The board of Portuguese power grid company Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) plans by the end of this year to conclude negotiations for a credit line worth 1 billion euros with the China Development Bank (CDB), said REN’s chief executive, Gonçalo Morais.

Speaking to Portuguese newspaper Diário Económico, Morais said that despite having its financial needs covered until 2013, the company may sell bonds on the retail market, and that the investment programme for this year will total 200 million euros.

Referring to the projects carried out with China State Grid Corp, which acquired a 25 percent stake in REN from the Portuguese State, Morais said that they did not involve large amounts of funding as they were focused on selling services to China and Brazil.

In relation to Mozambique the chief executive said that the first step had been taken by acquiring a 7.5 percent stake in the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Dam, “which acquisition will make it possible to take part in the Centre-South power transmission project,” to be carried out over the next few years. (macauhub)