Update | Hong Kong power utility CLP on course to reach renewable energy goal

CLP Holdings, the larger of Hong Kong’s two power companies, says is on track to raise its generation capacity from renewable energy sources to 20 per cent by 2020 from 17 per cent this year, as it posts an interim profit slightly ahead of estimates.

The company will continue to expand its solar and wind power investments in mainland China and India, which are highly competitive markets but offer good long-term growth potential, according to chief executive Richard Lancaster.

“We are on track to achieve that [2020 target]... renewables are an important element of our strategy,” he told reporters.

CLP set the renewable energy capacity goal mid-2010, during which it also targeted to have at least 30 per cent of its generating capacity fuelled by non-carbon-emitting sources that includes nuclear energy, up from 21 per cent currently and 12 per cent in 2007.

The targets were part of its “Climate Vision 2050”, by which year it aims to slash its carbon dioxide emission per unit of power output to just a quarter the level in 2010.

Chairman Michael Kadoorie said in an interim results filing to Hong Kong’s bourse that CLP has a portfolio of more than three gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy plants, of which 0.3 GW were solar and the rest wind and hydro plants. It has 1.1 GW of renewable plants in India alone.