Executive Director for Production and Technical Affairs at ―Hidroelektrane na Trebisnjici‖ (HET) Ilija Tamindzija said that the company has planned investments in the amount of 10 million euros in order to extend the operational life of hydropower plants, which are in operation for over 50 years.
Tamindzija said that the planned revitalization includes overhaul of the turbines and generators, which should increase their power output by at least 10 %. He added that about 60 % of the planned funds will be provided through loans, 1.12 million euros will be provided from the company’s own resources, while the rest will be provided through donations. In the first two phases of the modernization project HPP Dubrovnik and HPP Trebinje 2 were revitalized, while the third phase envisages revitalization of three generators of HPP Trebinje 1.
Regarding HET’s production results, Tamindzija said that water level in the accumulation is 10 meters below planned and that poor hydrology conditions in 2016 continued in the first quarter of this year, adding that electricity production is at some 50 % of the planned level. Due to low water levels, HET does not produce electricity for export, but only for domestic consumption.
According to the RS energy balance for 2016, HET achieved about 20 % higher electricity production than planned. HET produced 1,168.52 GWh of electricity in 2016, plus additional 88.23 GWh which were delivered to Croatian power utility HEP as a compensation for electricity used in late 2015, during the reconstruction of HPP Dubrovnik. However, in the first nine months of 2016, HET recorded a loss of 3.66 million euros in the first nine months of this year, which by about 1.4 million euros larger loss than recorded in the same period in 2015.
HET operates HPP Trebinje 1 and 2, HPP Dubrovnik and reversible pumped storage HPP Capljina.
