Although the modernized block B1 in the Thermal Power Plant “Nikola Tesla B” started production and the authorities in the Electric Power Industry of Serbia claim that at the moment the import of electricity is only a few percent, Danas sources in that company claim that the percentage is higher. Serbia imported about 20 percent of its electricity from abroad.
In recent months, EPS has been forced to provide about 10 percent of the electricity needed by consumers in Serbia from imports because, as the Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic claimed, the overhaul of block B1 in TENT B was delayed. In the meantime, the overhaul has been completed, and EPS says that the block is connected to the network and that it participates in the production of electricity.
– The revitalized block B1 in TENT B is in trial operation, connected to the grid and stably producing electricity. The unit now has a capacity of 670 megawatts, or 20 megawatts more than before. After the modernization, its working life was additionally extended and efficiency increased. The value of that investment is 90 million euros. EPS always and in all conditions ensures a stable supply to all customers, both households and the economy. In the previous few days, the procurement of electricity outside the EPS system was at a minimum level of several estimates, and depending on the needs, there were days when there was no procurement, ie the import of electricity. In those days, EPS sold electricity on the free market – they say for Danas in the Electric Power Industry of Serbia. The company explains that import or export also depends on consumption, which always grows in the winter months, because a large number of citizens heat with electricity, they say in EPS.
On the other hand, Danas’ source in EPS claims that the import of electricity is around 20 percent on a daily basis, and that the main reasons for that are the loss of blocks from the production process and increased electricity consumption during the heating season.
– Currently, about 20,000 megawatt-hours of electricity are imported to Serbia on a daily basis. As for the overhauled block B1 in TENT B, it started working, but three days ago, both blocks in that thermal power plant fell out of the network. In other words, none worked. In the meantime, the problems have been eliminated and both units are in the process of producing electricity again. Given the current situation, it is uncertain what can be expected when winter comes and the weather becomes much colder than it is now – our interlocutor points out.
The president of the relevant committee for mining and energy of the Democratic Party, Goran Vasić, told Danas that EPS is currently importing a certain amount of electricity from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Block B1 in the Thermal Power Plant “Nikola Tesa B” was recently renovated, ie it has only recently been in the process of electricity production again. It will be some time before it starts functioning at full capacity. Due to the delay in the overhaul, the company was forced to import electricity. This process is still present even now when block B1 is online again. The fact that it does not work at full capacity certainly affects the fact that EPS is forced to continue importing electricity. Bad luck with insufficient quantities of electricity produced in the thermal sector has been partially compensated by the fact that in the past period, wind farms managed to achieve higher electricity production than usual – explains Vasić.
The management of the Electric Power Industry of Serbia has replaced a number of members of the Board of the Kolubara and Kolubara Metal Mines Unions with a request to return to their previous jobs, mainly in production at the company, said Milan Djordjevic, the president of the company’s union.
He told Beta that yesterday morning a notice appeared on the bulletin boards that “disobedient” members of the boards of those unions, whose names were listed, including his name, would return to their former jobs after several years.
“Only disobedient board members received the order to return to their previous jobs. The request states that if we do not return to our previous jobs within eight days, we will be fired according to the Labor Law,” said Djordjevic.
He was replaced after a protest by the union, led in late October, with the main demand that EPS workers who paid for coal be supplied with the fuel instead of being sold to private companies, which is not available for workers, Danas reports.
