China General Nuclear Power to buy stakes in UK wind farms

China General Nuclear Power intends to purchase stakes in the UK wind farms from Electricite de France.

The firm will acquire 80% stake in the wind projects located close to York, Newcastle and Peterborough for $157m, reports the Financial Times, citing people close to the matter.

The remaining 20% stake will be retained by EDF.

Following the transaction, EDF will continue to operate the turbines.

This deal marks China General Nuclear Power Corp’s foray into the renewable-energy market of Europe.

This deal may help the negotiations involved in construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear project, which will be constructed by EDF by 2023.

At the end of August 2014, CGNP, which is China’s biggest nuclear power generator, operated 5GW of wind farms besides 500MW of solar power capacity and 1.47GW of hydro power.

The power unit began trading last week after it sold 8.83 billion shares, with each share priced at HK$2.78. This is claimed to be Hong Kong’s biggest IPO in two years.