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Huaneng banks on development of clean energy
By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-09 10:39

Coal business

Coal-fired power plants account for most of Huaneng's business. And to cope with the rising prices of raw material, the company is increasing its share of the coal mining business.

This March Huaneng signed an agreement with Gansu province to expand co-operation in the energy field. Under the agreement Huaneng will invest over 60 billion yuan to develop coal, power, railway and chemical projects in the province.

In 2007 the company set up Huaneng Hulunbeir Energy Co. Located in eastern Inner Mongolia, the company has annual coal production capacity of 16.78 million tons.

Huaneng is eyeing abundant coal reserves in west China to increase its production. The company plans to take part in some coal projects in Shaanxi, Ningxia and Xinjiang, sources with the company said earlier.

The company is also considering some investments in overseas coalmines, such as in Australia, said sources.

Huaneng plans to increase its coal production from 17 million tons in 2007 to 45 million tons in 2007. By that year the company's coal output can satisfy 20 percent of its overall consumption, says Hu Shihai, assistant to the president of Huaneng.

Going overseas

Overseas development is also a strategy Huaneng uses to improve its competency. In 2003 Huaneng paid $227 million to buy 50 percent stake of OzGen in Australia, which was the first time for a Chinese power company to tap into foreign power market.

By the end of 2007 it had realized a $47 million profit from the project, says the company.

"Going overseas, we will not only get assets with good quality, we can also learn new technologies and management techniques," says Li Xiaopeng.

In March the company bought Singapore's Tuas Power Ltd for S$4.24 billion ($3 billion) from Temasek Holdings, an Asia investment house headquartered in Singapore.

With it, Huaneng will have the 2,670 mW electricity-generating capacity of Tuas. This accounts for over 25 percent of the power manufacturing market share in Singapore, the company says.


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