TPP Maritsa 3 is located in Dimitrovgrad in southern Bulgaria and has 120 MW output. Its largest shareholders is UK-based Topgroup with 49 % stake. The shareholders of Bulgarian coal-fired thermal power plant Maritsa 3 approved the management’s proposal to skip the dividend distribution from 2019 profits. Instead, the company will use its profits to cover losses from previous financial years.
Maritsa 3 reported a net profit in the amount of 2.1 million euros in the first half of 2020, compared to a profit of 3.5 million euros recorded in the same period last year. The company’s total revenues slightly increased to 9.25 million euros in the first six months of 2020, compared to 8.9 million euros in revenues in the previous year. Total expenditures rose as well, reaching 7.15 million euros, compared to 5.4 million euros in H1 2019. Last month, Bulgarian media reported that TPP Maritsa 3 will have to lay off part of its employees in order to comply with new rules on providing cold reserve services. The plant’s Executive Director Iliyan Pavlov said that the suspension of the plant’s operation is currently not under consideration, but it has already started to relocate some of its employees to TPP Brikel in Galabovo. The majority of the plant’s revenues comes from contracts with the Bulgarian Government on providing cold reserve services. The current contracts for cold reserve services in the amount of 650 MW are valid until 31 July, after which a new tender for 2020/2021 should be launched. However, the Government adopted emergency amendments to the Energy Act that will automatically award this contract to TPP Maritsa East 2 before that date. This is just a temporary measure because Bulgarian electricity market should be fully liberalized as of July 2021. This effectively means that TPP Maritsa 3 was left without any revenues as of 1 August 2020. It was not disclosed how many employees, out of current 140, will be laid off.
