Energeticke Centrum Kladno, spol. s.r.o.

MIGA issued guarantees totaling $30.4 million to El Paso Energy International Company of the United States to cover its equity investments in Energy Center Kladno (ECK), a power plant in Kladno, near Prague. The plant is the first independent power project in the country and one of its largest foreign investments. MIGA provided coverage against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil disturbance.

The project consists of the environmental and technical upgrading of a coal-fired thermal and electric power generating plant in the Poldi industrial complex and construction of a new plant near the old facilities.

The environmental and technical upgrading component involves installing pollution control equipment to bring ECK's facilities into compliance with new Czech Republic emissions standards that are being phased in through 1998. Construction of the new plant consists of installing two 125 coal-burning fluidized bed boilers and associated steam turbines, a 68peaking gas turbine, and a 6backpressure turbine. Once the project is completed, ECK's net combined electrical capacity will rise from 21 megawatts to 343 megawatts. The project will help to meet additional demand for generating capacity from the household sector, especially during peak periods, and will replace obsolescent facilities with urgently needed cleaner, more efficient power units.

The project will create more than 200 jobs (including manufacturing and professional positions) for local residents. El Paso will also undertake extensive training of its employees in operating practices, accounting and financial reporting, management and employee relations, and safety procedures.