Energy Roundup: IEA Warns of Supply Crunch, Offshore Brazil Ops to Cost $400B, and More

IEA report warns of supply crunch — In its 2008 World Energy Outlook report released Wednesday, the International Energy Agency said that world energy demand will rise 1.6 percent a year between 2006 and 2030. The organization expects that demand for oil will rise from the current 85 million barrels per day to 106 million barrels per day in 2030. The report called for a huge investment in energy infrastructure to prevent a supply crunch. In addition, the report called for more investment in renewables and efficiency technology. [Source: Topix; Earth2Tech]

Cost of extracting Brazil’s Santos Basin to run $400 billion — Drilling and extracting crude from the Santos Basin offshore Brazil will require some $400 billion over 10 years, according the president of the National Petroleum Agency. While that might seem a staggering sum, at today’s crude price, the at least 30 billion barrels of crude that lie in the basin would fetch almost $1.8 trillion. Some have estimated that as much as 50 to 80 billion barrels could be buried under the Santos. [Source: Rigzone]

Comverge raises $25 million to pay off acquisition debts — Comverge, a New Jersey-based provider of “smart grid” technology (read smart meters, thermostats and energy monitoring software) has raised $25 million. The money is earmarked for debts related to two acquisitions undertaken last year, for Enerwise Global Technologies and Public Energy Solutions, both energy efficiency companies. The firm now has $85 million in cash, credit and financing from GE Capital. [Source: StrategyEye Cleantech]

Solar Thin Films acquires Algatec Solar — The German metallurgical silicon firm, Algatec Solar, was acquired by Solar Thin Films, a New York-based maker of equipment for producers of thin-film amorphous silicon cells, in an all-stock deal. Algatec is planning to add five new production lines at its plant in Prosen, Germany at a cost of $50 million. [Source: StrategyEye Cleantech]

Mainstream Renewable Power inks $1 billion deal with Andes Energy — Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power and Chile’s Andes Energy have signed a deal worth $1 billion to develop wind farms in Chile with a total of 400 megawatts capacity. Back in August, Mainstream Renewable raised $60 million in a private equity round led by Barclays Capital. [Source: StrategyEye Cleantech]