Japan announces coal plant in China

Japan's Electric Power Development Co. announced plans for a coal plant in China. The firm said it will work with two Chinese power utilities to build the large-scale coal thermal power plant in the China's Jiangxi province, the Jiji Press English News Service reported.

The power plant will be equipped with two 660,000-kilowatt power generators with a thermal efficiency rate reportedly 40 percent higher than the average rate at Chinese power plants.

Construction, scheduled to begin in April of this year, is estimated at $760 million. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of February 2010.

The Japanese power company said it will hold a 10 percent stake in the operation and it's newly established wholly owned subsidiary in Beijing that will oversee its Chinese power generation operations.

The subsidiary, J-Power Consultant China, will open April 1, the firm said.