Heavy snowfall forced Serbia’s state-owned power utility, EPS, to partially import electricity to meet demand. According to union representatives at EPS’ largest thermal power plant, Nikola Tesla, data on electricity production and trade indicate that Serbia has been consistently importing electricity since Monday, with the most critical situation occurring on Tuesday evening. During this period, the country imported 1,790 MW at a price of around 120 euros/MWh.
The coal storage areas at the TENT plant are currently full, but the available coal is wet due to the snowfall and of very low quality. Additionally, there is no space for additional coal. Miroslav Tomasevic, the former Director of EPS, warned that this situation could repeat the scenario from three years ago, when a major failure at TENT left around 130,000 households without power. Tomasevic explained that wet weather further saturates the coal, making it unsuitable for use in the plant’s boilers, which require dry coal. Wet coal decreases its calorific value and thermal efficiency, forcing the use of fuel oil to compensate for the reduced energy output.
Serbia’s energy system relies heavily on two thermal power plants, Kostolac and TENT, alongside the hydroelectric potential of the Drina river and the Djerdap hydropower plant, which shares electricity with neighboring Romania. Smaller contributions come from gas power plants, small hydropower plants on minor rivers, and wind farms.
