NACCO Industries may invest in Kosovo lignite mine

PRISTINA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A unit of NACCO Industries (NC.N) plans to bid on a tender for a proposed coal-fired power plant in Kosovo as it pushes into new markets in the region, a company official said on Wednesday.

North American Coal Corp wants to partner with a power generator to build the 1,000 megawatt plant and to develop a lignite mine nearby, Michael Gregory, the company's vice president told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference.

"Eastern Europe is a new venture for us so we will look around and other places while we are here," said Gregory who cited Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia as other potential places for investment.

Kosovo's government is holding a conference to highlight an upcoming tender to build the long-delayed power plant and to whip up interest in the country's ageing energy sector.

The new plant, located near the Sibovc open Lignite mine, is expected to cost 700 million euros ($994 million) to one billion. The coal mine feeds two existing power stations and will also supply the new one.

The mine has a surface area of 19.7 square kilometres and around 990 million tonnes of lignite. Kosovo uses 7-8 million tonnes of lignite for existing power stations.

"We are interested in the mine and we would like to form a consortium with a power plant producer," Gregory said.

In 2006, Kosovo launched a tender for a 3.5 billion euro, 2,000 megawatt plant to turn the country into a regional power exporter and help deal with chronic electricity shortages.

But last November Kosovo, which has around 14 billion tonnes of lignite, gave up on the project due to a lack of interest among investors who demanded better terms.

The government now plans to launch a tender for a plant with half the planned capacity.

Two existing older coal-fired plants, Kosovo A and Kosovo B, are in poor condition and cannot produce the estimated 1,000 MW of daily capacity Kosovo needs. The Kosovo A plant falls short of environmental standards and will be closed by 2015.

Kosovo, one of the poorest countries in Europe, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The country is also looking to attract foreign investment to help tackle a 40 percent unemployment rate. (Editing by Michael Kahn and Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7040 euro)

Source:reuters.com/