After the repairs of unit 3 at thermal power plant Bitola, Macedonian power utility ELEM begun preparations for the start of production at TPP Oslomej in order to cover increasing electricity demand with its own production, rather than import.
The company stated that Macedonian consumers will be supplied with enough electricity, despite low temperatures in the past ten days, during which, electricity consumption of households and small businesses has increased by 30 %.
The representatives of TPP Oslomej said that in order to start electricity production at the plant, two oil-fueled auxiliary boilers need to be fired first. These boilers produce steam that preheats fuel oil at the required temperature needed for the start of steam production at the main boiler. In recent years the price of produced electricity at TPP Oslomej is much higher than the market price, so its capacity is rarely used.
ELEM also announced that the company procured a total of 22,824 MWh of electricity for the period between 14 and 22 January at the average price of 79.38 euros/MWh. On 13 January, customers in the regulated market were supplied with 21,459 MWh of electricity, of which 83 % (17,859 MWh) were provided by domestic production, while 17 % (3,600 MWh) were imported. In the first eleven days of January 2017, electricity production in Macedonia is 8.39 % above planned for this period.
