Gibraltar awards power contract to French, Dutch firms

GIBRALTAR: Gibraltar said on Monday it had awarded a 123-million-pound (141-million-euro) contract to build a power station, the island's biggest contract yet, to a Franco-Dutch joint venture. French firm ETDA SA and the Netherlands' Volker Stevin Construction Europe plan to complete the new diesel power station in 2013, replacing three existing plants, the Rock's government said in a statement. The tiny British territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean is home to 30,000 people. It seeks to be self-sufficient in key services such as power because of Madrid's conflicting claim to sovereignty.