2024-09-15 11:46

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Adani Power (ADAN.NS) , opens new tab and Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) , opens new tab have won a combined bid to supply 6,600 MW of renewable and thermal power to Maharashtra state for 25 years, the companies said in a joint statement. Adani Green Energy's wind-solar plant in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan state has been supplying Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state, with green energy since March 2023. The new contract will enable Adani Green Energy and Adani Power to bolster their presence in Maharashtra state. Under the bid, Adani Green Energy will supply 5,000 MW of solar power from its renewable energy park in Khavda in Kutch district of Gujarat State and Adani Power will supply 1,600 MW of thermal power from a new plant. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company issued a letter of intent assigning the contract to Adani Power and will be signing separate agreements with both companies for their respective power supply, Adani Power said in a statement. Power consumption in Maharashtra is expected to reach 200 terawatt hours by 2028, 32% of which is expected to come from renewable sources, based on the state's estimates , opens new tab. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/adani-power-wins-joint-bid-25-year-power-deal-supply-maharashtra-state-2024-09-15/

2024-09-15 10:56

China issues typhoon red alert, warns of gales and heavy rain Flights and trains cancelled, Shanghai tourism spots closed Mid-Autumn festival plans disrupted by typhoon SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Shanghai halted transportation links, recalled ships and shut tourism spots including Shanghai Disney Resort on Sunday as it braced for Typhoon Bebinca, in what could be the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Chinese financial hub since 1949. The Category 1 typhoon, packing maximum sustained wind speeds near its centre of around 144 kph(89 mph), was about 400 km southeast of Shanghai as of 5:00 p.m. (0900 GMT). It is expected to make landfall along China's eastern coast after midnight on Monday. The China Meteorological Administration issued typhoon red alert on Sunday afternoon, warning of gales and heavy rainfalls in eastern China. The strongest storm to make landfall in Shanghai in recent decades was Typhoon Gloria in 1949, which tore through the city with gusts of 144 kph. Shanghai was last threatened by a direct hit in 2022 by the powerful Typhoon Muifa, which instead landed 300 km away in the city of Zhoushan, in Zhejiang province. Shanghai is typically spared the strong typhoons that hit further south in China, including Yagi, a destructive Category 4 storm that roared past southern Hainan province last week. But Shanghai and neighbouring provinces are taking no chances with Category 1 Bebinca. All flights will be cancelled at Shanghai's two airports from 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, and the operator, the Shanghai Airport (Group) Co said it will announce adjustments depending on typhoon's impact. The Shanghai railway station has also suspended some services to ensure passenger safety, and the Shenzhen government said trains to and from Shanghai will be halted. Resorts in Shanghai, including Shanghai Disney Resort, Jinjiang Amusement Park and Shanghai Wild Animal Park, have been temporarily closed while most ferries have been halted to and from Chongming Island - China's third-biggest island known as "the gateway to the Yangtze River". In Zhejiang, ships have been recalled while several parks in the provincial capital Hangzhou announced closures. Bebinca's arrival will coincide with the Mid-Autumn festival, a nationwide three-day holiday when many Chinese travel or engage in outdoor activities. China's Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday issued a Level-IV emergency response - the lowest level in China's four-tier emergency response system - for potential flooding in Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-braces-direct-hit-typhoon-bebinca-2024-09-15/

2024-09-15 10:37

HANOI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, cost Vietnam roughly $1.6 billion and may cut into the country's growth rate, according to preliminary estimates from the investment ministry. Vietnam's economic growth in 2024 may slow by 0.15% compared to the previous forecast due to the impacts of the typhoon, a report from the ministry said. It had previously forecast a 6.8%-7% expansion this year. Among the hardest hit sectors are agriculture, forestry and fishery, where growth may decrease by 0.33%, the ministry said, whereas industry and construction may see a smaller impact of 5 basis points. However, highly industrialised areas, such as the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Haiphong, may grow slower by 0.5% as they bore the brunt of the typhoon, the ministry said. The typhoon, which made landfall on Sept. 7, killed at least 292 people and left 38 missing as of Monday morning, according to data from Vietnam's disaster agency. "GDP growth in the third quarter and fourth quarter could decrease by 0.35% and 0.22% respectively compared to the scenario without Typhoon Yagi," according to the ministry report. Floods have also inundated 190,000 hectares (469,500 acres) of rice fields, 48,000 hectares of cash crops such as corn and cassava and damaged nearly 232,000 houses in northern Vietnam, according to the disaster agency. Haiphong City, home to several industrial parks, recorded about 11 trillion dong ($448.43 million) of losses and damage from the typhoon, the city said. In a separate statement released by the government, Vietnam said it strived to control inflation and reach gross domestic product growth of about 7% this year despite the hit from Typhoon Yagi. ($1 = 24,530.0000 dong) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/vietnam-says-2024-gdp-may-decline-015-due-typhoon-yagis-impact-2024-09-15/

2024-09-15 07:30

Eight reported dead in floods over past two days More than 10,000 evacuated in Czech Republic Bridge in historic Polish town collapses Budapest readies for rising river Danube JESENIK, Czech Republic/WARSAW, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The death toll from flooding in central Europe rose to eight on Sunday as thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the Czech Republic following days of torrential rain that caused rivers to burst their banks in several parts of the region. A low-pressure system named Boris has triggered downpours from Austria to Romania, leading to some of the worst flooding in nearly three decades in hard-hit areas in the Czech Republic and Poland. More rain and strong winds are forecast until at least Monday, though the rain eased on Sunday in Romania, which bore the brunt of flooding a day earlier. Thousands of homes have been damaged over the weekend, bridges swept away and at least 250,000 households - mainly in the Czech Republic - were affected by power cuts. One person drowned in southwestern Poland on Sunday, a firefighter taking part in rescue efforts was killed in Austria and two more people were killed in Romania, where the floods claimed four lives on Saturday. In Lower Austria, the province surrounding Vienna where government officials said the firefighter had died, authorities declared the area a disaster zone and warned against non-essential travel. A bridge collapsed in the historic Polish town of Glucholazy near the Czech border and local officials ordered evacuations early on Sunday. Local media said another bridge collapsed in the mountain town of Stronie Slaskie, where a dam burst, according to the Polish weather institute. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who visited nearby flooded areas, said on the X platform the government would announce a state of disaster and seek European Union aid. 'UNDER WATER' In the neighbouring Czech Republic, police said they were searching for three people who were in a car that plunged into the river Staric on Saturday near Lipova-lazne, a village about 235 km (146 miles) east of the capital, Prague. Rainfall in the area has reached about 500 mm (19.7 inches) since Wednesday. Reuters footage showed flood waters gushing through Lipova-lazne and neighbouring Jesenik, damaging some houses and carrying debris. "We don't know what will be next," said Mirek Burianek, a resident of Jesenik. "The internet network isn't working, telephones don't work ... We are waiting for who will show up (to help)." Lipova-lazne resident Pavel Bily told Reuters the floods were even worse than those seen in 1997. "My house is under water, and I don't know if I will even return to it," he said. Residents in some flooded areas were bracing for conditions to deteriorate. "When it rains (in the nearby mountains), it will arrive here in five or six hours," said Ferdinand Gampl, an 84-year-old resident of the village of Visnova, 138 km (86 miles) north of Prague. Emergency services used a helicopter to evacuate people stranded in the Lipova-lazne district. Overall, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated in the country, the head of the fire service told Czech television. In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, officials raised forecasts for the river Danube to rise in the second half of this week to more than 8.5 metres (27.9 feet), nearing a record of 8.91 metres (29.2 feet) in 2013. As the rain eased in Romania, workers sought to restore power supplies to some 11,000 homes and clean-up efforts started as residents surveyed the damage. "Everything I have is destroyed," said Victoria Salceanu in the eastern village of Slobozia Conachi. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/floods-southwest-poland-kill-one-force-evacuations-2024-09-15/

2024-09-15 03:14

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Myanmar's death toll from floods rose to at least 113 as of Saturday evening, the country's military government said on Sunday, following heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Yagi that has caused havoc across parts of Southeast Asia. At least 320,000 people have been displaced and 64 were still missing, government spokesman Zaw Min Tun said, according to a late-night bulletin on state-run MRTV. "The government is conducting a rescue and rehabilitation mission," he said. Adverse weather from Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, has killed hundreds of people in Vietnam and Thailand, and flood waters from swollen rivers have inundated cities in both countries. The flooding in Myanmar began last Monday, with at least 74 people killed by Friday, based on state media reports. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup in February 2021 and violence has engulfed large parts of the country. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the storm's rains mainly affected the capital Naypyitaw, as well as the Mandalay, Magway, and Bago regions, along with eastern and southern Shan state, Mon, Kayah and Kayin states. "Central Myanmar is currently the hardest hit, with numerous rivers and creeks flowing down from Shan hills," the OCHA said. Reports of more deaths and landslides have emerged, but gathering information has been challenging due to damaged infrastructure and downed phone and internet lines. State media also reported that five dams, four pagodas, and more than 65,000 houses were destroyed by the flooding. About a third of Myanmar's 55 million people require humanitarian assistance but many aid agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, cannot operate in many areas because of access restrictions and security risks. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmars-flooding-death-toll-jumps-74-state-media-reports-2024-09-15/

2024-09-14 20:07

LAGOS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - At least 64 people were feared dead following a boat accident on a river in Zamfara State in northwest Nigeria, local officials said on Saturday. A wooden boat carrying 70 farmers capsized as it was transporting them across the river to reach their farmlands close to Gummi town on Saturday morning. Local authorities swiftly mobilised residents for a rescue operation, and after three hours, six survivors were pulled from the water. "This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the Gummi Local Government Area," said Aminu Nuhu Falale, a local administrator who led the rescue efforts. He added that emergency teams were intensifying their search in the hope of finding more survivors. More than 900 farmers rely on crossing the river daily to access their farmlands, but only two boats are available, often leading to overcrowding, said the local traditional ruler. Zamfara State, already plagued by criminal gangs seeking control of mineral resources, has also been severely affected by flooding caused by heavy rains. Two weeks ago, floods displaced more than 10,000 residents, local officials said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/least-64-people-feared-dead-nigeria-boat-accident-2024-09-14/