ESB INTERNATIONAL (ESBI) has won a €6.6 million contract with one of eastern Europe's biggest oil companies.

The State electricity company's international contracting and consulting arm has completed a deal with Petrom, a Romanian subsidiary of Austrian oil giant OMV.

ESBI will design and commission an 800 megawatt (MW) power plant that will supply energy to a Petrom oil refinery at Brazi, close to the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

The deal is worth €6.6 million to the company. The project will employ 20 people, who will be engaged in design, site supervision and commissioning.

The work will begin next year and will run for two years. ESBI has to provide a further two years of warranty services under the terms of the deal.

Petrom has hired a partnership involving General Electric and Greek engineering specialist Metka to build the plant.

ESBI's executive director Michael McNicholas said the deal was evidence of the group's reputation in power consultancy.

The company is also working on big projects in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.

The current energy regulation regime in the Republic limits the ESB's scope for growth in its home market.

This year the company's chief executive, Padraig McManus, identified international markets as one of the company's routes to future expansion.