Last week, the representatives of Montenegrin state-owned power utility EPCG have visited the Slovenian electricity producer HSE and its coal- fired thermal power plant Sostanj.
TPP Sostanj was built in the 1950s and it had a total of six units. Today, only two units are still in operation, and by the end of this year, the shutdown of unit 5 with a capacity of 350 MW is expected. It will be preserved and, if necessary, ready to be put back into operation.
The capacity of unit 6 is 600 MW and it was put into operation in 2014. years. The cost of its construction has greatly exceeded one billion euros. According to the HSE plan, TPP Sostanj should be operational by 2049, but the Slovenian Government is requesting that the plant be shut down by 2033 at the latest. Therefore, negotiations are underway, and the HSE hopes to succeed in moving the deadline to at least 2040.
When it comes to alternatives in case of shutdown of the thermal power plant, the construction of second unit at nuclear power plant Krsko is being considered in Slovenia, and the effects of the possible introduction of gas-fired plants are being seriously analyzed. What facilitates Slovenia, as well as the position of HSE in the context of the search for alternative solutions, is the fact that Slovenia already has access to gas pipelines from Russia through Austria. Also, within TPP Sostanj there are already two gas-fired, each with a capacity of 42 MW
The management of TPP Sostanj estimates that the modernization and reconstruction that would lead to the reduction of harmful emissions into the air enables the facilities that use coal to continue operating.
The exchange of ideas, information and experiences with colleagues from Slovenia is of great benefit for future EPCG projects, especially in the context of the environmentally-oriented reconstruction of TPP Pljevlja, which is of particular importance for the stability of electricity system and the Montenegrin economy.
