ESB and Japanese firm equal partners in power station project

The ESB has signed an agreement with Osaka Gas that makes the Japanese company an equal partner in the development of a €500m power station in Spain.

The plant is the first internationally-owned independent power plant in the Spanish electricity market, and will be in commercial operation next year.

ESB chief executive Padraig McManus said the company's involvement in Spain was part of its efforts to continue to move the company forward in the face of increasingly restricted development potential in Ireland.