China nuke power giant unveils ambitions in Malaysia, Belt and Road countries

KUALA LUMPUR -- China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) has outlined its future plans which eyes on bringing benefits to the locals, after it secured clean energy assets in several Belt and Road countries including Malaysia.

The State-owned energy giant of China announced the setting-up of its Southeast Asian headquarters in Malaysia on Tuesday for further expansion and development in the region.

"In Malaysia, we will push for the implementation of the gas power projects in Malacca and the solar power project in East Malaysia," said CGN's president Zhang Shanming in a recent interview.

The latest announcement came after CGN completed its deal with Edra, which accounts for approximately 14 percent of the total generation capacity of Malaysia.

According to the share sale and purchase agreement pursuant inked in November after three rounds of international bidding, CGN acquired the underlying assets of Edra, including 13 clean energy projects scattered in Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bangladesh.

The deal was significant for CGN, said Zhang, as Edra's assets are in accordance with CGN's focus on clean energy and that the projects are in Belt and Road countries.

"The assets of Edra are of high quality and the projects are well operated," he said.

Cooperation in energy as an important aspect of the Belt and Road Initiative, which brings new opportunities to CGN, he said.

The deal saw CGN becoming the biggest foreign direct investor in Malaysia, and the largest independent power producer in Egypt and Bangladesh, respectively. The deal also brings the company's overseas installed capacity to 8.85 gigawatts.

CGN will expand into Southeast Asia and other Belt and Road countries with the supports of its regional hub and on Edra's projects, Zhang said.

On the other hand, as CGN is now the second largest independent power producer in Malaysia, providing stable power supply will be a top priority for the company, so is bringing more opportunities to the locals, he added.

"CGN will uphold its principle of Internationalization of Talent, Localization of Work Force so as to create more employment opportunities for people in Malaysia and other countries in which we operate, as well as boosting the relevant country's economic growth," Zhang said during CGN's debut in Malaysia on Tuesday.

After touring one of Edra's power plants in Malaysia, Zhang told Xinhua that he was impressed by its management team, which could boost CGN's overseas business and expansion.

For its part, CGN has its own advantage including in safety management, corporate governance and training system. "We will try to integrate in both culture and management to further improve our corporate governance," he said.

Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia's deputy finance minister, said earlier this week that his country would definitely benefit from the experience and expertise of CGN.

As one of China's state nuclear power giants, CGN has made significant investment in clean energy.

Before completing the acquisition of Edra, CGN has developed projects using solar, wind, biomass and natural gas as fuel all over the world, including in the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Britain, France and several other countries, the company said.

Over 8 million kilowatts of wind power capacity were installed, while the solar energy installed capacity has reached over 1.2 gigawatts.

With respect to nuclear power, the total installed capacity of operating projects and those under construction amounted to over 32.4 gigawatts.