Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) announced that it will review the announced modernization of the Kostolac A thermal power plant (TEKO A). The main reason, as stated, is ecology, that is, the reduction of harmful gas emissions.
Details about the possible abandonment of the modernization of TPP Kostolac A were presented in the public procurement in which an analysis of solutions for heating households in Požarevac, Kostolac and 25 surrounding towns is requested.
The citizens who live there are now heated with hot water from the thermal power plant in Kostolac, so in the event of its shutdown, an alternative solution would have to be found.
TE Kostolac A has a power of 310 megawatts (MW), and the modernization should enable it to comply with new environmental standards and extend its working life.
This means that it is possible to close the Thermal Power Plant Kostolac A, which is an option that has been mentioned so far only for the two EPS thermal power plants, Morava and Kolubara A.
As one of the reasons for rethinking modernization in the EPS, “imposed goals at the level of the Energy Community” are also mentioned.
As stated, this refers to the increased participation of renewable energy sources, the increase in energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
As it is added, the working versions of the National Energy Climate Plan (NECP) and the Energy Development Strategy until 2040 hint at the possible abandonment of EPS from coal-based electricity production.
Shutting down thermal power plants is not only about environmental standards, but also about cheaper coal-fired power.
To make matters worse, those resources have also been called into question in Serbia, due to numerous accidents and poor management of the coal mines in the Kolubara basin.
As New Economy wrote, renewable sources of electricity failed in Europe last year, so the lack of supply was compensated for by starting thermal power plants at huge costs.
In Serbia, electricity is cheap precisely because it is produced from domestic coal.
It is 40 percent more expensive for the economy since the beginning of the year, while citizens’ electricity bills will be increased by 8.5 percent from September.
Electricity has been imported for the most part since the accidents that happened to EPS since December last year, and since September it has been announced that its price will increase by 8.3 percent with value added tax (VAT) and excise duties.
Under normal circumstances, thermal power plants in Serbia produce about 70 percent of electricity.
How will the citizens of Požarevac and its surroundings be heated
As stated in the text of the public procurement, the following possible solutions for heating households in Požarevac, Kostolac and 25 surrounding villages should be analyzed and compared, in case of shutdown of the thermal power plant:
For heating the surrounding areas, it is possible to reconstruct boilers K1 and K2 and auxiliary plants of block TEKO A1 for the production of thermal energy.
Another possibility is the reconstruction of turbine plants TEKO B1 and B2 for the combined production of electricity and heat.
The third solution is the construction of new gas-fired boilers at the TEKO A location, and the fourth is biomass-fired boilers.
The fifth possibility is the construction of a new boiler house at the TEKO A location, which would consist of coal-burning boilers for district heating systems and a gas or extra light gas oil steam boiler for these systems.
In all of these options, as stated, technological steam would also be produced for starting two blocks at the Kostolac B thermal power plant, as it is now obtained at the Kostolac A thermal power plant.
The first block of TE Kostolac A was commissioned in 1968, and the second in 1980.
In October 2020, EPS initiated the development of a study with the aim of extending the operation of Kosolac until 2038, Nova Ekonomija reports.
