Several state-owned enterprises have recently put their renewable energy assets, such as photovoltaic power plants and wind farms, up for sale. Industry experts point out that with rising technical costs, these new energy projects are no longer able to deliver the promised returns.
According to a report from the “Daily Economic News” on November 19th, China General Nuclear Power Corporation Wind Power Co., Ltd. (CGN Wind Power) intends to sell 45% of the equity of China General Nuclear New Energy (Huizhou) Co., Ltd. at a base price of 1.881 billion yuan, as well as 45% of the equity of China General Nuclear Power Shanwei New Energy Co., Ltd. at a base price of 1.845 billion yuan. In addition, Beijing Zhonghe Zero Carbon Energy Co., Ltd. (Zhonghe Zero Carbon) has recently listed 10 photovoltaic and energy storage projects for transfer. These selling enterprises all have state-owned enterprise backgrounds.
According to Tianyancha, the largest shareholder of CGN Wind Power is China General Nuclear Group Limited. In addition to the above projects, on November 13th, CGN Wind Power also planned to sell 49% of the equity of China General Nuclear New Energy (Xiangshan) Co., Ltd. at a base price of 495 million yuan.
Companies under China Orient Electric Group are also getting rid of loss-making assets. On November 12th, Orient Electric Wind Power Co., Ltd. intends to sell 51% of the equity of Mulei Dongxin New Energy Co., Ltd. at a base price of 929 million yuan. From the beginning of 2024 to October 31st, the operating income of Mulei Dongxin New Energy Co., Ltd. was 0 yuan, and the net profit was -548,700 yuan.
Furthermore, the projects Zhonghe Zero Carbon plans to sell include the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone Integrated Smart Energy Project, the Jintang County Rooftop Distributed Photovoltaic Project, the Wenshan City Rooftop Distributed Photovoltaic Project, the Lujiaqin Lao Ban Mountain Photovoltaic Project, the Changxing Yunyi Energy Storage Project, the Haining Yunyi Energy Storage Project, the Fumin County Rooftop Distributed Photovoltaic Project, the Yimen Dini Zhang Half Mountain Photovoltaic Project, the Songming County Model House Project, and the Lufeng City Qinfeng Town, Tuguan Town, and Caiyun Town Distributed Photovoltaic Projects. Most of the projects Zhonghe Zero Carbon plans to sell are distributed photovoltaic projects.
According to Tianyancha, Zhonghe Zero Carbon is wholly owned by Yunnan International Power Investment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation.
Regarding the reasons for the frequent selling of new energy assets by state-owned enterprises, TrendForce analyst Zhang Rujing analyzed in the “Daily Economic News”, “As the installed capacity of new energy continues to grow, pressure on power grid absorption has increased. Although the investment costs of new energy projects have decreased, non-technical costs have risen, leading to new energy projects failing to achieve the promised returns. In addition, policy subsidies are gradually being phased out, posing challenges to projects that rely on subsidies.”