GDF Suez, the world’s biggest independent power producer, is to spend up to €55bn globally over five years as it tries to double its size in Asia and cut its reliance on Europe, where it has been locked in dispute with two of its biggest state customers.

Gérard Mestrallet, chief executive, said in an interview with the Financial Times that GDF was planning capital spending of between €9bn and €11bn in each of the years between 2012 and 2017, with about a third set aside for emerging markets.

The ambitious plan offers clear evidence that the French-based company intends to continue its recent bout of global expansion. That has included the acquisition last year of the UK’s International Power and this year’s €2.3bn tie-up with China Investment Corporation, the sovereign wealth fund.