Marubeni's unit in Asia

Marubeni's unit in Asia

TOKYO (AFP): Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. has formed a subsidiary to plan and coordinate the construction of electric power generation plants in Asia, company officials said yesterday.

Marubeni Asian Power Ltd., capitalized at 65 million yen (US$650,000), is to cooperate with contractors and power companies in building power plants in China, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian nations.

The officials said the move was aimed at meeting growing demand for electricity in the region, where many countries were easing regulations for the power generation industry.

The new firm has already started a $200 million project to build a power plant in northern Leyte in the Philippines with U.S. electricity company California Energy Co. Inc.

The plant, with output of 180,000 kilowatts, is due to be complete by 1997, they said.