The coal-fired thermal power plant Ugljevik, operated by the Republic of Srpska’s power utility ERS, has been forced to halt electricity production since the evening of November 30 due to a shortage of coal. This shutdown results in a daily loss of around 5 GWh of electricity, translating to an estimated financial loss of approximately 275,000 euros.
If the halt in production continues and other local power plants cannot compensate, ERS may need to purchase electricity at significantly higher prices from external sources. Although the management of TPP Ugljevik might publicly present the shutdown as a planned measure, sources indicate that the plant’s coal stocks were critically low, lasting only two to three days when the plant requires at least 30 days’ worth of supply for uninterrupted operation.
Financially, TPP Ugljevik is in a precarious situation, with accumulated losses nearing 100 million euros by the end of last year. One of the major challenges is a ruling from the Belgrade Arbitration Court, which has ordered the plant to pay 67 million euros in compensation to the Slovenian company Elektrogospodarstvo, plus an additional 58.2 million euros in interest. Furthermore, TPP Ugljevik is obligated to provide one-third of its electricity output to Elektrogospodarstvo for the duration of its operations.
In a bid to address its financial obligations, the plant’s shareholders decided in October to reduce the company’s capital from 128 million euros to just under 34 million euros, with the aim of covering part of the debt owed to the Slovenian firm. They also approved issuing new shares on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange to raise 10 million euros. However, trading of TPP Ugljevik’s shares was temporarily suspended by the exchange due to the capital reduction, complicating the company’s efforts to raise funds.
Despite these challenges, recent data from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) shows that the sole unit of TPP Ugljevik is still operational, and no recent shutdowns have been reported.
