Huaneng Renewables Corporation, part of one of China’s top five state-owned energy majors, has raised 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in the largest capital infusion in the country’s green energy space in 2024.
A consortium of five state-affiliated investors participated in the round including China Reform Holdings Corporation; national postal services provider China Post Group Corporation; and financial and insurance group China Taiping Insurance Holdings, according to a company release on December 18.
National Green Development Fund (NGDF), China’s first dedicated national fund set up in 2020 to invest in green firms; and China Southern Power Grid, one of China’s duopoly state power grids and covers the country’s five southern provinces, were also part of the consortium.
The fresh proceeds will help Huaneng Renewables to speed up its green energy transformation, according to the release.
Set up in 2002, Huaneng Renewables Corporation, a subsidiary of state-owned electricity generation giant China Huaneng Group, specialises in the investment, operation, and construction of wind and solar power projects.
Huaneng Renewables, which went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2011, was taken private in March 2020. The privatisation deal was the largest ever by a Chinese state-owned enterprise from the Hong Kong bourse at the time.
Although Huaneng Renewables had raised HKD 12.1 billion since including its IPO in 2011, the firm was not able to raise additional capital in the equity market since its price-to-book ratio fell below 1 in August 2018. That made the public entity no longer a viable funding source for its business, the firm cited in its dated exchange filings.
