Ugljevik power plant back online, but coal shortage remains unresolved

After a 10-day standstill caused by a coal shortage, thermal power plant Ugljevik is back online. However, this doesn’t mean that the facility or the Republic of Srpska’s power sector are out of the woods. Faced with disgruntled unions and workers fearing for their jobs, the management of the state-owned power utility has promised significant investments to stabilize coal and electricity production.

Luka Petrović, General Manager of state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS), said the company’s coal mines and thermal power plants in Ugljevik and Gacko are a priority, and that all revenues from electricity sales next year would be directed there. The focus will be on revitalizing and modernizing the equipment to ensure its long-term stability and efficiency, according to him.

The Gacko thermal power plant was also shut down for several days at the beginning of December, due to the poor quality of coal and lack of fuel oil. The outage, according to local media, cost ERS around EUR 3.6 million, because it was forced to import electricity. The stoppage at Ugljevik, on the other hand, led to electricity imports of about EUR 5.3 million.

Petrović: Ugljevik’s overhaul will cost EUR 100 million

Petrović said the required overhaul of Ugljevik alone would cost EUR 100 million, but that the facilities would otherwise not be able to ensure stable electricity supplies over the next 20-30 years. He recalled that the poor quality has pushed coal consumption up by 30%.

The overhaul is planned to begin on April 1, and the company plans to use the break to expand the mine.

ERS burdened by debts to Slovenia, Croatia

In addition to its struggles with coal shortages, Ugljevik has been ordered to pay EUR 72.2 million in damages to Slovenia’s state-owned power utility, Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, and supply it with one-third of its electricity output for the rest of its operating life.

Meanwhile, Croatia’s state-owned power company Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP Group), is demanding EUR 100 million in damages for electricity it was supposed to receive from the Gacko power plant, based on its investment in the plant’s overhaul in the 1980s.