The electrostatic filter installed at coal-fired thermal power plant Ugljevik, is not functioning properly and emits higher concentration of harmful particles than allowed, because the contractor – Czech company ZVVZ Enven Engineering installed faulty equipment, according to local media. This electrostatic filter was paid some 10 million euros.
The system that was supposed to solve the problem of high pollution for the largest electricity producer in the Republic of Srpska (RS) and at the same time reduce the great pressure of the public and environmental organizations, does not function at full capacity, despite huge investments.
Namely, the plant’s management was forced to pay around 100,000 euros for a study that should answer what needs to be done to make the system work at full capacity. The plan is to change the existing project solution, and then to reach a functional system in stages. Without the efficient operation of the electrostatic filter, the newly built desulfurization system paid over 80 million euros cannot function properly as well.
The purpose of the electrostatic filter is to reduce the concentrations of solid particles below 50 milligrams per cubic meter before flue gases reach the desulphurization plant. However, as it turned out, this is not possible because the values are far above what is expected and allowed. In the warranty test that was done last year, the concentrations of solid particles was between 65.37 to 66.04 milligrams per cubic meter. In January this year, they were three times higher than allowed.
The installation of a flue gas desulfurization system, which will be the first of its type in the Balkans area, with funding procured from Japan International Cooperation Agency as a loan. The project is of great importance for the country’s ecology, as well as for the general development and continuation of electricity production in this coal-fired power plant. The construction of the facility started in May 2017 and it was put into trial operation in March 2020. The agreement on the installation of flue gas desulfurization system between coalmine and thermal power plant (RiTE) Ugljevik and Japanese Mitsubishi was signed in July 2016. In late 2017, Japanese Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it will deliver a control system for a flu gas desulfurization system for TPP Ugljevik. The project will be managed by Yokogawa’s Austrian subsidiary and the Serbian Office of Yokogawa Europe. The facility will extend the plant’s operational life until 2035 and will help Bosnia and Herzegovina meet the environmental requirements for joining the EU.
