Romania's insolvent state-run hydro power producer, Hidroelectrica, said on
Monday it launched an international tender for the upgrade of one of its units,
Stejaru, a project estimated at some 75 million euro ($102 million).
The
Stejaru hydro power plant has an installed capacity of 210 megawatts (MW) and
feeds into the national grid an average of 435 gigawatt hours per year,
Hidroelectrica said in a statement.
The unit was put into operation more
than 50 years ago and has long exceeded its normal lifespan of 22 years, the
statement added.
Hidroelectrica plans to wrap up the tender and award the
contract by the end of October. The upgrade works are scheduled to last seven
years.
Remus Borza, the general manager of Hidroelectrica' s legal
administrator Euro Insol, said in the statement there have been talks with World
Bank officials on contracting a 200 million euro loan for technological upgrades
at another three units of Hidroelectrica - Vidraru, Mariselu and Raul Mare
Retezat - with an installed capacity of over 700 MW, which also exceeded their
lifespan.