Macau, China, 23 May – Macau power company Companhia de Electricidade de Macau, in 2007 posted a profit of 433.1 million patacas (US$54.13 million), an increase of 9.2 percent on the 396.6 million patacas profit posted in 2006, the company said.

CEM also invested around 900 million patacas in the year, which is double its net profit.

Of the 900 million patacas invested by CEM, 74 percent were spent on improving the company’s transmission network and other investments in order to improve the company’s environmental performance.

CEM, which for 2008 expects to invest some 1 billion patacas, imports power from China to Macau representing 70 percent of the territory’s consumption.

CEM’s projects for 2008 include a fourth link to Guangdong province, which will make its possible to double the current electricity import capacity.

This year the start of natural gas supplies to Macau is also expecetd, a project being implemented by Sinosky Energy, a consortium made up of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation and Companhia de Gas Natural de Macau, Limitada (Sinopec/Gás Natural de Macau) which was granted a 15 year contract for importing and transport of natural gas to Macau.

Over 80 percent of the capital of CEM belongs to two groups with interests in China, Portugal, France and Hong Kong.

The Chinese-French group mainly made up of Suez and NWS Holdings Limited owned 42 percent of the capital and Chinese-Portuguese group, in which Portugal’s EDP has a majority stake, also has 42 percent.

The Government of the special administrative region of Macau (SARM) has 8 percent of the company’s capital, China Power International Holding Ltd has 6 percent and the remaining 2 percent are in the hands of 800 local shareholders. (macauhub)