Australasia

A significant market for private power development has emerged overseas in recent years as both industrialized and developing nations have recognized the need to upgrade and expand their power infrastructures to support economic growth. In a diverse group of competitors vying for opportunities to upgrade or develop the needed power facilities, utility affiliates are benefiting from their size, financial stability, knowledge of electric utility operations and long-term perspective.

The Japanese government`s new measures to deregulate the country`s electric power industry will not impair the creditworthiness of the electric utilities, according to Moody`s Investors Service. The rating agency assigns high investment grade ratings to Japan`s nine electric utilities based on their importance to the country`s economy and a favorable operating environment.

Munradtech Industrial Generators Ltd., Shepshed, Leicestershire, England, has accomplished the rare feat of winning the Queen`s Award for Export Achievement for a second year in succession. Last year`s award provided a springboard, launching the firm to greater efforts overseas, which brought in this year`s award.

Electric utilities in Australia are facing far-reaching reforms to break down government-based monopolies and introduce new competition. The objective is to achieve reforms similar to those in the United Kingdom, creating a national grid to separate generators from distributors. Retail competition will be encouraged.

Kelvin Bray has been appointed GEC Alsthom`s Power Generation Division managing director, which has been set up by merging the activities of the electromechanical, gas turbine and diesel, and boilers and environmental systems divisions.

British Petroleum (BP) and Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) have completed the first two major contracts in the recently deregulated New Zealand power market. BP will buy electricity from Capital Power`s electricity trading company, Netco, which will negotiate distribution agreements with the 26 companies supplying the 163 BP sites. CHH will buy electricity from three sources--Mercury Energy, Valley Power and Mainpower--to supply its various sites around the island.

UK-based turbine manufacturer Peter Brotherhood Ltd. has secured an order worth (US)$2.07 million to supply equipment for a new high-efficiency power station under construction at Pine Creek in Australia.

Memcor has installed a continuous microfiltration (CMF) plant to pretreat water for a reverse osmosis (RO) plant at the Bokod power station near Budapest, Hungary. Zenon Systems Kft, a Hungarian subsidiary of Zenon Environmental Inc. of Canada, supplied the RO unit.

GEC Alsthom`s European Gas Turbines subsidiary (EGT) is working on four orders worth more than (US)$32 million to supply gas turbine power generation equipment for the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Turkey.