ESB International (ESBI) has been awarded a €2 million contract to provide consultancy services to the Romanian electricity transmission company.

The contract to Transelectrica extends ESBI's foothold in the expanding energy market in eastern Europe. The contract covers the rehabilitation and upgrading of two key electricity substations in Bucharest and Iernut, in northern Romania.

The project is sponsored by the World Bank. The firm is also close to finalising a contract in Kosovo, part of the former Yugoslavia. ESBI's project manager, Mr Stuart Dawson, will oversee the three-year project from Bucharest. He will manage a team of technical specialists in substation design, high-voltage equipment, control, protection, telecommunications systems and quality assurance.

"During the supervision and monitoring phase of the project, ESBI's team will include a site supervisor at each substation and a commissioning engineer to supervise testing and inspect completed works," a statement said.