Decrease in demand results in 6.32% fall in electricity generated in H1
Ronnie Lim, Business Times 14 Aug 09;
TUAS Power - now owned by China's Huaneng Power International - generated 6.32 per cent less electricity in the first half of this year than in the same period last year, says Huaneng, China's biggest coal-fuelled power producer.
While Huaneng Power did not give reasons, Tuas Power's lower output of 4.72 billion kilowatt-hours in January-June clearly reflected a drop in demand sparked by the economic downturn. The power industry here is only just starting to see demand creep back up again.
The first-half slide in output at Singapore's third-largest generating company - which Huaneng bought for $4.235 billion from Temasek Holdings in March last year - mirrored that of its China operations.
Huaneng said that its power plants back home generated a total 86.1 billion kWh in January-June - a 5.84 per cent drop from H1 2008. It attributed this fall to the global slowdown and competition from new power plants.
Nevertheless, it chalked up an H1 net profit of 1.87 billion yuan (S$394.7 million) on a 9 per cent increase in revenue of 33.6 billion yuan.
Besides Tuas Power in Singapore, Huaneng wholly owns 17 power plants, has controlling interests in 13 power companies and minority interests in five power companies in China. This gives it a controlling generation capacity of 40,939 megawatts and a total generating capacity of 39,203 MW on an equity basis.
Huaneng is keen to pursue Tuas Power's plan - earlier approved by the Energy Market Authority - to build a $2 billion clean coal/biomass plant on Jurong Island.
Construction of the standalone 80 per cent clean coal, 20 per cent biomass plant was supposed to start this year, but it has been held back pending Tuas Power firming up customers for the project.
The genco's 'business development team is focused on developing the project as well as securing customers in Tembusu (sector of Jurong Island)', Tuas Power said in its latest annual report.
The project, which will include a 20 million gallons a day desalination plant and waste-water treatment facility, will produce mainly steam, at about 900 tonnes an hour.
