The US energy company has assigned a EUR 700mn deal to the French Alstom for building two thermo-power generators in the Bulgarian coal-fired complex Maritsa East 1. The two generators will have power capacity of 335MW each and projected life cycle of at least 20 years. Several years ago, AES has won a long-term build-operate-transfer deal for rehabilitating old facilities and building new ones at Maritsa East 1. The total investment commitment in the project is put at around EUR 1.1bn. Construction and installation works are supposed to create nearly 2,000 new jobs in peak periods. The project is run in co-operation with the state electricity company. AES will provide around 30% of the financing from own sources, while the remaining 70% will be borrowed by CALYON, ING Bank, BNP Paribas, and EBRD. The US investor has signed 15-year agreements for purchase of lignite coal and electricity supplies to the state power grid.