France's EDF buys Chinese wind energy firm

State-owned French energy giant EDF said on Tuesday it had taken a controlling stake in Hong Kong-based Chinese firm UPC Asia Wind Management (AWM), adding to a range of activities in China.

EDF, which did not reveal what it had paid for the 80 percent stake in AWM, the local arm of UPC China, already has nuclear activities in China, as well as a presence in thermals and hydraulics.

US investment fund Global Environment Fund (GEF) will retain a 20 percent share of AWM, said EDF, which last year dubbed China the centre of gravity of the global energy industry.

The French firm, which highlighted its view of China as a priority growth market, is present in a swathe of Chinese cities, notably with a stake in a nuclear plant at Taishan in the south.

"Our ambition is to accelerate our production of low-carbon electricity, thanks to a diversified energy mix where nuclear and renewable energies are complementary," said EDF's CEO Jean-Bernard Levy.
"Our development in high potential markets such as China sit perfectly within this dynamic," he added in a statement.

China's recent high growth environment has seen energy consumption rise exponentially in recent years and carbon currently has a 70 percent share in the mix.

However, Beijing's "ambition is to reach 200 gigawatts of installed windpower capacity by 2020 -- a rise of 15 GW per year," said EDF.

By the end of 2014, China already had surpassed the United States as the country with the world's largest installed base of wind power at 100 GW.