Asia’s largest wind power generator China Longyuan Power Group will beat its earlier forecast of 1.77 billion yuan ($271 million) in net profit for the year, an executive said on Friday.
Longyuan, which is a unit of state-owned China Guodian, aims to achieve 11 gigawatts of installed wind power capacity by 2012, increasing to 18 gigawatts by 2015, its general manager Xie Changjun at a conference in Beijing.
The power firm will see construction of its South African wind power project start in the second quarter of 2011. Xie added that groundwork for projects in other countries including the United States, Hungary and Kazakhstan were under way and next year would see significant development in two to three overseas projects.
“This year’s projected (net profit) estimate was 1.77 billion yuan, but figures have (been) exceeded, so when we publish figures at the end of the year, there may be a surprise,” he said.
Longyuan’s profit growth was due mainly to an increase in land-based wind power generation, with geothermal power generation also seen as a contributing factor.
Construction of offshore wind farms will start next year, with Longyuan unlikely to then make new acquisitions in thermal power projects.
Longyuan listed in Hong Kong in December 2009, drawing keen interest from investors eyeing the fast-growing renewable energy sector, and attracting wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC), billionaire U.S. investor Wilbur Ross and China Life Insurance Group.
