The successful Chinese contracting group – which handles engineering, procurement, construction and consultancy services – asked not to be named at this stage of the agreement.

But African Energy described it as a “significant” contractor with extensive experience of power plants on the scale of the Sese proposal.

According to the memorandum of understanding, the contractor would provide engineering and consultancy services in the completion of a bankable feasibility study, then construct the power station after approval.

Coal for the plant will come from the adjacent Sese project, which has a total measured and indicated resource of 2.5 billion tonnes.

African Energy confirmed the suitability of Sese coal for steam generation last August, saying the plant had potential to ramp up to 600MW.

Sese is expected to produce 1-2 million tonnes of coal per annum from mid-2013, increasing to 4-5Mtpa in 2015.