— Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea's biggest electricity producer, and China Datang Corp. will invest in a $150 million wind-power project in China to expand in Asia's fastest-growing energy market.
Korea Electric will take a 40 percent stake and will initially spend $20 million, the Seoul-based company said in a statement today. China Datang, the parent of Datang International Power Generation Co., the biggest Chinese electricity producer listed in Hong Kong, will own the rest.
China, the world's second-largest energy user, is turning to alternative energy to ease its reliance on coal, which generates almost 80 percent of the nation's electricity. The country plans to be the world's biggest wind power producer in five years as it seeks to cut pollution, Zhou Xi'an, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission, said in June.
The joint venture consists of a 50-megawatt plant in east China's Neimenggu province and a 49.5-megawatt unit in northwestern Gansu province, according to Korea Electric.
The facilities will generate profits of about $1.5 million by selling emission credits to developed countries, Korea Electric said, without giving a time frame. Polluters in industrialized countries may buy credits from projects in developing nations that reduce the potential level of emissions. The mechanism is controlled by a UN secretariat.
The venture will raise $100 million from bank loans, it said. Construction for the plants will be completed by the end of this year.
