India, China to co-develop Indonesian energy projects

India’s Reliance Power Ltd and China Datang Corporation have entered into a strategic partnership to develop and operate power and energy projects in Indonesia.

The partners intend to develop Reliance’s three coal mines in Indonesia and maintain and operate power plants in India and other markets.

“The strategic partnership provides us a platform to expand into emerging markets like India and Indonesia, which hold enormous business opportunities,” China Datang said in the statement.

State-run China Datang has an installed generation capacity of 105,896 megawatts, or more than half of India’s current generation capacity.

The deal is the latest in a series between Reliance Power and agrowing number of Chinese energy companies. Reliance Power last month secured US$1.1 billion in financing from three Chinese banks for a project in central India.

It also signed a preliminary deal with wind turbine maker China Ming Yang to develop a large portfolio of clean energy projects in India. In October 2010, Reliance Power ordered US$8.3 billion in equipment and services from Shanghai Electric Group, one of China’s biggest power equipment suppliers.

The Indonesian government aims to secure US$400 billion in private and public investments in its power sector over the next five years.