Guangdong Electric Power Development is applying for permission from provincial authorities to lower this year's electricity output at the first phase of its Zhanjiang power plant.
General manager Su Deju would not give the level it was aiming at but said the measure would cushion it against future mechanical instability in the two new generators, each with 300,000-kilowatt installed capacity.
Mechanical problems at the first generator of the plant, which is 52 per cent owned by Guangdong Electric, had contributed in part to the company's failure to meet the profit forecast last year.
Profit contribution from the plant was reduced to just 37.3 per cent of forecast.
This year, the Zhanjiang plant is projected to produce 4,500 annual utilisation hours, or 2.7 billion kWh in output terms.
Analysts say a lower level of utilisation hours at the plant will have to be mitigated by the same margin of tariff increase, if the firm is to meet the guarantee of 17.5 per cent return on equity investment.
There are no promises, however, that tariff increases will be approved by Guangdong Commodity Price Bureau and other relevant authorities.
