Southern Company signs MOU with largest power generation company in China

Southern Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s largest power generation company, making it the third such agreement signed this year.

The MOU with the China Huaneng Group highlights continued international interest in 21st century coal technologies being deployed at the Kemper County energy facility.

“This memorandum of understanding is another sign that this technology could be applicable around the world,” Mississippi Power CEO Ed Holland said. “Coal will continue to be a major factor in energy production worldwide for decades, and there is a tremendous amount of interest in producing cleaner energy.”

In fact, over the last year, a growing number of international energy leaders and government officials have toured the Kemper facility. Those visitors include representatives from dozens of nations, including China, Japan, Norway the United Kingdom and the United Nations.

As the largest power generation company in China, the China Huaneng Group has more than 140,000 megawatts of installed capacity. Energy demands in China, India and other parts of Asia continue to grow. Companies in these regions can benefit from the use of low-rank coal, such as the lignite that will be used at Kemper. Low-rank coal constitutes half of the world’s coal reserves.

“The ability to efficiently generate power from low-rank coal is particularly attractive in places like China, where natural gas prices are much higher than in the U.S.,” said Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning. “This agreement with Huaneng reflects our company’s belief that the technology being deployed at Kemper could help meet the world’s energy needs.”

Earlier this year, the company signed similar agreements with the Shenhua Group and The Clean Energy Research Center, an affiliate of Huaneng.