China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) announced the setting-up of its Southeast Asian headquarters in Malaysia on Tuesday, following its successful takeover of clean energy assets in the country.
Zhang Shanming, CGN's president, said CGN Southeast Asia will enhance the development and investment of clean energy in the region.
The latest announcement came after CGN and Edra, which accounts for approximately 14 percent of the total generation capacity of Malaysia, signed a share sale and purchase agreement pursuant in November.
The deal saw CGN acquiring the underlying assets of Edra, including 13 clean energy projects scattered in Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bangladesh, after the three rounds of international bidding.
The deal was completed in March, leading CGN to become the biggest foreign direct investor in Malaysia, and the largest independent power producer in Egypt and Bangladesh, respectively. The deal also brings the company's overseas installed capacity to 8.85 gigawatts.
"CGN will uphold its principle of Internationalization of Talent, Localization of Work Force so as to create more employment opportunities for people in Malaysia and other countries in which we operate, as well as boosting the relevant country's economic growth," Zhang said.
Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia's deputy finance minister, said his country would definitely benefit from the experience and the expertise of CGN.
As one of China's state nuclear power giants, CGN has significant investment in clean energy.
Before completing the acquisition of Edra, CGN has developed projects using solar, wind, biomass and natural gas as fuel all over the world, including in the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Britain, France and several other countries, the company said.
Over 8 million kilowatts of wind power capacity were installed, while the solar energy installed capacity has reached over 1.2 gigawatts.
With respect to nuclear power, the total installed capacity of operating projects and those under construction amounted to over 32.4 gigawatts.
