A 40% lift in profits from Australia saved International Power plc from a lacklustre year with profits of £1,157m ($US1,730.5m) — up 10%.The shining Australian assets were baseload Hazelwood Power (1675MW) and peaker Synergen (371MW) which, together with it other subsidiaries, brought in a local profit of £233m ($US348.4m).International Power's Australian operations total 3723MW of generating power comprising Canunda (wind) 46MW; Pelican Point (gas) 487MW; Synergen (gas) 371MW; Hazelwood (coal) 1675MW; Loy Yang B (coal) 1026MW; and Kwinana (gas) 58MW.It also has a retailer (Simple Energy) and a pipeline (SEA gas).Hazelwood, which had an unplanned boiler repair outage in 2008, delivered a good operational performance in 2009 with an achieved price of $A45 ($US49.58) up from $A43 ($US47.38) at a load factor of 80% (2008: 75%). ″For 2010, we have forward contracted 50% of our expected output (load factor 80%) at Hazelwood and expect to achieve an average price of $A43/MWh,″ the company reported.Profit from operations in North America decreased 24% to £134m compared to £177m ($US192.8m) last year (down 36% at constant currency).Financial performance was principally impacted by weak market conditions and a lower write back of provisions at Coleto Creek (632MW) relating to out-of-the-money power contracts that were in place when the asset was acquired.Profit from operations in Europe increased 8% to £629m ($US1036.6m) from £581m ($US957.5m) ~ up 7% reflecting an improved contribution from Rugeley (1000MW) in the UK, which had an extended outage in 2008, and a strong performance at Saltend, also in the UK.″Our contracted plants in Iberia and Turkey continued to operate well and delivered a consistent financial performance,″ the company said.Saltend (1200MW) performed strongly, achieving a spark spread of £25/MWh ($US41.20) which is a big improvement on 2008 at £17/MWh ($US28) at a load factor of 85%.The Middle East also improved with profits increasing 23% to £85m ($US140m), up from £69m. The region benefited from good overall operational performance and a first full-year contribution from the additional capacity at Ras Laffan B (1025MW).Profit from Asia also help bolster the til being up 23% at £128m ($US191.4m) driven by increased contributions from Uch (586MW) in Pakistan.International Power reports demand for power throughout Asia continues to grow strongly.New generation capacity is required, not only reflecting economic growth, but also the progressive expansion of distribution grids aimed at connecting more of the population to the power network.
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