Although thermal power plant Negotino in North Macedonia hasn’t been used and it didn’t produce a single kWh of electricity in the entire year, it received 3.15 million euros for providing cold reserve services in 2019. TPP Negotino runs on heating oil.
Out of that amount, the company spent 2.2 million euros on salaries for its 212 employees. Thus, the only power plant that uses heating oil in North Macedonia, recorded net profit of 174,000 euros in 2019, of which some 100,000 was paid to the state as dividend.
The sole function of the plant is to produce electricity in case of extreme need, in conditions when there is no electricity available. The plant runs on heating oil (extremely non-ecological fuel and a large pollutant) and can provide the same amount of electricity as one unit of TPP Bitola. Of course, at a much higher price – the production price of electricity in this power plant is not below 130 euros/MWh, without calculating the huge damage to the environment from the combustion of heating oil.
Last year, the funds for TPP Negotino were provided by state-owned power utility ESM and electricity transmission system operator MEPSO. The funds reached 3.15 million euros, which is by 67,000 euros more than in 2018. The costs of cold reserve services are determined by Regulatory Energy Commission (RKE) and then it obliges one of the state-owned energy companies to provide payment for cold reserve services.
