Huadian Fuxin Energy eyes projects in Southeast Asia

State-backed Huadian Fuxin Energy Corporation, still weary of its near-miss acquisition experience in Britain due to the surprise Brexit vote result two years ago, is seeking out opportunities closer to home in Southeast Asia, according to its chairman.

“We are watching opportunities in nations covered by China’s belt and road initiatives, especially Southeast Asia,” said Huang Shaoxiong, chairman of Huadian Fuxin Energy, the clean energy unit of China Huadian Group. “We don’t have any specific target.”

He was referring to the more than 60 nations where Beijing is fostering closer economic partnerships through infrastructure investments. These investments help the host nations speed up economic development while letting China export its capital, engineering and project management expertise.

In 2014, Fuxin bought a 28 mega-watt wind farm in Spain from Gamesa, now part of the world’s largest wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.

The 28MW project generated 21.2 million yuan (US$3 million) of revenue in the first half of the year, 0.6 per cent of Fuxin’s total wind revenue.

“Its acquisition price worked out to be around 9.3 million yuan per MW which was quite favourable, and we made a return on equity in excess of 10 per cent,” said vice-president Sun Tao.