Huaneng Power to invest more in capacity expansion by 2010

Huaneng Power International Inc<600011><902>, China's largest listed power producer, will invest RMB 62.7 billion (US$8.9 billion) by the end of 2010 to expand capacity to meet the surging demand for electricity spurred by the booming economy.

RMB 34.1 billion is set to be spent this year, RMB 19.8 billion in 2009 and the residual for the year after that, sources cited Zhou Hui, chief accountant of the company, as saying. The company spent RMB 14.7 billion to expand its capacity last year.

The Beijing-based company said yesterday it will buy Tuas Power Ltd from parent China Huaneng Group to gain market share in Singapore. It currently runs 26 power plants nationwide.

Huaneng Power generated 173.7 billion kWh of electricity in 2007, up 13.2% from the previous year. Full-year net profit edged up only 1.5% year-on-year to RMB 6.16 billion in 2007 as rising coal costs eroded earnings.