Datang to build low-emission power project

Datang International Power (0991), the mainland's second-largest listed electricity producer, plans to invest 18 billion yuan (HK$18.57 billion) to develop an integrated gasification combined cycle plant in Shenyang, northeastern Liaoning province. The technology promises low emissions.
The project, which can simultaneously produce electricity, heat, steam, methanol and other chemical by-products, will be the largest power-related undertaking in the city, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

The project will be located in the Chemical Industry Park of Xihe Economy Zone in Shenyang, covering an area of four square kilometers in the first stage.

It is scheduled to become operational by the fourth quarter of 2009.

Four power generators with a capacity of 400 megawatts each are to be installed. The first stage of the project can provide 1,100 tonnes of steam per hour, supplying heat energy for the chemical park.

Also, it will provide electricity to the power grid in Liaoning to help relieve the increasing demand for electricity.

Steam output will be supplied to the nearby Shenyang Rubber Industrial Park and Northeast Pharmaceutical Group, while methanol and other chemical products are to be supplied to various gas enterprises.

Mainland media reported that Datang had signed some supply agreements with various enterprises.

The latest technology can help save 250,000 tonnes of coal consumption annually, compared with power plants of the same capacity.

Meanwhile, efficiency of desulfurization during gas production stands above 99 percent and emission of sulfur dioxide from burning coal gas is reduced to a level comparable to using natural gas for electricity production, in line with government initiatives for low emissions, according to the company.

Shares of Datang closed yesterday at HK$5.78, down slightly by 0.52 percent. The stock has climbed 40.5 percent since the beginning of this year.