Quake-hit Dongfang Elec wins $720 mln contracts

SHANGHAI, May 26 (Reuters) - Earthquake-hit Dongfang Electric Corp, China's biggest maker of power generating equipment, has won contracts totalling more than 5 billion yuan ($720 million) from two power producers, official media reported on Monday.

More than 500 workers and family members at Dongfang's (600875.SS)(1072.HK) main manufacturing site in Sichuan province were killed by the May 12 quake.

Huaneng Power International (600011.SS)(0902.HK), China's largest independent electricity provider, signed a deal worth 4.5 billion yuan with Dongfang to buy equipment with a combined capacity of 4 gigawatts for three power plants, the Shanghai Securities News quoted a senior Huaneng executive as saying.

Meanwhile, Huadian Power (600027.SS)(1071.HK) agreed to buy generators for a power station in the coastal province of Shandong, Dongfang said on its Web site (www.dongfang.com). It did not reveal the value of this contract, but the newspaper said the combined value of both contracts exceeded 5 billion yuan.

The Shanghai-listed shares of Dongfang have plunged 33 percent to 30.14 yuan since the quake. A spokesman for the company told Reuters last week that it expected output at its main plant to return to 80 percent of normal in six months.

The Shanghai Securities News said some production had already resumed at the site, but that Dongfang would likely move its main manufacturing operation to another location within a year or two. ($1 = 6.941 Yuan) (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Ken Wills)