(EnergyAsia, February 9, 2012 Thursday) --- Canada’s Prophecy Coal Corp said it is aiming to complete the project financing and selection of the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) firm for a power plant in Mongolia by the second quarter.

These achievements will then pave the way for the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company to begin construction of the proposed 600 MW Chandgana power plant in the second quarter of 2013.

Prophecy said four Chinese companies interested to provide engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) services have reviewed information in its project data room and visited the site of the proposed plant.

It added that “several other international companies” have also submitted written interest to bid for the EPC contracts that Prophecy is soliciting in its Request for Proposal (RFP) document.

Prophecy said that the successful EPC firm, to be selected in the second quarter, is expected to bring in a lender for debt financing to help fund the project.

Since obtaining the power plant construction licence last November, Prophecy has been working with the Mongolian Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy to draft and sign the Chandgana power purchase agreement (PPA).

The company said it has held meetings in Beijing with Chinese government-sponsored policy banks involved in Mongolian projects as well as private equity firms engaged in international energy production projects. 

Independent power plant (IPP) projects in Asia, offering stable yields, have garnered interest from institutional investors and Prophecy expects Chandgana to be similarly viewed.

A Canadian-listed company engaged in developing energy projects in Mongolia, Prophecy Coal Corp has over 1.4 billion tonnes of surface minable thermal coal resources on two coal properties in the landlocked Asian country.

Prophecy Coal said it has started production at its Ulaan Ovoo coal mine while its Chandgana mine mouth power plant has been approved.