After the expiration of the initial two-year electricity production permit, coal-fired thermal power plant Stanari, operated by EFT Group, the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Srpska (RERS) issued a new permit to the plant for a period of ten years.
TPP Stanari is the first private investment in large conventional power production facility in former Yugoslavia. The project started in 2004, when EFT was selected as the best bidder on the international tender for the selection of strategic partner for coalmine Stanari. Since the demand of lignite in the region was in decline, EFT decided to build a thermal power plant near the coalmine. Initial plans envisaged the construction of 400 MW unit that was supposed to produce some 3 TWh of electricity per year, project was financially supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the equipment was to be delivered by French Alstom.
However, the final agreement was not reached, EFT turned to Chinese company Dongfang and reduced the output of the plant to 300 MW, planned production to 2 TWh of electricity per year and gross efficiency from 43 % to 38.5 %. TPP Stanari was officially commissioned on 20 September 2016, the cost of the project totaled some 550 million euros, while most of the funds were provided by China Development Bank.
TPP Stanari produced a total of 2,035 GWh of electricity in 2017, while nearby coalmine produced 2.5 million tons of coal, both in line with the annual production plan. According to the plan for 2018, TPP Stanari should produce 2,025 GWh of electricity with coal production in the same amount as last year’s. Business plan for 2018 envisages two overhauls of the plant. The first general overhaul is scheduled for April, when the plant will be taken offline for about a month, while the second overhaul is expected in autumn, with much shorter downtime of 8-10 days.
Energy trading company EFT, namely its two Bosnian subsidiaries – EFT Stanari and EFT Bileca, is the largest exporter of electricity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Out of total 5,200 GWh of electricity exported from BiH in 2017, these two companies have exported 2,600 GWh.
