Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development

{{#badges: CoalVictoria|Navbar-Victoriaandcoal}}Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development (SEAPED) is an Australian registered company which is a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric Power & Energy Development with the ultimate owner being the China Power Investment Corporation, one of the largest state-owned Chinese power companies.

An April 2014 research note by JP Morgan described itself as "bearish" on the outlook for the broad Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Electric Group. "Our bearish view on Shanghai Electric rests on the expected weak demand for coal-fired equipment as China: 1) relies less and less on coal due to pollution concerns, and 2) has slower power demand growth going forward as the nation shifts away from an FAI [fixed asset investment] growth model."

Corporate history

Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development was registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) on November 16, 2012.

Four of the five company directors reside in China with the fifth, Sydney resident Allan Farrar, being the company secretary. As a newly registered company, limited financial information has been made publicly available.

Share structure

Initial share structure

At the Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development stated in a filing with ASIC that 1 million shares in the company have been issued but, as of September 5, 2013, none have been paid for. The company’s filing with ASIC states that the unpaid amount for the shares is $1 million.

Of the initial 1 million shares, 95% were allocated to Shanghai Electric Power & Energy Development, the direct parent company, with the remaining five per cent (50,000 shares) allocated to the Shanghai Pacific Power Pty Ltd, a company registered in Australia in October 2010. Shanghai Pacific Power is a small Australian registered company with 9,000 $1 shares issued with 51% owned by Allan Farrar, who is also company secretary of Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development.

In its application for registration as an Australian company, Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development states that its ultimate holding company is China Power Investment Corporation.

Additional shares

On April 23 2014 Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development issued a further 2,632,685 $1 shares to Shanghai Electric Power & Energy Development. The filing with ASIC stated that these shares, along with the 950,000 which the company previously owned, had all been fully paid for.

Bidding for Victorian brown coal development grants

In August 2013 The Age revealed that Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development was one of three companies which are leading contenders for funding under the $90 million federal and Victorian government Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program. It was reported that the company is proposing the construction of a $250 million demonstration plant in the Latrobe Valley "to process 3 million tonnes of brown coal a year using technology it claims improves its quality and also makes briquettes. There are suggestions the coal could then be exported to China, initially out of Geelong."

$25 million grant to SEAPED

On June 16 the Federal Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane and the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Russell Northe announced that $25 million had been awarded to SEAPED “for the development of a $119 million demonstration plant at the AGL-owned Loy Yang A Power Station in the Latrobe Valley.

The Ministers stated that the funding was for “building and operating a pre-commercial briquetting plant and cogeneration unit”, “production of briquettes for export to China to fuel a power station in Shanghai” and “if demonstration is successful, a commercial-scale plant could potentially supply Latrobe Valley generators.” North stated that SEAPED estimates that the trial expect to create “up to” 40 jobs during operation and 100 during construction.

It was reported in The Age that the SEAPED is proposing to process one million tonnes of coal a year into 580,000 tonnes of briquettes.

According to Northe, the transportation of the briquettes to port for export would be addressed in a transport plan for the project. However, an earlier transport plan indicated that industry proposed briquettes initially be trucked to either Geelong or the port of Melbourne for export. A full scale project would require the construction of a new port, most likely at 90 Mile Beach in Gippsland.

"These plans will be hard fought by environmentalists and local communities who would be impacted by new mines, ports and transport infrastructure," said Mark Wakeham, the CEO of Environment Victoria. (See SEAPED briquette and power plant for more details).

Directors

The following directors were appointed at the founding of the company in mid-November 2012.

• E. Li, Shanghai, China;
• Jian Shang, Shanghai, China;
• Huiqin Yao, Shanghai, China;
• Jianping Hua, Shanghai, China;
• Allan Farrar, St Ives, NSW.

Timeline

• November 16, 2012: Application to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission for registration as a company.
• July 24, 2013: Application to ASIC for "audit relief under class order - large proprietary company".
• August 26, 2013:

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Researching coal in Victoria
• Victoria and coal

• Australia and coal
• Carbon Capture and Storage
• Carbon Capture and Storage in Australia
• New South Wales and coal
• Queensland and coal

External resources

• Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development, "Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development Application for Registration as a Proprietary Company", Australian Securities & Investment Commission, as November 16, 2012.
• "Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development Current & Historical Company Extract", Australian Securities & Investment Commission, as of September 5, 2013.
• Shanghai Electric Australia Power & Energy Development, "Change to company details", April 23, 2014.