State Grid to boost overseas investment

State Grid Corporation of China, the world’s largest State-owned utility, plans to invest $30 to $50 billion in overseas assets until 2020.

Liu Zhenya, general manager of the State-owned power grid, said that by 2020 the company’s overseas assets will increase to 10 percent of the total from the current 2 percent.

The company’s overseas assets are now worth more than $8 billion, and their investment return is three to five times that of domestic projects.

State Grid has been seeking more investment opportunities abroad in recent years.

In November last year, it signed a $500 million deal to buy a 41 percent stake in South Australian electricity supplier ElectraNet. This was the first large-scale investment in an Australian utility by a Chinese company.

In February last year, it spent 387 million euros ($503.6 million) to buy 25 percent of Portugal’s national power grid REN - Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA.

As the investment platform of the company, State Grid International of China saw profits as high as of 3 billion yuan in 2011 and 2012.