Major power station to be built in northern Spain

ESB International has recently announced plans to build a major €500 million gas fired power station in northern Spain. The announcement was made on Wednesday, October 15th.

In a significant expansion of its overseas investments, ESBI has received key approval for the power plant project near Oviedo, Asturias. This is ESBI's second power station on the Iberian Peninsula, having already built the successful 800MW CCGT power plant near Bilbao. This plant that is jointly-owned with Osaka Gas has been in commercial operation since August 2005.

ESBI has now been granted the critical Environmental Declaration by the Spanish Ministry for the Environment, enabling the company to proceed with its power station project in Asturias, northern Spain.

This key permit effectively gives ESBI the green light to proceed with the development of this power facility and positions it to begin construction work in early 2010. The power plant will be located on a brown field site within an industrial complex at Corvera close to the port of Aviles. It will be fuelled by natural gas and will generate 800MW of electricity for the Spanish wholesale market. It will use the latest combined cycle technology to deliver the most efficiently produced electricity in Spain with environmentally approved emissions and noise levels lower than other traditional large scale power generation plants.

ESBI will be responsible for the construction, operation and ownership of the new power facility through its subsidiary company, Asturias Generacion. The power station is scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2012. ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, welcoming the positive environmental declaration said that ESBI is looking forward to working closely with the Spanish authorities and the local communities during the construction of the plant.

"The delivery of this key permit for the Asturias project further advances ESB's reputation for developing and investing in significant power generation projects in the Iberian market. ESBI's development team is now in discussion with a number of parties in relation to the commercial arrangements for the project," he said.

ESBI is also developing a range of renewable energy projects on the Iberian Peninsula including 100MW of wind generation in the Basque region. Additionally the company is also studying the feasibility of developing 100MW of solar thermal generation plants in the southeast of Spain.