State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC), responsible for introducing and developing the third-generation nuclear power technology in China, plans to list its shares in the second quarter of 2012, said company Chairman Wang Binghua.

SNPTC will adopt a three-pronged approach to list its shares, said Wang, who denied to tell where the float would be.

The company will increase its registered capital from 4 billion yuan to 10 billion yuan through a capital injection, and set up a financial services arm this year to enter the financial sector. Final preparation for the listing would be undertaken between 2011 and the first half of 2012, said Wang.

Set up in May 2007, SNPTC is responsible for using foreign advanced third-generation nuclear technology and developing it in China.

The company is currently building four third-generation nuclear power units in the country, with technology from US-based Westinghouse and French company Areva.

Among the four nuclear power reactors, two are in Sanmen in Zhejiang province and the remaining two are in Haiyang, Shandong province.

Compared with existing nuclear power units, the third-generation units are safer and have a longer life cycle.

Analysts said the listing plan of SNPTC is in line with the rapid development of China's nuclear power industry.

"The country's nuclear power industry has seen accelerated development in recent years, and domestic nuclear power companies can achieve their expansion plan through a public listing," said Han Xiaoping, chief information officer of domestic energy portal China5e.com.

Besides working on the four nuclear power units using foreign technology, SNPTC has also started its own development of advanced nuclear power technology, Wang told China Daily recently.

The company is now working with China Huaneng Group, one of the five major power generation companies in the country, to build a nuclear power project in Weihai, Shandong province.

It will use CAP1400, a technology based on the AP1000 technology developed by US company Westinghouse.

SNPTC is also working with partners to build China's first batch of inland nuclear power projects.

"They will use AP1000 technology," said Wang.

Many Chinese companies have started their listing plans for further expansion.

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group is planning to rope in new strategic investors as part of its plan to launch an IPO, a source familiar with the matter told China Daily earlier.

China plans to increase its nuclear power capacity to between 70 gigawatts (gW) and 80 gW in 2020, according to the National Energy Administration.

(China Daily May 25, 2010)