The group's flagship Hong Kong-listed arm Huaneng Power International Inc posted revenue of 19.8 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in the first half of this year and its profit increased 29 per cent year-on-year to 2.17 billion yuan (US$271 million).

Although most of the newly constructed facilities will rely on coal as the primary fuel within the next four years, Huaneng has set an ambitious target to increase the proportion of renewable energy sources such as wind and hydro in its overall portfolio.

The company aims to use hydro and wind sources to produce 10-15 per cent of its energy by 2010, Hu Shihai, a senior Huaneng official, told China Daily.
"Most of the renewable sources will come from water, with a smaller percentage generated by wind farms," Hu said.

Its parent firm Huaneng Group, rather than its listed company, will be responsible for building the non-coal power plants, a company official said.

The renewable energy scheme is in line with government efforts to push the use of clean sources to meet its surging energy needs and aims to cut the firm's heavy reliance on coal, company officials said.

According to data from the State-owned company, Huaneng plans to build as many as eight hydro-power stations along the Lancang River in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Their total planned capacity will be 15.85 GW, some of which will come online by 2010, Hu told China Daily.

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