Greening the world's power industry with strategic buys

Stakes in two clean energy projects in Brazil accelerate SPIC's expansion in other countries

Through its subsidiary in Brazil, State Power Investment Corp, one of China's top five power producers, has acquired a 33 percent stake each in two LNG-to-power projects－GNA I and GNA II－from Gas Natural Acu, a Brazilian joint venture between BP, Siemens and Prumo Logistica, in February.

Analysts said the move will help increase SPIC's overseas green generation capacity.

As an owner of 33 percent stake in the two projects, the company will advise on their operations and management strategies.

With a total installed capacity of 3 gigawatts, the two projects are the largest of their kind in Latin America.

Located in Port of Acu, Rio de Janeiro, GNA I has an installed capacity of 1.3 GW and will become operational in the first half of this year. With a capacity of 1.7 GW, GNA II will start operations in 2023.

The two projects will be able to supply energy to around 14 million households, SPIC said.

The company has also concluded the previously announced agreement to participate in potential future expansion projects GNA III and GNA IV.

The business expansion in Brazil is a long-term bet for SPIC that has already met its 2020 target of having more than 6 GW of overseas power generation capacity, said Wei Hanyang, a power market analyst at Bloomberg New Energy.

China's goal is to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. For its part, the State-owned enterprise had pledged to cap its domestic carbon emissions by 2023 itself, said Wei.

To that end, choosing renewable energy as the entry point is a wise move as it will further facilitate SPIC to contribute to global clean energy and the development of a low-carbon power industry, he said.

Its larger goal, SPIC said earlier, is to emerge as a world-class integrated energy group with a global footprint, driven by innovation of nuclear power and other advanced energy technologies, with focus on clean energy development.

The world's largest investor in solar power plants, SPIC also sees its clean energy accounting for a big proportion of its overseas business, mostly through hydropower projects.