Southern Company unit Southern Energy Inc., through its Consolidated Electric Power Asia subsidiary, has taken a 9.99 percent stake in Shandong International Power Development Company through the purchase of shares listed today on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Southern Energy bought 509.5 million (39.6 percent) of the 1.275 billion shares offered in Shandong International’s initial public offering today for approximately $104 million. Shandong International is southeast of Beijing in Shandong Province, and has an installed capacity of 3,625 megawatts.

“Shandong International is a low-cost producer and well-placed for future competition in the province and in China,” said Frederick D. Kuester, managing director and chief executive officer of Consolidated Electric Power Asia (CEPA). “The strategic investment creates an opportunity for CEPA to work with a strong partner in China’s evolving private-sector power market.”

The coastal province of Shandong has a population of 87 million and more than 17,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, making it the second-largest independent power grid in China.

Shandong International currently owns two 600-megawatt power generating units, five 125-megawatt units and six 300-megawatt units in the province. Through planned acquisitions and development of new power plants, Shandong International will become Shandong’s largest power producer with projected installed capacity reaching 5,200 megawatts by the end of 2003.

Southern Energy Inc. develops, builds, owns and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of services to utilities and industrial companies around the world. Southern Energy supplies electricity in 10 countries on four continents.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO), the largest producer of electricity in the United States, is also the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric.