CLP buys 17% stake in operator of Yangjiang plant

Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Limited has won a bid to acquire a 17% stake in Yangjiang Nuclear Power Company Limited from China General Nuclear. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2017.

Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Limited has won a bid to acquire a 17% stake in Yangjiang Nuclear Power Company Limited from China General Nuclear (CGN). The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2017.

The six-unit Yangjiang plant (Image: Yangjiang Nuclear)

CGN announced on 7 October it planned to sell the stake in its non-wholly owned subsidiary - which owns and operates the six-unit Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province - through a public tender process, due to end on 2 November. CLP announced on 31 October it had submitted a bid to buy the stake.

In a statement today to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CLP said it entered into a conditional equity transfer agreement with CGN to acquire the 17% stake in Yangjiang Nuclear. Yangjiang Nuclear is currently 46% owned by CGN Power, 30% owned by CGN Power subsidiary GNIC, 7% by CGN Power associate company CGN Industry Investment Fund Phase I, and 17% by Guangdong Yudean Group. CLP said its successful bid price for the 17% stake - comprising 12% held by CGN Power and 5% by GNIC - was CNY 5 billion ($726 million).

CLP said completion of the transaction is subject to various conditions, including approvals of Chinese regulators. Although the latest date for completion under the equity transfer agreement is the end of 2017, CLP said the companies are aiming for the first half of next year.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site. The first four units are 1080 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, with units 5 and 6 being ACPR-1000s. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in March 2015, with units 2 and 3 following in June 2015 and January 2016, respectively. All six reactors should be in operation by 2019.

CLP said it expects to invest some CNY 7 billion - including the CNY 5 billion bid price - in Yangjiang Nuclear until all six units at the Yangjiang plant have been commissioned.

"This is a valuable opportunity for us to invest in cost-efficient, non-carbon emitting generation while further enhancing our presence in Guangdong Province of Mainland China, being a key strategic market for CLP," said CLP Holdings CEO Richard Lancaster. He added, "Our investment underscores CLP's confidence in the important role of nuclear power in China's transition towards a low-carbon economy."

CLP originally agreed in July 2010 to take a 17% stake in Yangjiang - the equivalent of one reactor - but negotiations were halted in September 2013 following delays in China’s post-Fukushima nuclear safety review.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News