UPDATE 1-Czech CEZ may build $1.3 bln Polish power plant

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Central Europe's largest power company, CEZ , said on Monday it was considering building a new power plant in Skawina in southwest Poland at a cost of up to 1 billion euros ($1.31 billion).

Chief Executive Martin Roman told a news conference in Warsaw that CEZ was committed to investing in Poland's power market and had finances for as many as three large projects in the country.

CEZ bought an existing power plant in Skawina, with a capacity of 560 megawatts, in May 2006.

"We are studying the possibility of building a new unit in Skawina of up to 660 megawatts," Roman said. "We are thinking about investing up to 1 billion euros in this project."

"We definitely have money to finance two or three projects in Poland in the future," he added.

The new power plant would take at least seven years to build, which would bring the unit on stream in 2014 at the earliest, said Roman.

Last year CEZ, majority-owned by the Czech state, said it was considering a number of potential acquisitions and growth opportunities in southeast Europe, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

[WARSAW/Reuters/Finance.cz]