SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), April 12 (SeeNews) – Bosnia and Herzegovina's Council of Ministers said it has backed a project for the construction of a 450 MW unit at the existing 715 MW Tuzla thermal power plant (TPP) Tuzla.
Following the adoption of the decision, Bosnia will send a letter to the prime minister of China, seeking support for the project, the Bosnian government said in a press release made available to SeeNews on Tuesday.
Last month the government of Bosnia's Musim-Croat Federation – one of Bosnia's two autonomous entities - requested power utility Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH) to continue negotiations with China’s Ex-im Bank towards securing a loan for the construction of the unit.
The project is valued at 722 million euro ($824.4 million) and is considered Bosnia’s biggest post-war investment.
In 2014, the Federation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ex-Im Bank for the financing of the new plant. Prior to the MoU, the Federation said it has selected a consortium of China's Gezhouba Group Company Limited and Gunagdong Electric Power Desing Institute as the preferred bidder for the construction of Unit 7.
In December, EPBiH said it plans to launch works on the plant in 2016.
According to reports in local media, European Union credit institutions have declined to finance the project as it does not meet the bloc's strict environmental requirements.
($=0.8758 euro)