HONG KONG, March 6 (Reuters) - CLP Holdings Ltd said it may write down part of the HK$9 billion ($1.15 billion) asset value of its Yallourn coal-fired power plant if a proposed carbon reduction scheme in Australia is implemented.
Analysts expect the impairment for CLP's 1,480 megawatt power plant to exceed A$650 million ($418 million). Yallourn is CLP's largest power asset outside Hong Kong, where it is based.
"It's possible that if the scheme is implemented as currently proposed, there will be some level of impairment on the Yallourn project," CLP chief executive officer Andrew Brandler told Reuters in an interview.
"When they do implement the scheme, there will be compensation to the heavily-hit coal fired projects, including Yallourn," Brandler added.
Analysts have said CLP's compensation from the Australian government to reach A$685 million over five yyears.
"The way it's going to work is we're going to write up the value of our gas projects, but write down the value of coal," Brandler said.
Australia has promised to introduce a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in July 2010 to help it cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 percent by 2020, but some big businesses have warned that the plan would force some industrial operations to move offshore.

(Reporting by Leonora Walet; Editing by Ken Wills)

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