The Attarat Power Company (APCO) announced that its shareholders Eesti Energia, YTL Power International Berhad (YTL) and Near East Investment (NEI) signed an agreement to introduce a new shareholder, Yudean Group, to the project to develop an oil-shale-fired 554 MW power plant and a mine in Jordan.

Yudean agreed to purchase 45% of shares, YTL a further 15%, with Eesti Energia reducing its stake to 10% and Near East Investments exiting the project completely, Eesti Energia reported to the London stock exchange.

Following the completion of the share transfers, which is subject to a number of conditions, APCO will be indirectly owned by Eesti Energia AS with 10%, YTL Power International of Malaysia with 45%, and Yudean Group of China with 45% of shares.

Eesti Energia is required to maintain its 10% stake for a certain time period defined in project agreements, the company said, to meet the wish of the Jordanian government for a stakeholder with sufficient know-how in the project.

The completion of the share purchase agreement and full financial close of the project is subject to a number of conditions, including receiving final approval for export credit insurance from Sinosure and the Chinese government.

The power plant will be built by the Guangdong Engineering Power Corporation, and the project will be financed by the Bank of China and the Industrial Commercial Bank of China. The loan will be guaranteed by Chinese export credit agency Sinosure.

Yudean Group is a state-owned company that owns and operates power plants with a total capacity of more than 29,000 MW, and mines coal in China and Australia. Yudean's owners are Guangdong Province with 76%, and China Huaneng Group with 24%.

Eesti Energia will fully exit the Jordan project in the next five years. The project's final financing agreement may be signed already in the second quarter of this year, the CEO of the state-owned Estonian energy company, Hando Sutter, said.

The estimated total investment by Eesti Energia is approximately $31m, or €27.1m.