Jesús Olmos, General Manager for Endesa Europa, accompanied by various representatives of French national and regional authorities, presided over the act to lay the first stone of this new plant. These new units will require an investment of approximately Euro 470 million and form part of Endesa France’s industrial plan.The two groups, scheduled to come on-stream in the first half of 2010, will boost Endeas France’s current installed capacity by 30%. The project is the largest of its kind in France.

Endesa France has laid the first stone in the construction of its two first CCGT plants located at the Emile Huchet site in Saint-Avold, northern France. The act was presided over by Jesús Olmos, General Manager for Endesa Europa, the Prefect of the Province, Bernard Niquet and the President of the General Board and Senator of Moselle, Philippe Leroy.

The act was also attended by André Sainjon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Endesa France, Alberto Martin Rivals, General Manager for Endesa France, the mayor of Saint-Avold, André Wojciechowski, and many other important national and regional figures.

These groups, with a total installed capacity of 860MW, will be their first of their kind to be installed by Endesa France in the country and will require an investment of approximately Euro 470 million.

The new plant will be a further step forward in Endesa France’s growth project and proof of the company’s determination to contribute to ensuring the security of electricity supplied in France.

The new combined cycles will increase Endesa France’s current installed capacity by 30%.

For this first project, Endesa France has selected the constructors Siemens and CMI (Cockerill Maintenance Ingenierie) and will use “single shaft” technology. This will make the construction more rapid and optimise the investment. This will be the second largest project for the construction of new installed capacity in France after EDF’s non-renewable project in Flamanville and the biggest CCGT construction project ever to be presented.

Both groups are scheduled to come on-stream in the first half of 2010 and they will ensure the continuity of the Emile Huchet production plant for more than 25 years.

The construction of these two plants forms part of Endesa France’s industrial plan. This plan gives priority to low-emission technologies, including projects to construct more than 2,500MW of CCGT plant between 2010 and 2011 at the sites of its four major coal-fired plants (Emile Huchet, Hormaing, Lucy and Provenza), in addition to the new site at Lacq. It also envisages the installation of around 200MW of wind farm capacity, of which 105MW is already under construction or at project stage, and a 700MW clean coal plant in Le Havre.