ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s largest electricity utility Public Power Corp. (PPC) will tender for a new 675 million euro ($1.1 billion) power plant as part of plans to upgrade its ageing infrastructure, the company said on Tuesday.

The former power monopoly will invite bids to construct a 420-450 Megawatt (MW) lignite-powered thermal energy plant near the northern city of Florina as it seeks to upgrade and expand facilities to meet fast-growing demand.
“The unit will be completely fitted out with the most up-to-date anti-pollution technology which will capture carbon emissions and will run on pulverized lignite,” PPC said in a statement.
PPC group is planning to put new thermal plants totalling 3,700 MW online as part of its 2008-2014 business plan, while it also plans to build five hydroelectric stations with a total of 631 MW over the period.
The group has also said it wants to expand into alternative energy and wants to have 725 MW coming from renewable sources.
PPC has been seeking to upgrade and streamline its operations in Greece and the Balkans to offset a drop in market share and profit since the country liberalized its energy market last year under EU guidelines.