Business news with words electricity+plans+power. 25 news.

INDUSTRIAL and consumer stocks lifted the Shanghai index today on speculation these companies will be most resistant to government plans to rein in economic growth and asset prices. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, inched up 0.62 percent, or 32.17 points, to 5,233.35 at 3pm today. Winners in the Shanghai market outnumbered losers 664 to 93 and 89 were unchanged. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, gained 1.65 percent, or 23.25 points, to 1,433.06. Datang Power, China's second-biggest electricity producer by market value, led the gain among industrial stocks today. Datang Power surged 8.55 percent, or 1.48 yuan (20 US cents), to 18.79 yuan, extending a six-day, 12 percent gain. Huaneng Power International Inc, the listed unit of China's largest power group, added 0.16 percent, or 1.1 yuan, to 15.01 yuan. Consumer companies also rose today as investors switched stocks

The US power company's venture marks the biggest move by a foreign company into India's electricity sector since the high-profile failure of Enron more than six years ago

Britain is planning to boost wind power generation to produce enough electricity to power every home in the nation by 2020 in a policy shift signalling less reliance on nuclear energy, the Independent on Sunday reported.

The New South Wales state government in Australia plans to privatise three electricity retail businesses and sell long-term leases for three power plants in moves that could spark a wave of deal activity next year

Plans to build around 7,000 wind turbines off the coast of Britain will be unveiled by the Government - delivering enough electricity for every home

Plans to liberalise Europe's energy markets are in disarray THE European Commission this week called for yet another scheme to promote energy liberalisation after opposition by France and Germany blocked two earlier proposals. In September the European Union's energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, offered two paths to a single European energy market. Integrated power companies could either unbundle their gas pipelines or electricity grids into separate companies, or keep them but run them at arm's length. The idea was to open the European market by making it easier for small energy companies to buy and sell power across Europe, with the hope this would lower prices. Independent network companies would be more likely to upgrade facilities by, for instance, improving cross-border links. ...

CHINA Guodian Corp plans to build a nuclear power plant in the country's southeast that will use Westinghouse technology, the major electricity generator has said. China Guodian plans several one-million-kilowatt reactors for the plant in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, according to a company statement. They will feature the US-based Westinghouse's AP1000 technology, the statement said. Westinghouse is owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp. A planning office for the new plant was set up on November 28, China Guodian said. China plans to spend 450 billion yuan (US$61 billion) on nuclear power plants during the 15 years through 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission has said.

SHANGHAI Electric Power Co, supplier of a third of the electricity in China's richest city, plans to sell bonds to raise 1.5 billion yuan (US$203 million) for a plant upgrade and a mine investment. The power producer will use 200 million yuan to revamp a coal-fired power plant and spend 400 million yuan on a coalmine, Shanghai Electric told the city's stock exchange yesterday. The rest of the funds will be used to settle bank loans.

Love them or hate them, Germany's two power giants keep the lights on IN AN apparent victory for the little man, the burghers of Ensdorf this week successfully blocked plans by RWE, a huge German power company, to build a spanking new coal-fired power station in their back yard. But those Saarland villagers have won an incomplete victory. Germany needs to add about 35,000 megawatts (MW) of new capacity by 2020, plus another 16,000MW if its nuclear plants are to be phased out by then, as planned. So new power stations will have to be built somewhere. RWE and E.ON, the other German power giant, are treading on eggshells these days. Their duopoly over electricity generation and distribution in Germany is under attack from almost every quarter: the European Commission, the Federal Cartel Office, the Federal Network Agency and, of course, consumers. People are livid that the two giants recently announced price rises of 7-10% for next year, despite record profits in the first three quarters and windfall gains from CO2 emission certificates that they were given free. ...

Google plans to invest in efforts to produce renewable electricity that is cheaper than power from coal-fired plants.

Oil and gas may be out of bounds, but the government is keen to attract investment in power generation RUSSIA may not seem like the most alluring destination for big Western energy firms at the moment. After all, government inspectors have a nasty habit of harassing big foreign investors, which have found themselves squeezed out of several lucrative projects in the country's oil and gas industry in recent years. Meanwhile, the authorities have methodically built up Gazprom, the state-controlled gas giant, into a national champion. Yet in the field of power generation, European firms are lining up to invest billions. Enel, Italy's former electricity monopoly, has purchased 37% of OGK-5, one of Russia's six wholesale power-generators, for 50 billion rubles ($1.9 billion). Last week it offered to buy the rest, which could cost it a further 98 billion rubles. E.ON, a big German utility, has bought 47% of another wholesaler, OGK-4, and plans to raise its stake to 70%. Fortum, a Finnish utility, owns a quarter of a regional generator, and is planning further investments. In fact, claims Anatoly Chubais, the head of UES, the former parent of all these generation companies, a host of foreign firms, such as Gaz de France and Korea Electric Power Corporation, want to get involved. ...

?lectricit? de France, the French electricity company that is Europe's largest power generator, plans further expansion outside the European Union to off-set an inevitable decline in its domestic market share

NTPC Ltd, India's biggest power producer, posted a 31-percent gain in the quarter ended September as sales were boosted by rising demand for electricity. Net income increased to 19.3 billion rupees (US$489 million) in the second quarter from 14.7 billion rupees a year earlier, the New Delhi-based company said in a statement to the National Stock Exchange on Saturday. That beat the 15.8 billion-rupee median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. India, which generates 128,182 megawatts of electricity, plans to set up eight large power projects, each producing more than 4,000 megawatts. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government plans to spend US$149 billion by 2012 to boost generation and upgrade transmission and distribution networks. "The prime minister has given a thrust to thermal power, and NTPC will be a beneficiary company," said R.K. Gupta, who manages US$75 million of stocks at Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi and holds stock in

A company which harnesses wave power to produce electricity has unveiled plans to float in London.

Indonesia's state electricity company is soon to sign contracts with nine independent power producers to build new plants to meet demand outside the main island of Java, a report said Sunday.

Taiwan Power Co., the island's biggest electricity producer, plans to sell NT$15 billion (US$461 million) of bonds next month to help fund the construction of power plants and upgrade grids. The utility is seeking a bank to guarantee NT$8 billion of 3 1/2-year notes and NT$7 billion of 5 1/2-year debt to be auctioned, Sam Lou, a section chief at the company's finance department, said by telephone today.

CLP Holdings Ltd, the larger of Hong Kong's two power producers, is considering bidding for Singapore's three biggest utilities being sold by Temasek Holdings Pte, said Group Director Stefan Robertsson. "Electricity is a growth industry in Asia, the industry dynamics are one of consolidation and privatization," Robertsson said in an interview yesterday in Singapore. "Given that we are interested in Asia-Pacific, it is an important opportunity for us." OneEnergy Ltd, a joint venture between CLP and Mitsubishi Corp, is expanding in Asia to take advantage of rising demand for electricity. Last month, CLP said it plans to buy two coal-fired electricity projects in India, Bloomberg News reported. Temasek, the Singapore government's investment company, announced in June it's reviving the plan to sell the island's three biggest generators after a six-year delay. The three utilities account for 90 percent of the island's electricity capacity. So far this year,

Toshiba Corp., Japan's biggest chipmaker, plans to overtake STMicroelectronics NV as the largest producer of semiconductors that control the flow of electricity, helped by increased output from a new factory.

GD Power Development Co plans to raise about 3.1 billion yuan (US$413 million) in a pubic share offering to fund expansion, the major Chinese electricity producer said yesterday. It priced the offer at 17.52 yuan apiece, or the average price over the past 20 trading days. It aims to raise no more than 3.1 billion yuan "in principle" in the share placement, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The utility will use the proceeds to acquire stakes in three power generating projects, including a hydro power project, from its state-owned parent, China Guodian Corp. These stakes are valued at around 3.1 billion yuan. The share offer was first announced in April when GD Power said it planned to issue no more than 400 million shares. At that time GD Power was quoted around 14 yuan but the stock has risen some 40 percent since then, meaning the final issuance amount could probably be short of 400 million shares based on the 3.1-billion-yuan fund-raising target. In yesterday's trading, GD Power opened higher at 21.77 yuan but closed at 19.23 yuan, down 2.83 percent. The statement was released before the market opened. If the funds to be raised exceed 3.1 billion yuan, the addition will be used to replenish working capital and repay bank loans. Everbright Securities said the share offer could pave the way for GD Power to buy more assets form its parent. Subscriptions for the shares will start tomorrow.

CHINA Southern Power Grid plans to begin work on the Nam Tha 1 hydroelectric project in Laos' northern Bokeo province early next year, Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported yesterday. Capitalized at 65.7 billion kip (US$340 million),the 168-MW power plant is scheduled to become operational by November 2011, the newspaper quoted Laos' Electricity Department as reporting. The electricity generated by the future plant will be used domestically and exported to neighboring countries. The Chinese power firm signed with the Lao government an agreement on the project last August, and conducted an engineering survey, a geological survey and an environmental and social impact assessment last November, the newspaper said.