Greek, Chinese firms bid for FYROM hydro project
Greece’s dominant power utility PPC and China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) have placed bids for concessions to build two 526 MW hydro power plants in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the Economy Ministry said on Friday.
The two companies were among 10 that had been shortlisted after the first stage of a tender for the construction of the Cebren and Galiste power plants at a cost estimated at up to 700 million euros ($909.8 million).
A commission will evaluate the bids by the end of December and forward them to the government, which will make a final decision, Suzana Pranjic, the public relations official for the Economy Ministry, said in a telephone interview.
The winner of the tender will build the plants in partnership with FYROM’s state-owned power utility ELEM and operate the plants under a 57-year concession, she said.
CWE and PPC have offered ELEM a stake in the future plants of 40.5 percent and 28 percent, respectively, the government said on its website.
Under the tender terms, the percentage of shares offered to ELEM would be the main criterion in the selection of a future partner.
ELEM operates 1,329 MW of power-generating capacity, of which 60 percent is coal-fired and 40 percent hydro-power. [Reuters]
