Energy

Back in the 20th century, when the Manitoba Power Commission and Manitoba Hydro Electric Board united to form Manitoba Hydro, pushing out into far reaches of the Canadian province was no easy business.

Now, says public affairs manager Scott Powell, the world has opened up somewhat but the ingenuity, expertise and sheer determination required to see the corporation’s current projects through to fruition still necessitates an equal measure of drive.

There's no doubt that Nigeria is on the move. With a population of 175 million it is by far the largest nation in Africa, and this year it overtook South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa too, worth more than $500 billion. No wonder it is ranked as one of the MINT group of emerging economies together with Mexico Indonesia and Turkey - the powerhouse economies of the future.

Intertek traces its history back nearly 130 years to a marine surveying company founded by the entrepreneur Caleb Brett in the 1890s to answer a vital need at the time - independent testing and certification of ships' cargoes. Through a long process of amalgamation and acquisition it has since grown to become the global go-to resource for almost every industry sector.

Speaking in June Leni Gas & Oil (LGO) chairman David Lenigas said: "Our Trinidad operations will do 2,000 barrels per day (bpd). Not might, - will." The company is one of the more salient success stories in the Australian entrepreneur and former Lonrho chairman’s portfolio. And the market is backing him: LGO’s shares on London’s AIM market have risen from under a penny in November to over 4-pence at the time of writing.

Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been told by the government that it will consider his request over the coming fortnight. The state-controlled energy giant, which is almost 20 per cent owned by BP, is barred from receiving any credit with a maturity of more than 90 days from US or European banks. However Rosneft suggested that the Kremlin could use money from the National Wealth Fund, a fund earmarked to fund Russian state pensions. The money would be used to purchase Rosneft bonds.

Transportadora de Energía de Centroamérica S.A., or TRECSA for short, is a Guatemalan company dedicated to the business of energy transmission. The company was incorporated in 2010 following the award of a contract by Guatemala's Comisión Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (CNEE – the National Commission for Electric Energy) for the construction, management, operation and maintenance of the first phase of the country's Energy Transmission System Expansion Plan. This first phase is named PET-01-2009.

It was in Larderello, Italy, back in 1904 that the world’s first geothermal power plant was constructed, a facility that continues to produce green energy to this very day. In the 110 years since then more than 20 of the planet’s major countries have integrated geothermal power into their respective energy portfolios, countries including the US, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, Cost Rico and Iceland. Kenya, meanwhile, holds the distinction of being the first country in Africa to generate electricity from geothermal sources.

Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?
I wish I was someone who could function perfectly well on 4 hours sleep a day. There is so much to experience and achieve that sleeping 8 hours a day seems a waste.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?
I don’t as a rule read business books, but “Who Moved My Cheese” provided some valuable insights when I first read it in the 1990’s and those lessons have stayed with me.

Last year we published an in-depth report on the Caribbean's leading O&G company, looking at Petrotrin's business models, vision, people strategy and environmental aspirations. There can be no doubt that this is a company that is pivotal to the development of the nation and indeed the region as a whole.

Increased concern and focus on global warming has no doubt made it necessary for countries, industries and businesses to look for growth and development opportunities in a more sustainable manner. One particular example would be the global cement industry which has historically suffered from having a high carbon footprint due to the energy requirements and chemical process involved in cement manufacturing technology.