Bulgaria will auction its Bobov Dol thermal power plant in three months, after two previous failed attempts to sell the outdated generator to a strategic investor, the privatization agency said yesterday. The starting price for the 420-megawatt, coal-fired plant in western Bulgaria is set at 100 million lev, the agency said in a statement.
Bulgaria had planned to call the tender by the end of 2007, but later decided to delay the sale due to a legal challenge by Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC). Bulgaria cancelled Bobov Dol’s sale to PPC for a second time last May following environmental and coal-purchasing disagreements. PPC, which bid 105.2 million euros for the generator, is appealing against the agency’s decision in court. Bulgaria wants to sell the plant quickly as the operational life of its two units expires in 2011 and 2014, respectively.
(KATHIMERINI, 14/03/2008)