Energy

China's Huaneng gets nod for Dalian wind power plant

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-18 16:03

China's largest electricity provider, Huaneng Power International said on Thursday it had won approval for the first phase of a wind power plant in the north of the country.

The company will invest 495 million yuan ($74.53 million) in the plant, Huaneng said in a statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange.

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Beijing-based Huaneng said the Dalian Municipal Development and Reform Commission had permitted initial construction of its Wafangdian plant, located in the port city of Dalian, but did not specify when construction would start.

The power company will contribute 20 percent of the investment from existing capital, with the rest coming from bank loans. Newly installed capacity of the first phase is 48 megawatts, Huaneng said.

Huaneng Power, a unit of China Huaneng Group, posted a decline in third-quarter net profit as higher coal prices eroded profit margins. Coal prices account for about 70-80 percent of production costs.

Additionally, Huaneng is more exposed to rising coal prices than its smaller peers Datang Power and Huadian Power since the firm has no producing coal mines apart from some 2.8 billion tons of coal reserves.