Mota seeking partners for Angola power consortium

LISBOA, May 19 (Reuters) - Portugal's biggest construction firm Mota-Engil (MOTA.LS) is setting up a consortium with local and foreign partners to bid for hydroelectric plant licenses in Angola under a government programme, CEO Jorge Coelho said on Tuesday.

"The government plan is huge and we want to apply for some (plants)," Coelho told reporters during a Portugal-Angola economic conference.

"We are preparing the creation of a consortium to compete in the area of small hydroelectric plants," he said without providing further details. Mota-Engil is also preparing to open a ceramics factory in the African country and working on a wiredraw plant project there.

Angolan officials said on Monday that Mota Engil and another Portuguese builder, Soares da Costa (SCOAE.LS), won a $136 million tender to revamp a part of the bay of Luanda as part of a $2 billion government project.

Angola has invested billions of dollars rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by an almost three decade-long civil war, using a windfall of oil and diamond export revenues.

Mota-Engil's Coelho said the share of the company's Angolan business was likely to grow this year from some 15 percent of Mota-Engil's total now, but did not say by how much.

Mota-Engil is also mulling its entry in South Africa, Coelho added.

Mota-Engil stocks edged up 0.28 percent to 3.255 euros on Tuesday, underperforming the broader market in LIsbon, up nearly 2 percent. (Reporting by Patricia Rua, writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Rupert Winchester)