CONSOLIDATED Electric Power Asia (CEPA) is to get a special bonus of 'several hundred million' US dollars from the Guangdong government because its Shajiao 'C' project is expected to be completed ahead of schedule, says executive chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung. Shajiao 'C' is a power station with three standard 660 MW generating units at Shajiao. It is one of CEPA's many power plants in China and is required to be operational by June 30, 1996, under the joint-venture contract. Mr Wu said after the company's annual general meeting yesterday the project 'will be completed in the middle of next month'. It is in contrast to some analysts' prediction that the project would not be completed until early next year. 'We will receive several hundred million dollars from the government due to the early completion of the project,' Mr Wu said. The power station is owned by a co-operative joint venture established in the China under the name of Guangdong Guanghope Power Co, owned by the Guangdong government's Guangdong General Power Co and CEPA's subsidiary Hopewell Energy. However, the bonus is relatively small compared with its recent US$20 billion power project investments in Asia. The company recently announced a $20 billion investment plan into Asia's energy sector. It includes $12 billion in India's coal-fired power station project and a $6 billion power plant in Pakistan. The formal contract of the Pakistan project will be signed in about 60 days. Mr Wu said finance for the project would come from project bonds, bank loans and international agencies such as the Asia Development Bank, International Finance Corp and other friendly banks. 'We are working on it (the funding for the projects),' said Mr Wu. More ideas on the funding would be finalised in the next 'couple of months'. Despite the recent massive investments, Mr Wu stressed that the company had no plans to propose a cash call from the stock market. Apart from Asian region, the company is also undertaking a power station in Shenzhen, known as Shenzhen Eastern Power Station. Preliminary approval from the State Planning Committee of China has been received for the development of four standard 660 MW generating units. Mr Wu said negotiations on investment return of the project were ongoing. China recently proposed to cap returns on mainland's power project investments at 12 per cent for foreign investors, which is relatively low compared with the 18 per cent Mr Wu said he was offered by other Asian countries. 'The cap of 12 per cent return does not include the interest cost. If the interest rate is higher than 12 per cent, investors will lose money,' he said.
