China’s Guodian Corporation is looking for energy partners in Brazil and Argentina to build wind turbines and solar panels as it seeks to generate power in Latin America, an executive at the company said on Monday.
Guodian is one of China’s five major state-run power generation companies. It is increasingly targeting projects in countries such as Brazil, where China has overtaken the United States as the number-one trade partner.
“We are doing very initial feasibility studies, and we’re looking for partners who can provide us with data that could save us a lot of time,” Zhang Binquan, vice president at Guodian Technology and Environment Group, told Reuters.
He did not say how many solar panels or wind turbines might be commissioned, or the value of any potential deal.
“For the turbines, it depends on the quality of wind there, but we’re talking about 50 megawatt units. Big things, more than 60 meters (197 feet) tall,” Binquan said, speaking on the sidelines of a Latin American energy conference in La Jolla.
Guodian has invested some $3 billion a year over the last couple of years in expanding its wind power sector, or about a third of its annual investment.
For years, China boosted growth in commodity producers such as Brazil and Argentina with its huge demand for raw materials. More recently, it has pushed investments and state-backed loans aimed at expanding its access to those commodities while tapping demand from Latin America’s growing consumer base.
Binquan said his unit, the Guodian Technology and Environment Group, was still eyeing an initial public offering in the near future, but gave no more details.
Saddled with large debts and high fuel prices, China’s five major state-run power firms are reportedly aiming to tap the market to fund renewable energy projects.
