Repair of damage and increase of plant security level
Floods in May, which caused great damage to open pit mines, electric power generation and transmission facilities and distribution networks, have shown that electric power capacities of Serbia are not insured enough from these natural disasters.That’s why it is necessary to invest a lot of resources in order to bring the plant back to previous state and to raise a level of security of the power system of Serbia, in order to ensure a safe supply of electricity, it was concluded yesterday in Belgrade at the press conference dedicated to the effects of flooding on the power system of the country.
Speaking about the situation in open pit mines in CE MB „Kolubara“ Mr. Ivan Janković, adviser for surface mining in the Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Government of Serbia, said that the two open pit mines in the basin, which are partially flooded, have been quickly revitalized and they currently give daily production of 45 000 tons of coal. Open pit mine Veliki Crljeni is undergoing a repair and the start of production in this mine is expected in the second half of August, which would provide additional coal production of 20 000 tons, or a total of 65 000 tons per day, which represents 70 % of the required production for the normal functioning of PE EPS. Open pit mine "Tamnava - West Field" which was flooded with almost 190 million cubic meters of water, is now the biggest problem that cannot be resolved before the end of this year.
Aleksandar Obradović, acting director of PE EPS pointed out that the entire system of EPS was threatened and had suffered serious consequences of flooding, which would have been much higher had it not been good coordination between EPS, EMS and the Ministry of Mining and Energy and all other state organs which made decisions together and coordinated the work in the field, emphasizing, at the same time, dedication and extraordinary efforts of people in the field, "who were the last line of defense."
According to initial estimates, the direct flood damage to our facilities in all parts of the system was about 120 million EUR, but the final figure could be known only when the water is completely withdrawn and therefore the amount of money that has to be taken both for the repair of the equipment that is partially or permanently damaged and the investment that would put back the plant to its original operating condition. But there are also indirect damages relating to the operations of EPS which we feel in the next 12 to 18 months, said Aleksandar Obradovic. He expressed the belief that, for rehabilitation of the flood damage, we can also count on considerable resources that will be provided to the donor conference scheduled next week in Brussels, as well as optimism that the rehabilitation of power facilities will be completed successfully because the competent authorities recognized it as a state problem.
According to Mr. Čedomir Ponoćko, director of CE TENT, direct damage inflicted to the facilities of CE TENT was estimated to about 11 million EUR whereas the minimum indirect damage amounts to about 22 million EUR. The real damage is units’ non-operation, he said, adding that, for example, if the unit between 300 and 350 MW doesn’t work, the price of undelivered electricity, according to the estimate is more than 200.000 EUR daily. Director Ponoćko also pointed out that the industrial railway for coal transportation to TENT was repaired and that, within the maintenance work on the railway to Vorbis, there will be works on changing some of the tracks in the next two weeks.
It was concluded at the conference that bigger attention has to be paid to additional protection of energy facilities with appropriate design solutions in order to decrease the risk and mitigate the consequences of flooding. Mr. Ponocko, director of CE TENT, said that at a recent presentation held in Obrenovac they had an opportunity to learn about the characteristics of mobile equipment for the protection of plants from surface and ground waters that cost about 5 million per kilometer.
To provide protection for the length of 3 kilometers the value of the equipment is around 15 million euros for one power plant and the same amount for the second, which is about 30 million and it is necessary to invest the funds in the purchase of this mobile equipment in order to avoid having the unpleasant experience again, said Ponoćko.
The yesterday’s conference was organized by internet magazine „Balkan Magazin“ in cooperation with PE EPS.
(Wednesday, July 9 2014.)