FRENCH energy group Areva announced yesterday the building of its second power transformer plant in China with initial investment of 600 million yuan (US$82.5 million).

The new facility in Wuhan, central Hubei Province, to be operational in 2009, will have initial production capacity of 20,000 megavolt ampere per year with further development possibilities, Areva's transmission and distribution division said in a statement.

The factory will become the most advanced transformer plant in China and is one of the keys to answer China's growing demand, it said.