CLP Power plans to enter transmission

CLP Power India Private Ltd plans to enter power transmission, ultra-mega power projects (UMPPs) and new coal-fired thermal power projects in India by bidding for these in the next few months, a senior company official said..The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed China Light and Power (CLP).

CLP India, one of the largest foreign investors in the Indian power sector with investments of Rs 9,700 crore so far, will bid for a UMPP this year, Mr Naveen Munjal, Director, Business Development, told.He, however, declined to identify the project. Asked about the funding for these projects, he said the company could also consider tapping the capital market through an IPO.

“We are keen to enter the transmission segment and had bid for a project in 2006-07. We would again be bidding for similar projects and also for new coal-fired thermal power projects, preferably in a coastal State, if we get the requisite coal linkages,” he said. The company is looking at mine-mouth projects as well.

Mr Munjal said CLP India is also keen to expand its Bharuch project to 1,200 MW as soon as it gets an enhanced natural gas allotment. At present, the company owns and operates a 655-MW gas-fired individual power project (IPP) through Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation (GPEC), acquired from Power Plc, UK, in 2002, in Bharuch district. This combined cycle plant runs on duel fuels – natural gas as primary and naphtha as secondary fuel. It has 3x135 gas turbines and 1x250 MW steam turbine.

CLP India has a diversified and climate-friendly energy generation portfolio that covers renewable energy, supercritical coal-fired, and gas-fired generation, amounting to nearly 2,421 MW. It includes a 1,320-MW coal-fired power plant at Jhajjar in Haryana, due to be commissioned in May 2012. Mr Munjal said the CLP Group is committed to developing 20 per cent of generating capacity by 2020 from non-carbon emitting energy sources such as renewable energy and nuclear power.

CLP is investing in renewable energy projects in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on wind, small hydro and biomass, with an emphasis on India, China and Australia.In India, CLP is also the largest foreign investor in the wind-power sector with a combined capacity of 446 MW in various projects.

Plans ahead

The company plans to bid for coal-fired thermal projects in coastal States
It is also keen to expand its Bharuch project to 1,200 MW