ATHENS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The board of Greece's largest electricity utility, Public Power Corp (PPC), has cleared the acquisition of three wind parks from BCI Group as part of efforts to become less dependent on lignite.
State-controlled PPC aims to invest about 2 billion euros ($2.68 billion) in renewables by 2015 to replace a total of 2,000 MW of old, polluting lignite plants as it shifts towards cleaner energy sources.
"The relevant contract has not been signed, while the final acquisition cost will be determined after the completion of financial and legal due diligence," PPC said in a statement on Friday.
The three wind farms have a total capacity of 24.65 MW and will be bought by PPC's fully owned subsidiary PPC Renewables. The deal will also include the purchase of another three wind farms under development, with a total capacity of 48 MW.
The utility's earnings fell 27 percent in the first half, hurt by high fuel costs, taxes and lower power consumption. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Michael Shields)