China Huadian Corp., one of the country's five leading power producers, said it will invest more than 50 billion yuan (US$7.31 billion) in an integrated energy complex in the Caofeidian industrial area in Tangshan, Hebei province.

Huadian signed a framework agreement with the local government on October 30 to that effect, the company said in a statement on its website.

According to the agreement, the energy complex will include a coal terminal at Caofeidian, a large-scale coal-fired power plant, equipment-manufacturing facilities and a coal chemical project.

Upon completion, the complex will have an annual output value of 20 to 30 billion yuan, with profits and tax of 3 to 4 billion yuan, according to the statement.

The new terminal will increase annual coal shipping capacity by 30 to 50 million tons.

With four 1,000 mW ultra supercritical units and other facilities, the energy complex will also establish an industrial chain that combines power generating, seawater desalinization, sulfur dioxide scrubbing and utilization of coal ashes, to boost an environmentally friendly economy.

The coal chemical project itself is expected to produce 4 million tons of methanol and its derivatives.

Caofeidian, located 80 km from downtown Tangshan, is an islet that has been turned into a booming economic development zone.

Huadian unveiled a similar energy base at Beihai in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in August, which comprises of coal docks, thermal power plants, coal chemical projects and wind power generating facilities.

Construction of the energy complex will help to relieve the pressure of coal transportation and boost the integration of coal and power generating.

Huadian Power International, the company's Hong Kong-listed arm, swung to a net loss of 874.09 million yuan in the third quarter from a profit of 354.8 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher coal prices.

For the first nine months of the year, the listed unit booked a net loss of 1.37 billion yuan, against a profit of 984.4 million yuan a year earlier.

Huadian's coal demand for power generation next year is expected to reach 160 million tons, up 23 percent from this year, Shanghai Securities News reported earlier.

(China Daily November 4, 2008)