October 13 (SeeNews) - Romanian aluminium producer Alro [BSE: ALR] said on Thursday that together with electricity producer Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) it plans to build an 850 MW natural gas-fired power plant in the southern county of Dolj.
The planned plant will replace two old coal-fired units of 315 MW each in Isalnita commune, Alro said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
Alro was declared as 'selected investor' by CE Oltenia following a public tender to build the plant, it added.
Under the terms of the tender announcement, Alro and CE Oltenia will negotiate the establishment of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will build the natural gas power plant, subject to both companies’ corporate approvals.
"This partnership will offer Alro the opportunity to diversify its business model, as the security of supply for electricity is a must for the aluminium industry and will support the Group's long-term development plans in a very challenging business environment," Alro chairman Marian Nastase said.
"While this is a very complex endeavour, we are confident we will be successful, having a strong partner, CE Oltenia, that understands the new realities of the energy market and demonstrates it knows how to adapt to them."
A subsidiary of Vimetco N.V., Alro is one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers in Europe with an installed production capacity of 265,000 tonnes of electrolytic aluminium per year, 35,000 tonnes of recycled aluminium and 335,000 tonnes of primary cast aluminium.
Alro's shares changed hands 1.87% higher at 1.3650 lei by 0913 CET on Thursday on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.9397 lei)
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