China Three Gorges Corporation plans to participate in the construction of the Kubuqi Desert new energy base project with a total investment of nearly 80 billion yuan. The company became the leading new energy operator in the A-share market after going public in 2021 and invested more than 40 billion yuan in the construction of three offshore wind power projects in the same year.
On June 27th, Caixin reported that Three Gorges Energy (600905.SH), whose total market value exceeded 120 billion yuan, has made another large-scale investment and plans to participate in the construction of the Kumbqi Desert New Energy base, with a dynamic investment amount of nearly 80 billion yuan.
In a press release on June 27th, Three Gorges Energy announced that the Inner Mongolian Kubi Desert Erdos North New Energy base, which the company plans to invest in and build, is an integrated export project for wind, light, and heat, located in Dalat Banner, Erdos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It will build 8 million kilowatts of photovoltaics, 4 million kilowatts of wind power, 200,000 kilowatts of solar thermal power, supporting 4 million kilowatts of coal-fired power and 5 million kilowatt-hours of new energy storage.
According to the investment plan, the dynamic investment amount of the Kubi base project is 79.792 billion yuan, and the project capital accounts for 20% of the investment amount, or 15.959 billion yuan, to be contributed by the project company's shareholders according to their respective shareholding ratios. The remaining funds needed for the project will be raised through bank loans, financing leases and other methods.
The investment main body of the project is Inner Mongolia Three Gorges Energy Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd., whose shareholders are Three Gorges Onshore New Energy Investment Co., Ltd., and Inner Mongolia Energy Group Co., Ltd., with shareholding ratios of 56% and 44% respectively. Based on the project capital of 15.959 billion yuan, Three Gorges Onshore New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. is required to contribute 8.937 billion yuan according to its shareholding ratio. Three Gorges Onshore New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Three Gorges Energy, and Three Gorges Energy holds 34% of its equity.
In terms of funding, according to the Q1 financial report, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, Three Gorges Energy had monetary funds of 6.584 billion yuan and accounts receivable of 40.077 billion yuan. At the same time, the company had short-term borrowings of 1.616 billion yuan and long-term borrowings of 140.788 billion yuan. As of the end of 2023, the company's total consolidated assets were 311.708 billion yuan.
As one of the leading new energy operators in the A-share market, Three Gorges Energy has not made its first billion-yuan investment. On June 10, 2021, Three Gorges Energy was officially listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange main board and raised 22.713 billion yuan in its initial public offering. Later that year, the company invested over 40 billion yuan in the construction of three large-scale offshore wind power projects.
In a press release issued earlier this month, Three Gorges Energy said it expects to raise no more than 79.1 billion yuan in external financing in 2024: no more than 14 billion yuan in equity financing and no more than 65.1 billion yuan in debt financing. The funds raised will be used mainly for onshore wind power, photovoltaic projects, offshore wind power, Shago wasteland base investment, industry chain investment, R&D expenditures, technology transformation and upgrading. In 2024, the company plans to increase its investment by 54.534 billion yuan and strive to reach a new installed capacity of no less than 5 million kilowatts.
During the construction period, the company said the Kubi base's coal-fired power project is scheduled to commence construction in September 2024 and is expected to be fully interconnected and generate electricity in June 2027. The construction progress of wind power, photovoltaic, solar thermal, and energy storage projects will be adjusted in a timely manner according to the progress of coal-fired power and export channels.
According to Three Gorges Energy's investor relations department, the construction period of the power generation project is related to factors such as project type, scale, and construction conditions. The average construction period for conventional onshore wind power and photovoltaic power generation projects is 6-24 months, while that for pumped storage projects is usually 6-8 years.