The business which builds and services power stations was put up for sale in April at the same time as the Govan shipyard.

GEC Marconi has secured the future of the Govan shipyard, and so far job losses have been kept to a minimum.

Non-core business

It is thought 12 firms have expressed an interest in the Clydebank firm which was formerly known as John Brown Engineering.

Kvaerner is also selling a similar operation in Norway as part of a move to dispose of its non-core businesses.

The challenge will be to sell Kvaerner Energy as a whole, because there are fears suitors may want to cherry pick some sectors of the firm.

Months to complete

The services division is doing well, while it is thought it will be more difficult to interest buyers in the turbine manufacturing side.

The first bids were expected to be received on Thursday, although completion of any sale would take at least a couple of months to complete.

Kvaerner has said there will be no change to its 700-strong workforce until new owners are found.