide a loan of $45 million for the transmission expansion phase and the government of Bangladesh will give $231 million in equity and loans for a total project cost of $542 million.

The project is due for completion in March 2015.

($1=69.25 taka)

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Bangladesh industries minister Dilip Barua on Friday held out the olive branch to the Tata Group saying that the Sheikh Hasina government is willing to restart talks with the Indian conglomerate about reviving its Bangla investment plans.

“We are open to negotiate with the Tatas,” Barua said on the sidelines of a programme organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce. The Tatas had in the past shown an interest to pump in about $2-3 billion in a slew of projects in Bangladesh, which included a steel mill, a fertiliser unit and power plants.

However, the plans could not materialise then because of the Bangladeshi authorities not agreeing to the Tatas’ request to provide gas at cheaper rates. On his part, Barua also conceded that gas remained a ticklish issue. “It will not be possible to provide concessional gas at the moment as Bangladesh itself is running short of it,” he said. The Tata Group could not be reached for a reaction.

Incidentally, Barua is the second Bangladeshi minister in recent times to indicate Dhaka’s willingness to do business with the Tatas. Earlier this month, Bangladesh primary and mass education minister Md Motahar Hossain, too, had spoken along the same lines. “An Indian business delegation will visit Bangladesh in April to explore opportunities,” Barua said.

Incidentally, possibilities of greater economic cooperation between India and Bangladesh have increased ever since Sheikh Hasina came to power.

A high level Indian business delegation would visit Bangladesh early next month, Bangladesh’s Industry Minister Dilip Barua said here Friday. ‘A 50-member team will be visiting Bangladesh on April 10,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce. Barua, however, declined to name the companies that would visit. He said the Bangladeshi government is willing to revive investment talks with Tata Group for investment but no special invitation would be extended to them. ‘If they come, we are ready to accept them. But no special invitation to anybody will be extended,’ he said. The Tatas had withdrawn its proposal during the erstwhile regime of Begum Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh National Party. Barua said his country is looking at making itself industrially self-sufficient by 2021, but said energy is a big problem. There is high demand of energy in the country but there is no gas exploration, he noted. Talking about other industries, he said Bangladesh is putting thrust on industries like pharmaceuticals, ceramic, agro-based industries, leather and ship building.

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