After closing the tender for the supply of coal for the needs of REK Bitola, AD ESM told Faktor that three contracts have been concluded for the delivery of a record 550,000 tons of coal, with a total value of 1.936 billion denars, or about 32 million euros. While previously coal was mined for several euros per ton, in the period of new energy and geopolitical challenges, imported coal costs around 55 to 65 euros per ton.
After concluding two tenders, on April 12 and May 30, REK Bitola provided 400,000 tons of coal from the High Towers company from Albania, and the agreement was reached in May. Coal originates from Albania, and the price is 449 denars (7.3 euros) per gigajoule, which is significantly higher than the price previously paid to local private companies for coal exploitation in the mines of REK Bitola. The contract with High Towers is worth 22.2 million euros, excluding VAT.
Contracts have also been signed with two companies from Skopje – Quantum Solutions and Energija X, which, following agreements reached in June, should procure 100,000 tonnes of coal from Greece and 50,000 tonnes from Albania. Quantum Solutions will charge € 6.3 million (at a price of € 7.5 per gigajoule), while the contract with Energy X is worth around € 3.25 million (the price is € 7.4 per gigajoule).
Last year, with the onset of the energy crisis, state-owned power plants announced the purchase of 900,000 tons of coal due to shortages, but a modest result was achieved – less than 3 million euros were spent, according to a report by CEO Vasko Kovacevski in April.
ESM, with the support of the state budget, relied on electricity imports (34.5m euros), purchases from the TE-TO gas power plant (66m euros) and fuel oil (31.7m euros). It is not known how much coal was mined in domestic mines at the height of the energy crisis.
At the same time, AD ESM informed that the supply of coal for REK Oslomej was canceled. The former ELEM announced in May that it intends to buy 350 thousand tons of coal for the capacity in Kicevo, and the tender was closed this month.
During the heating season, TPP Oslomej worked in accordance with the needs of the electric power system, ie in case of downtime and overhaul in other power plants. According to the ESM, 175,000 tons of coal and 5,360 kilograms of fuel oil were consumed in that regime.
Source: faktor.mk
