Actual data » Power sector operational and market data for the period of 16.05.-31.05.2010. » ATC auctions for Balkan region » Forecasted weather conditions for the following period § § § Analysis: » Activities related to new generation capacities in Serbia § § § News headlines Albania »Albania expect 100 million EUR revenues from electricity export in 2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina: » BH Gas and KTG Lugano signed MoU for construction of CCGT plant near Zenica » Auditor: INA/MOL consortium met privatization obligations toward Energopetrol » TPP Ugljevik to undergo 100-day overhaul from July 1 Bulgaria: » European parliament approved additional funds for decommissioning of four units in NPP Kozloduy » Government to dismantle BEH » Energy regulator: electricity distributors to reduce un- planned interruptions to supply in 2011 » EVN put in service solar park in Sliven municipality » Three candidates for advisor in Belene project » Alpine Bau pulls back from Gorna Arda project All rights reserved by Balkan Energy Solutions Team. No part of this pub- lication may be reproduced, redistributed, or in any other way copied as a whole or partially without written permission of Balkan Energy Solu- tions Team. This includes internal distribution. Balkan Energy Solutions Team does not warranty the accuracy of the published data contained in this document, although Balkan Energy Solutions Team did great efforts to collect the data from the respectable and accurate sources. About: Disclaimer: Balkan Energy News office www.NEWS.BalkanEnergy.com [email protected]Subscriptions & info: [email protected]www.news.balkanenergy.com/request.php +381 64 820 90 31 In this issue: Balkan Energy NEWS consulting: BalkanEnergy NEWS Consulting Consulting, intellectual and assistance services related to energy business in South Eastern Europe Why Balkan Energy NEWS consulting? - More than six years in consulting business for SEE Energy Sector - More than five years leading info provider for energy business in SEE. For more information contact us on [email protected]Main focus of Balkan Energy NEWS is energy related news from coun- tries of South East Europe. Countries involved are: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Montene- gro, Romania, and Serbia. Besides all regional energy related news, we are giving you in each issue one market analysis and review of the tenders announced and held in this area. You will be also able to see review of relevant power exchanges. News are published to subscribers only as an .pdf edition, two times per month Contact: Energy News in Southeast Europe two issues per month № 2010-V/2 •02.06.2010 May (2) 2010 edition of Balkan Energy NEWS, with limited data. You can request free trial / latest issue on [email protected]
Transcript
Actual data » Power sector operational and market data for the period of
16.05.-31.05.2010. » ATC auctions for Balkan region » Forecasted weather conditions for the following period
§ § §
Analysis:
» Activities related to new generation capacities in Serbia
§ § §
News headlines
Albania » Albania expect 100 million EUR revenues from electricity
export in 2010
Bosnia and Herzegovina: » BH Gas and KTG Lugano signed MoU for construction of CCGT
plant near Zenica » Auditor: INA/MOL consortium met privatization obligations
toward Energopetrol » TPP Ugljevik to undergo 100-day overhaul from July 1
Bulgaria: » European parliament approved additional funds for
decommissioning of four units in NPP Kozloduy » Government to dismantle BEH » Energy regulator: electricity distributors to reduce un-
planned interruptions to supply in 2011 » EVN put in service solar park in Sliven municipality » Three candidates for advisor in Belene project » Alpine Bau pulls back from Gorna Arda project
All rights reserved by Balkan Energy Solutions Team. No part of this pub-lication may be reproduced, redistributed, or in any other way copied as a whole or partially without written permission of Balkan Energy Solu-tions Team. This includes internal distribution.
Balkan Energy Solutions Team does not warranty the accuracy of the published data contained in this document, although Balkan Energy Solutions Team did great efforts to collect the data from the respectable and accurate sources.
About:
Disclaimer:
Balkan Energy News officewww.NEWS.BalkanEnergy.com
Main focus of Balkan Energy NEWS is energy related news from coun-tries of South East Europe. Countries involved are: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Montene-gro, Romania, and Serbia. Besides all regional energy related news, we are giving you in each issue one market analysis and review of the tenders announced and held in this area. You will be also able to see review of relevant power exchanges.
News are published to subscribers only as an .pdf edition, two times per month
Contact:
Energy News in Southeast Europetwo issues per month № 2010-V/2 •02.06.2010
Issue No: 2007-III/1Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
» Three foreign companies interested in acquiring TPP Maritsa Iztok 3 » Overgas to cancel natural gas supply contract with
Bulgargaz
Croatia: » Adria LNG submitted request for location permit for LNG
terminal on Krk Island » Sale procedure for Crobenz restarted, both retail and
wholesale divisions to be sold » INA to issue convertible bonds by the end of 2010 » INA demanded 10-12 % increase in natural gas prices » Prime minister: HEP posted 124 million euros of profit in
January-April
Greece » ELPE signed 400 million EUR load » DESFA and Gazprom to form joint venture
Macedonia » Government to invest 500 million EUR in energy sector » High electricity export in Jan-April 2010 » SDSM accuses ELEM for 15 million EUR production losses
Montenegro: » Government published new public invitation for Maoce
coalmine » Concession agreement for wind farm Mozura to be signed
in June » EPCG published tender for electricity import in 2011 » Electricity production increased by 4.9 % in Q1 » Four eligible bidders for construction of HPPs on Moraca
River » EPCG wants to increase collection rate for electricity bills » EPCG posted 16.2 million euros of profit in Q1
Romania: » Transgaz to increase transmission fees by 10 % from July 1 » Government to subsidize coal prices after 2010 » Government to reduce stake in future units in NPP
Cernavoda » Report on energy resources in period January-March 2010 » Hidroenergetica and Electra to be operational from July 1 » German PNE Wind to invest 622 million euros in wind
farms » Petrom to invest 1 billion euros per year until 2015
Serbia: » NIS to become open joint stock company in June » Energy minister: government considers potential partici-
pation in Belene project » EPS to publish tender for smart electricity meters in this
year » EPS published agreement forms for purchase of electricity
from renewable energy producers
» Re-Energy to start construction of 25 MW farm in this year » Environment minister: oil refinery in Smederevo to meet
environmental standards » Agreement for enlargement of TPP Kostolac B to be signed
in June » Italian Lusis&Partners to build small HPPs on Lim River » Energy minister: tenders for TPPs Kolubara B and Nikola
Tesla B3 to be ready in July
§ § §
Tenders: (Electricity, Nuclear, Oil and gas, Wind)
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Issue No: 2007-III/1Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
Forecasted weather conditions for the following period
Date AlbaniaTirana
Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo
BulgariaSofia
CroatiaZagreb
GreeceAthens
MacedoniaSkopje
MontenegroPodgorica
RomaniaBucharest
SerbiaBelgrade
02.06. T: 13 - 24W: NW 10R: 1
T: 8 - 16W: NE 10R: 8
T: 8 - 19W: NW 10R: 4
T: 10 - 18W: -R: 8
T: 17 - 26W: SE 20R: -
T: 11 - 23W: -R: 1
T: 11 -20W: SW 15R: 2
T: 11 - 22W: W 14R: -
T: 11 - 17W: W 18R: 3
03.06. T: 12 - 22W: -R: 10
T: 9 - 16W: -R; 12
T: 9 - 20W: W 6R: 10
T: 12 - 19W: -R: 2
T: 18 - 26W: S 25R: -
T: 11 - 24W: -R: 1.5
T: 16 - 21W: SE 10R: 12
T: 9 - 24W: W 18R: -
T: 14 - 22W: N 10R: 2
04.06. T: 13 - 23W: NW 10R: 5
T: 10 - 20W: NW 6R: -
T: 12 - 19W: W 12R: 15
T: 15 - 21W: -R: 12
T: 18 - 26W: S 21R: -
T: 12 - 20W: N 13R: -
T: 16 - 24W: SE 8R: 4
T: 11 - 27W: SW 20R: -
T: 15 - 24 W: NW 11R: 1
05.06. T: 14 - 26W: NW 6R: -
T: 9 - 21W: N 9R: 1
T: 12 - 21W: NW 12R: 3
T: 11 - 27W: N 10R: -
T: 18 -26W: NE 15R: -
T: 11 - 26W: NE 13R: 1
T: 17 - 28W: NW 15R: -
T: 10 - 26W: W 10R: 1
T: 17 - 20W: NW 8R: 1
06.06. T: 15 - 28W: NW 10R: 1
T: 10 - 25 W: -R: -
T: 10 - 20W: N 10R: 2
T: 12 - 27W: E 10R: -
T: 17 - 26W: NE 20R: 1
T: 10 - 25W: N 10R: 1
T: 17 - 32W: NE 10R: 3
T: 13 - 26W: -R: -
T: 13 - 25W: E 10R: -
07.06. T: 14 - 28W: NW 12R: 2
T: 13 - 29W: -R: -
T: 8 - 24W: NE 9R: -
T: 13 - 29W: -R: -
T: 17 - 24W: NE 20R: -
T: 11 - 28W: -R: -
T: 15 - 30W: SW 10R: 2
T: 9 - 27W: -R: -
T: 16 - 27W: -R: -
JuneAverages
Temp: 15-27Rain: 80Rain days: -
Temp: 11.4-23.1Rain: 90Rain days: 11
Temp: 12-23.5Rain: 75Rain days: 13
Temp: 12.7-24.6Rain: 99Rain days: 13
Temp: 18.2-31Rain: 10.6Rain days: 3.7
Temp: 13-27.4Rain: 46Rain days: 10
Temp: 17.3-28Rain: 63Rain days: 8
Temp: 14-26.8Rain: 77Rain days: 6
Temp: 15-25.3Rain: 90Rain days: 14
T: Temperature in celsius degreesW: Wind speed in km/h, S – South, W – West, N – North, E – East and variables; “-” - no wind; “L-V” - Light and variableR: Rain in mmS: Snow in mm
Romania > Ucraine 150 100 50 50 0 0 0.00 01.-30.06.2010*Bulgarian border - auction for 100% of ATC, held by ESO-EAD**Hungarian border - auction for 100% of ATC, held by Transelectrica***Ukrainian border - auction for 100% of ATC
Serbia > Macedonia 600 100 500 50 200 200 0.07 01.-30.06.2010Serbia > Romania 350 100 250 50 75 75 1.02 01.-30.06.2010* - No information available
- TTC (Total Transfer Capacity)
- TRM (Transmission Reliability Margin)
- NTC (Net Transfer Capacity) values in previous tables, represents commonly correlated values, given per each border and per each direction on the respective border. (Please note that some of TSOs on their web sites publish only one-half of the NTC value, i.e. their own part of NTC, and therefore NTC data can be different)
- AAC (Already Allocated Capacity) value represents part of trans-mission capacity allocated earlier by TSO in which table this value appears.
- ATC (Available Transfer Capacities) value represents amount of transmission capacity, which will be offered by the TSO in which table this value appears to the interested market participants through allocation procedure: usually by pro-rata or explicit auc-tions method. (Please note that some of TSOs on their web sites within their ATC value publish ATC part of the neighboring TSO, and therefore ATC data can be different
- AATC (ALLOCATED Available Transfer Capacities) values are the results of allocation procedure conducted by respective TSO in which table this value appears
11
Issue No: 2007-III/1Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
Activities related to new generation capacities in Serbia
In this issue of Balkan Energy NEWS we will present to you the recently announced and ongoing project related to new large thermal and hydro generation capacities in Serbia.
Serbia needs at least 700 MW of installed capacity to cover cur-rent energy needs, since no new generation capacity has been built since 1991. Another 700 MW is needed as a reserve and replacement of old units in existing TPPs that will be decom-missioned.
EPS plans to invest 9 billion EUR by 2015. Some 5 billion EUR should be invested for construction of new facilities, while 4 billion EUR will be invested for reconstruction of the existing ones. 3.5 billion EUR should be provided from company’s in-come, 2 billion EUR should be invested by strategic partners, while 3 billion EUR should be provided from loans.
Thermal Power Plants
Kolubara B and new unit in Nikola Tesla B tenders
Tender for these two projects was published in the same time, in January 2009. Power Utility of Serbia (EPS) plans to construct an entirely new Thermal Power Plant (TPP) Kolubara B and a new unit in existing TPP Nikola Tesla B, along with strategic partner. According to original plans, EPS will own between 20 and 49 % stake in the new power plants. The first unit in TPP Kolubara B should be built by 2014, while the second unit should be in service in 2015. In 2016, unit 3 in TPP Nikola Tesla B should be built. The overall cost of the projects is estimated at 1.6 billion EUR. New TPPs should sign electricity purchase agreements for the period of 15 years as well as coal supply agreements with Kolubara coalmine.
Procedure:
In May 2006, EPS published public invitation for expression of interests for particular projects in Financial Times. A strategic partner was planned to be selected in 2007, but the procedure was postponed. Later, in the beginning of January 2009, the government published a prequalification tender for selection of strategic partners for construction and operation of new TPPs. The tender was open until 20th of March. 53 letters of interest were submitted, where 26 referred to TPP Kolubara B and 27 to TPP Nikola Tesla B.
It was expected that a strategic partner would be selected by the end of 2009, and that construction works would start in 2010. The list of qualified bidders included: AES, CEZ, Edison, EnBW and RWE. In the beginning of December, EPS officially confirmed that bids for TPP Kolubara B would be submitted by CEZ and Edison, while these two companies and RWE would submit bids for construction of unit 3 in TPP Nikola Tesla B. General manager of EPS said that other eligible candidates,
Danube water-level in cm for last 30 days (in cm)
relevant for: HPP Portile de Fier I, 1167 MW, RomaniaHPP Portile de Fier II, 270 MW, RomaniaHPP Djerdap I, 1058 MW, SerbiaHPP Djerdap II, 270 MW Serbia(source: Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia)
Characteristic water stages (in cm)
Analysis:
12
Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
AES and EnBW, abandoned the projects due to financial crisis. But, in the beginning of 2010, Czech CEZ announced it would abandon all projects in Balkans for the time being, which im-plied that only Edison should be a potential candidate for TPP Kolubara B, while Edison and RWE should compete for the project in TPP Nikola Tesla B.
Final bids were expected to be submitted in beginning of 2010, but due to complexity of the project, bidders requested a dead-line extension till May 2010. EPS decided to prolong deadlines at the request of potential bidders. But, in April 2010, local me-dia reported that tenders for construction of two TPPs would be most likely delayed till September 2010. Recently, Minister of Energy and Mining said he expects that strategic partners would be selected by July 2010. Officials from Ministry of Ener-gy and Mining said that the main reason for delays is the global financial crisis.
On May 7 2010, the Management board of EPS called for urgent resolution of problems related to attraction of potential foreign investors and for creation of favorable business environment, related to tender for two new TPPs. The board asked from the government to support establishment of joint venture com-panies with strategic partners. The government should also create conditions for continuation of tender procedures and it should provide guarantees that EPS would be able to carry out its obligations. The board said that the government should adopt necessary decisions and bylaws and harmonize tender documentation in order to enable continuation of tenders.
About TPP Kolubara B:
TPP Kolubara B is located around 40 km southwest from Bel-grade. It was predicted to be a combined cycle power plant, producing both thermal and electric energy. Thermal energy was planned to be delivered to Belgrade and be used for dis-trict heating. By original project, it will have two 350 MW units. This TPP is partially finished.
The plant is constructed in the close vicinity of the open-pit-mine Tamnava-West Field, from which it will be supplied with coal. The construction started in 1988, and a part of the equip-ment has been contracted and partially delivered (95% of the imported boiler (Canadian Combustion and local Minel Kotlo-gradnja), steel supporting frame, generator transformers and generators). Civil and design works are also partially contacted and implemented. About 40% of the estimated investments have been implemented. By that estimation, 300 million EUR have been spent into construction and equipment. For com-pletion of this project it is necessary to invest additional 540 million EUR for construction completion and around 200 mil-lion EUR for coal mine. According to some estimation, TPP will have a closed cooling system. The problem lies in the fact that the delivered equipment is considered as old fashioned, and that the part of already invested 300 million EUR must be rein-vested. Power plant is expected to be finished in 2015 at earli-est, would be built in accordance to EU standards that will be in power in 2016. The TPP will have older technology so its ef-ficiency will be 35 %
It is estimated that TPP Kolubara B will need at least 6 million tons of coal for one year of operation.
TPP Nikola Tesla B
TPP Nikola Tesla B has two 620 MW units, with available output of 1160 MW. Annual generation of TPP Nikola Tesla B is around 7 500 GWh. In March 2007 EPS, European Agency for Recon-struction (EAR) and Sarajevo company Energoinvest have signed a contract for installation of a new system for transport of coal ash and cinder in TPP Nikola Tesla B. EAR has donated 28 million EUR for the project. TPP Nikola Tesla B is located near the older TPP Nikola Tesla A, which has 1500 MW output, but lower annual generation. It is the largest thermal generating capacity in Serbia.
New 700 MW unit in TPP Nikola Tesla B will have a supercriti-cal boiler so that its efficiency will be over 40%. EPS share in this project should be close to 200 million EUR (it includes the worth of the land, infrastructure and 60 million EUR of cash in-vestments). It is expected that this TPP could be operational in 2016.
CHPP Novi Sad
CCGT Novi Sad should have 480 MW of electricity output and 300 MW of heat output. The cost of the project is estimated at 200 million EUR. The plant should be built in cooperation with strategic partner by 2012, and it should be the first power plant built by EPS in the future. The future unit should produce some 3 TWh of electricity and some 840 GWh of heat energy for the city of Novi Sad (some 80 % of the city’s needs). The plant should be connected to an exiting natural gas network. The studies showed that construction of a new unit should last three years.
The existing Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) Novi Sad has 200 MW of electricity output. The study made by Energo-projekt showed that construction of a new power plant on the same site is more profitable than modernization of the existing one. But, since the existing plant is vital for providing the heat for the city of Novi Sad and cannot be out of operation for two years construction period, EPS recently decided to upgrade the existing one. According to plans, modernized CHPP Novi Sad will have 450 MW of electricity output and 300 MW of heat out-put. The efficiency of the new plant will be 80 % compared to the current rate of 30 %. The original deadline for completion of the project was set at 2012.
Procedure:
In the beginning of 2009, the government announced it would publish a tender for construction of a new CCGT power plant in Novi Sad. EPS expected that the project will be jointly de-veloped by EPS, municipality of Novi Sad and foreign strategic partner, which will have the majority stake in the project. EPS will invest existing facility, while municipality will provide land and necessary infrastructure.
On July 6 2009, EPS and municipality of Novi Sad have signed a contract for establishment of a joint venture company called Energija Novi Sad (ENS). According to the contract, ENS will be involved in modernization of CHPP Novi Sad and construction
13
Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
of a new Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plant. ENS will be an independent company and it will sell electricity to EPS and heat to city of Novi Sad. General Manager of EPS Dragomir Markovic said that ENS should find a strategic partner willing to invest 200 million EUR for construction of a new power plant.
On October 8 2009, ENS has published public invitation for let-ters of interest for this project. At that point, the cost of the project was estimated at 250 million EUR. ENS, EPS and mu-nicipality of Novi Sad will invest existing CHPP Novi Sad in new joint venture, while future strategic partner will acquire a ma-jority stake through recapitalization. The future partner, apart from providing funds for the project, should have experience in managing and building similar facilities, EPS said. The dead-line for letters of interest was set in December 1, 2009 and 9 companies expressed their interest for this project.
In May 2010, EPS said in press release that procedure for the selection of strategic partner in the project for modernization and enlargement of combined heat and power plant (CHPP) Novi Sad (200 MW) had entered final stage. Nine companies from USA, Canada, Russia, Italy and Greece, that have met the tender criteria, will be allowed to purchase tender documenta-tion until May 31 and to submit their bids.
Kostolac B
Kostolac TPPs are second by size thermal power generation complex in Serbia. There are two TPPs, TPP Kostolac A (280 MW) and TPP Kostolac B (700 MW), which is the youngest TPP in Serbia (constructed in 1990).
In the end of April 2009, EPS has completed installation of the fifth coal extraction system (BTO) (excavator-transporter-de-positor) in Kostolac coalmine. The project was started in July 2007 where the worth of the project was 65 million EUR. The new system will increase annual output of the coalmine from 6.5 million tons up to 9 million tons. The project was funded from EPS’s own funds. Former General Manager of Kostolac TPPs, Mr. Dragan Zivkovic said that coal production would be increased up to 12 million tons in the incoming years, which would enable construction of a new 350-400 MW power plant in TPP Kostolac B.
The new General Manager of the company Dragan Jovanovic said that, in 2010, modernization of two 350 MW units in TPP Kostolac B and construction of desulphurization facility should start. The overall worth of these projects is some 350 million EUR and they should be completed in three-year period. Jo-vanovic also said that construction of a new unit could start in 2017 or in 2018 and the unit could be operational in 2020-2021, which should be harmonized with the enlargement of the coal-mine Drmno. The coalmine’s output should be enlarged up to 12 million tons per year in 2014-2015.
Procedure:
In the end of November 2009, director of TPP Kostolac Dragan Jovanovic, and vice president of China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) Jin Chun Sheng signed the protocol for development of TPP Kostolac B.
The project includes renewal of two 350 MW units, construc-tion of desulphurization facility, enlargement of the lignite mine and construction of unit 3.
In the beginning of February 2010, EPS, TPP Kostolac and CMEC signed a preliminary agreement for modernization and enlargement of TPP Kostolac B and Kostolac lignite mine. The worth of the agreement is 1.25 billion dollars. The 85 % of project costs should be funded by loan of Chinese Eximbank. The interest rate should be 3 %; loan maturity will be 15 years, with grace period of 5 years. The rest of the funds should be provided by EPS. Director of TPP Kostolac Dragan Jovanovic said that Serbian companies would carry out 49 % of construc-tion works.
In the first half of May 2010, Minister of Energy and Mining of Serbia Petar Skundric and delegation of EPS, lead by General Manager Dragomir Markovic, visited China. Serbian officials meet officials from the Ministry of Trade of China, National En-ergy Bureau and representatives of Chinese companies and banks. Minister Skundric and Vice Chairman of the National Energy Bureau of China signed the Memorandum of Under-standing in energy sector. MoU envisages broad cooperation between two governments and public companies. Minister Skundric said that MoU has established only basic principles of cooperation. The MoU will support the project in TPP Kos-tolac B as well as other potential projects, such as construction of TPP near Stavalj and the development of renewable energy projects. During the visit to China, delegation of EPS negoti-ated with Chinese producer of lignite-fired boilers, HBC, which could be used in the project in TPP Kostolac B. HBC is the larg-est producer of this type of boilers in the world. Head of EPS said that Chinese producer could deliver high quality boilers under 20-30 % lower prices compared to European producers.
Head of TPPs Kostolac expects that commercial agreement for modernization of TPP Kostolac B should be signed in mid June 2010. 85 % of the funds for the project should be provided by Chinese Eximbank, while the rest should be provided by Ser-bia. According to recent announcements of minister Skundric and Chinese officials, the loan should be granted 3-6 months after signing the commercial agreement.
TPP Kovin
The project in Kovin refers to potential construction of 600 MW power plant and lignite mine with estimated reserves of 276 million tons and exploitable reserves of 176 million tons. The project should be developed through public private partner-ship.
The project in Kovin has been initiated by the government of Serbia 15 years ago by opening of the experimental under-water mine. Two years ago, the company Energy Consulting & Engineering has won lignite exploration contract and the com-pany has estimated abovementioned lignite reserves.
According to official estimations, project in Kovin will not start before 2012. The project is the part of Strategy of energy devel-opment of Serbia related to Vojvodina province.
In the first week of May 2010, in the premises of Chamber of commerce of Serbia, Energy Consulting & Engineering and
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Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
LMBV International signed a Memorandum of understanding regarding environmental projects related to the construction of lignite mine and TPP near the city of Kovin. One of the im-portant parts of the project is environmental protection, hav-ing in mind that future lignite mine should be spread near the protected natural resort Deliblatska pescara, Danube River and sources of drinking water.The company LMBV International, owned by Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany, has already cooperated with EPS in sev-eral projects. One of the goals of the abovementioned MoU is turning the wasted lignite into commercial products.
Hydro Power Plants
HPPs on river Ibar
The development plan for HPPs on Ibar River dates from 1996, and it envisages construction of nine HPPs, each with 15 MW output, which should be built between cities Raska and Kraljevo.
In mid-2009, Power utility of Serbia (EPS) and Italian company SECI Energia signed an agreement for making the analyses and feasibility studies for construction of HPPs on Ibar River. At that point, the plan was to construct 9 HPPs, as it was predicted by the old development plan. Feasibility study was completed in February 2010.
In the end of April 2010, in Belgrade, General Manager of EPS, Dragomir Markovic and the president of Seci Energy Gaetano Maccaferri signed the Protocol for construction of small HPPs on Ibar River. The Protocol refers to construction of ten small HPPs with an overall power output of 103 MW and annual pro-duction of 420 GWh. The worth of the project is estimated at 285 million EUR.
The joint venture company for the project should be estab-lished in June. Minister of Energy and Mining of Serbia Petar Skundric said that Seci Energia will hold 51 % stake in the joint venture and it would be obliged to provide entire funds for the project. EPS should be involved in technical and infrastructural preparations for the project.
The feasibility study showed that construction of HPPs on Ibar River is justified and economically feasible. The project docu-mentation should be completed by the end of the year, while construction works should start in the next 3-4 years. Accord-ing to plans, electricity produced from future HPPs will be ex-ported to Italy at privileged prices.
After some local communities opposed the project, Ministry of Energy and Mining said that future cascade HPPs would not harm natural environment. Minister Petar Skundric said that Ibar River would remain navigable.
HPPs on Drina River
“Gornja Drina” projects consist of HPP Buk Bijela, HPP Foca, HPP Paunci and HPP Sutjeska. The overall output of these HPPs should be 234 MW, where the cost of the project is estimated at 450 million EUR. Future HPPs would produce around 800 GWh of electric energy, annually. General Manager of EPS said that the first to be built are HPP Buk Bijela and HPP Foca, with the investment of 300 million EUR.
The HPPs on Drina River are developed by the joint venture company of ERS and Power utility of Serbia (EPS). In February 2008, MoU was signed between ERS and EPS. During March 2009, some media reported that German RWE could obtain majority stake in the project, while the rest would be equally owned by ERS and EPS. That rumor was denied by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of the Republic of Srpska. But, in November 2009, EPS and RWE signed a Memorandum of Un-derstanding regarding construction of several power plants, where Gornja Drina project was included.
HPP Djerdap 3
The plans for construction of HPP Djerdap 3 were developed in 1970s. According to original plans, during the first stage, HPP Djerdap 3 should have power an output of 600 MW, while an-nual production should reach 2 TWh. When the HPP was finally completed, its output should reach 2 400 MW, while annual production should reach 7.6 TWh. Accumulation lake should be able to store 850 GWh of electricity. The cost of the project is currently estimated at 4-6 billion EUR.
In June 2009, Ministry of Energy and Mining of Serbia con-firmed it had started preliminary talks with Chinese companies regarding the construction of HPP Djerdap 3. On the other hand, officials from EPS said they had no knowledge of poten-tial participation of Chinese companies in the project.
In mid October 2009 in Germany, EPS and German RWE signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding construction of HPPs in Serbia. The MoU refers to the construction of large pump storage HPP Djerdap 3 and small HPPs on Morava River with estimated overall power output of 3,000 MW. During Jan-uary 2010, EPS announced beginning of preparation activities related to these two projects.
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Albania expect 100 million EUR revenues from electricity export in 2010 (Albania)
Albanian Ministry for Economy, Trade and Energy expect 100 million EUR revenue from electricity sale during entire 2010. In Q1 2010, Albania posted 40 million EUR revenue from 900 GWh of exported energy. In the same period, do-mestic sales posted 20 million EUR.
Due to high amounts of rainfall and melting snow, Albania has been exporting higher than normal amounts of electric energy. 98% of Albanian electricity is generated by Hydro Power Plants (HPP). During 2009, Albania has exported 444 GWh, for almost 24 million EUR.
In related news, Albanian power utility, KESH, plans to in-vest 18 million EUR in revitalization of Drim cascade, main production utility in the country (HPPs Fierza, Koman and Vau I Dejes).
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BH Gas and KTG Lugano signed MoU for construction of CCGT plant near Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
In the end of May in Sarajevo, BH Gas, state-owned natu-ral gas company, KTG Lugano and KTG Zenica signed the Memorandum of understanding aimed to support project for construction of CCGT power plant near Zenica.
As recalled, project for construction of CCGT power plant near Zenica was initiated by KazTransGas (KTG) AG Lugano and municipality of Zenica by signing the Memorandum of understanding in March 2009. In June 2009, KTG AG Luga-no and the municipality established joint venture compa-ny KTG Zenica for the purpose of the project. KTG AG owns 75 % of the stake in the project and the rest is owned by the municipality, which was obliged to provide land and necessary permits.
The future TPP should have 250 MW of electricity output and 170 MW of heat output, where the cost of the project is estimated at 250 million euros.
In March this year, after being opposed to the project dur-ing 2009 (as well as BH Gas), government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) decided to support the project. However, the government demanded that project should obey domestic legislation, where the TPP would not be guaranteed purchase of electricity.
The latest MoU regards to delivery of some 350 million cbm of natural gas to the power plant in period of at least
15 years. Two sides also defined mutual obligations in creating the technical preconditions for the project.
Director of BH Gas, Almir Becarevic said that project in Zenica should boost development of natural gas network in entire BiH. Becarevic said that BH Gas has issued its ap-proval for construction of CCGT plant at the site of Steel factory of Zenica in terms of technical capabilities of nat-ural gas network.
Vice chairman of KTG AG Mose Franco said that project has also acquired location permit, which, along with the latest MoU, represents the great step in the project. Fran-co said that company would initiate preparation of the main project, after which construction permits should be obtained. Franco also said that project was well designed and feasible, which should attract investors from Europe.
Director of KTG Zenica Haris Masic said that construction works could start by the end of the year, while the plant could be built in 2013, compared to original deadline of 2012.
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Auditor: INA/MOL consortium met privatization obligations toward Energopetrol (Bosnia and
Herzegovina)
Minister of finances of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovi-na (BiH), Vjekoslav Bevanda, confirmed that independent audit made by Deloitte had shown that consortium INA/MOL had met all obligations set in the privatization con-tract for Energopetrol.
In 2006, consortium INA/MOL purchased 67 % shares in fuel distributor Energopetrol by paying overall amount of 35 million euros. In the same time, the consortium was obliged to invest 75 million euros in three-year period.
During the last year, government of Federation of BiH as well as Privatization agency (PA) accused new owner for not meeting the contractual obligations and even threat-en to cancel privatization contract. The accusations were denied by new management of Energopetrol.
Finally, in the end of March, consortium INA/MOL paid 48.5 million euros at the Energopetrol’s account, which should be used for reconstruction of 65 petrol stations owned by company.
Prime minister of Federation of BiH Mustafa Mujezinovic said that auditor’s report should be discussed by the gov-ernment in the beginning of June.
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News:
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TPP Ugljevik to undergo 100-day overhaul from July 1 (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Starting from July 1, thermal power plant (TPP) Ugljevik (300 MW) should undergo the largest overhaul in the last 25 years. The company said that overall cost of the over-haul should reach some 27 million euros. The overhaul, which should last 100 days, is aimed to provide stable op-eration of the plant in the next several decades.
The largest part of the costs should be funded from com-pany’s income, while World Bank will provide part of the funds under Power IV programme.
Director of TPP Ugljevik, Anto Gajic, said that overhaul would include reconstruction of boiler, replacement of cooling tower, as well as capital overhaul of the turbine and the generator. During the standstill, TPP’s substation will be reconstructed too.
Gajic said that, after the overhaul, the TPP’s availability and annual production should be considerably increased.
In 2010, TPP Ugljevik should produce 1.263 TWh of elec-tricity or some 200 GWh lower compared to 2009. In the same time, coal production should be reduced by 0.5 mil-lion tons down to 1.48 million tons.
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European parliament approved additional funds for decommissioning of four units in NPP Kozloduy
(Bulgaria)
In the second half of May, European parliament, with vast majority, approved resolution on granting the additional financial support to Bulgaria for decommissioning of units 1-4 in nuclear power plant (NPP) Kozloduy.
Bulgaria will receive additional 300 million euros in four-year period, i.e. until 2013. The funds will be transferred to Fund for decommissioning of NPP Kozloduy, which is being managed by European bank for reconstruction and development (EBRD). In the last ten yeas, Bulgaria has re-ceived overall amount of 550 million euros in compensa-tion for closure of old units.
The spending will be strictly controlled and Bulgaria will be obliged to invest funds for new projects. According to plans, 180 million euros will be spent for decommission-ing purposes, while 120 million euros should be spent for energy saving and energy efficiency projects.
EU parliament acknowledged that closure of four 440 MW units in NPP Kozloduy had led to additional emission of 18,000 kilotons of CO2 and therefore financial aid should
be used for environmental projects and for modernization of electricity sector.
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Government to dismantle BEH (Bulgaria)
In the second half of May, government of Bulgaria has confirmed plans for dismantling Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), a mega structure that was established by previous socialist government in 2008. New, right-wing govern-ment, immediately after winning the elections, announced it would close BEH.
Minister of economy, energy and tourism, Traycho Trayk-ov, confirmed that, until the official decision was reached, member companies in BEH would operate independent-ly.
In April, deputy minister of economy, energy and tour-ism Maya Hristova said that government could establish new energy holding, under leadership of National electric company (NEK). However, minister Traykov did not con-firm this and said it was too early to announce plans on potential mergers.
The members of BEH were NEK, Bulgargaz, NPP Kozloduy, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, and Maritsa Iztok coalmine.
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Energy regulator: electricity distributors to reduce unplanned interruptions to supply in 2011 (Bulgaria)
Chair of the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commis-sion (SEWRC) Angel Semerdzhiev announced that new rules regarding quality of electricity supply would be intro-duced in next year. The new rules envisage that electricity distributors will be obliged to reduce electricity prices for customers in case of poor quality of supplied electricity.
In 2011, major electricity distributors CEZ, EVN and E.ON will be entitled to only 10 hours of unplanned interruption to supply. There were no official data regarding current av-erage interruptions. Semerdzhiev also said that electricity distributors would be obliged to reduce unplanned inter-ruptions by 7 % in the incoming years.
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EVN put in service solar park in Sliven municipality (Bulgaria)
Austrian EVN, i.e. its subsidiary EVN Naturkraft officially in-augurated photovoltaic park near Blatec village in Sliven
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municipality. The official ceremony was attended by Peter Layr, a member of the executive board of EVN.
New park, with power output of 837 kWp, employs the lat-est technologies and overall cost of the project reached some 3 million euros. The photovoltaic park is the largest one operated by EVN Group and the first one built by the Group outside of Austria.
The part of the park was put in service in the beginning of 2010, while, from March 2010, the park has been operat-ing at full power. By mid May, overall electricity production reached 342 MWh.
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Three candidates for advisor in Belene project (Bulgaria)
Minister of economy, energy and tourism Traycho Traykov confirmed that three companies have qualified to the sec-ond stage of the tender for providing consultancy services in Belene project. Minister Traykov refused to name eligi-ble bidders, until they were officially informed.
As recalled, the bids for advisor in the project for construc-tion of nuclear power plant (NPP) Belene were submit-ted by HSBC, Societe Generale, KPMG in consortium with Maguire, Rothschild, Arjil and Ernst & Young.
Speaking at the energy forum in Bulgaria, minister Traykov said that development of the project would be clear after selection of the strategic partner.
Minister confirmed that technical project for NPP Belene still did not receive approval from Nuclear regulatory agency (NRA), even though prime minister Boyko Borisov recently said that the project has acquired all necessary permits and approvals. However, minister Traykov did say that Belene project is the most advanced nuclear power project in Europe in this moment, in both technical and legal terms.
Traykov denied claims that future constructor of the NPP, Russian AtomStroyExport, would submit lawsuit against Bulgaria due to delays in the payments.
During the same occasion, minister said that Bulgaria is in-terested in acquiring the nuclear fuel from USA in order to diversify its fuel sources. In this moment, Russian company TVEL has been delivering nuclear fuel to Bulgaria.
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Alpine Bau pulls back from Gorna Arda project (Bulgaria)
In the second half of May, Austrian construction compa-ny Alpine Bau decided to step out from the hydropower project Gorna Arda. This was confirmed in the letter sent by EVN to prime minister Boyko Borisov, minister of econ-omy and energy Traycho Traykov, CEO of National electric company (NEK) Krasimir Parvanov and Turkish CCG Insaat Sanayi Yatirim ve Turizm A.S.
The news on abandoning the project by Alpine Bau came several days after Bulgarian member of EU Parliament Vladimir Uruchev announced that hydropower project Gorna Arda should be restarted in two months.
Gorna Arda project was initiated under power-for-infra-structure agreement between Bulgaria and Turkey in 1998. Two sides blamed each other for delays in the project, while Turkish side even filed compensation request due to lack of progress.
In September last year, government of Bulgaria decided to restart project in cooperation with EVN and Alpine Bau, which have established consortium and which supposed to takeover Turkish part in the project. The project has been developed in cooperation with NEK and takeover of Turkish part of the project was conditional on withdrawing the 75 million euro compensation request submitted by Turkish side.
EVN said that decision of its former partner, who trans-ferred all its rights and obligations to EVN, would not en-danger 500 million euros project, which includes construc-tion of three cascade HPPs with overall output of 174 MW and annual production of 440 GWh of electricity. EVN even said it should speed up tender procedures for selection of contractors.
It is expected that EVN will very soon propose to NEK to update cooperation contract having in mind the latest de-velopments. EVN also said it would not seek for new part-ner in the project. In this moment, NEK owns 70 % of the project.
EVN said that Bulgaria was top priority market for compa-ny’s future projects, where Gorna Arda project is long-term strategic investment for entire region. The future HPPs should provide electricity for 1.6 million of EVN’s custom-ers in Bulgaria. In the same time, the project will improve country’s electricity mix and will contribute to overall se-curity in supply, EVN concluded.
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Three foreign companies interested in acquiring TPP Maritsa Iztok 3 (Bulgaria)
Local media reported that Austrian EVN, US company AES and British company International Power are interested in acquiring the Enel’s stake in thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa Iztok 3 (908 MW).
In March this year, CEO of Enel Fulvio Conti, announced that Enel, who owns 73 % stake in the TPP, has been con-sidering selling its stake. At the time, Conti said that Enel was unsatisfied with company’s performance on Bulgarian market, since Enel did not increase its assets and did not manage to integrate vertically in local market. However, some sources said that Enel wants to sell TPP in order to pay increasing debts of the concern.
EVN, who owns electricity distributor and heating com-pany in Bulgaria, said it had talks with Enel, but it did not reveal any details.
On the other hand, managing director of AES Bulgaria Pe-ter Lithgow said the company has been considering ac-quiring the stake in TPP Maritsa Iztok 3. Local media said that Enel and AES discussed this issue for the first time in the beginning of March. In Bulgaria, AES has been in-volved in construction of coal-fired 670 MW unit in former TPP Maritsa Iztok 1, where cost of the project is 1.3 billion euros. In 2009, AES has completed 156 MW wind farm near Kavarna.
In March, sources said that potential buyer would be in-terested in purchase of 100 % stake in the TPP Maritsa Iz-tok 3. This was supported by the statement of minister of economy and energy Traycho Traykov who said that state has been considering selling its stake in the plant. Traykov said that state could get some 200 million euros for its 27 % stake.
In 2009, Enel has completed modernization of the TPP by increasing its power output from 840 MW up to 908 MW and by building the desulphurization installations. Over-all cost of the modernization reached 700 million euros, where some 160 million euros was invested in ecological projects.
In the related news, Enel denied it had shown interest in the project for construction of nuclear power plant (NPP) Belene. In a media statement, Enel said it has been earlier interested in Belene project, but not anymore.
The potential participation of Enel was announced dur-ing the visit of prime minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov to Italy in the second half of May. During the meeting with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Borisov said he had invited Enel to take part in Belene project.
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Overgas to cancel natural gas supply contract with Bulgargaz (Bulgaria)
Natural gas trader Overgas, one of three companies that have been importing natural gas from Russia to Bulgaria, announced it would cancel import contract with state-owned natural gas company Bulgargaz. The contract for import of same 1 billion cbm of natural gas per year will expire in this year.
Overgas, which is the largest private company in natural gas sector and which has been importing some 70 % of natural gas in Bulgaria, said it should sell natural gas di-rectly to customers in Bulgaria. 50 % shares in Overgas are being owned by Russian Gazprom.
Immediately after Overgas announced its plans, CEO of Bulgargaz Dimitar Gogov denied rumors regarding con-flict between two companies. Gogov downplayed the lat-est development saying that Overgas’s move was no sur-prise.
Gogov said that Bulgargaz did not even want to sign new import contract with Overgas, but directly with Gazprom. According to local media, representatives of Bulgargaz and Gazprom should discuss this issue in Moscow in the beginning of June.
Since the last year, the government of Bulgaria and Bulgar-gaz have been negotiating with Russian Gazprom, which provides almost 100 % of natural gas in Bulgaria, regarding signing the direct import contracts.
During April, CEO of Bulgargaz confirmed that negotia-tions with Gazprom have come to a standstill. At time, he said that, due to considerable drop in consumption, non-signing the contract with Overgas would not endanger natural gas supply in Bulgaria.
So far, Bulgaria has been importing natural gas via three intermediaries: Gazprom export, Overgas and Winter-shall. Natural gas import contracts with Wintershall and Gazprom export are due to expire in 2011-2012.
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Adria LNG submitted request for location permit for LNG terminal on Krk Island (Croatia)
In mid May, Adria LNG consortium, established by E.ON Ruhrgas, Total, OMV and Geoplin, submitted an official request to ministry of environment, spatial planning and construction for issuing the location permit for construc-tion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Krk Island. The consortium said this was the key step in the project, which has been stalled for a year and half.
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As recalled, in the beginning of May, Croatian power utility (HEP), natural gas transporter Plinacro and Croatian oil in-dustry (INA) officially requested to join the consortium. For this purpose, HEP and Plinacro have established joint ven-ture company LNG Croatia, while INA will enter the project independently after carrying due diligence. According to previous announcements, LNG Croatia should own 11 % stake in the project, while INA should acquire 14 % stake.
Spokesperson of Adria LNG, Andreja Pavlovic, believes that location permit should be acquired by the end of the year. However, she did not want to speculate when construc-tion works will start. Pavlovic confirmed that the consor-tium responded to the letters of intent sent by Croatian companies, after which HEP, Plinacro and INA should sign confidentiality contracts.
Pavlovic said that project documentation is yet to be made, after which main contractor for the project should be selected on international tender. Estimated cost of the project, without costs related to construction of pipelines, is 800 million euros. The capacity of the terminal should be 10-15 billion cbm per year.
According to sources, quoted by international media, final investment decision for construction of LNG terminal most likely will not be reached before 2013. According to origi-nal plans, the decision should be reached in 2011, so that terminal would have been operational in 2013.
Head of Adria LNG consortium, Michael Mertl, recently said that project for LNG terminal should be revised and updated in accordance to current market development.
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Sale procedure for Crobenz restarted, both retail and wholesale divisions to be sold (Croatia)
In mid May, Croatian oil industry (INA) officially confirmed that the procedure for sale of its subsidiary Crobenz was restarted by the commissioner appointed by Croatian Competition Agency (CCA).
The previous procedure, which was conducted by INA it-self, was cancelled in the first half of May, after CCA found that buyer selected by INA, the Croatian Petrol Stations, subsidiary of Slovak investment fund Slavia Capital Group, did not meet tender criteria.
INA said in press release that new procedure would include sale of both retail and wholesale segment (it was not in-cluded during the first procedure). According to decisions of CCA, the sale procedure should be completed by July 21.
The potential buyer needs to have necessary expertise, so that Crobenz would continue with current business activi-ties. The buyer must not be linked in any way with INA or MOL (including their subsidiaries). Crobenz has 14 petrol stations and wholesale division.
As recalled, in June last year, after Hungarian MOL acquired managerial rights in INA and increased its market share up to 60 %, CCA demanded from INA to sell Crobenz in ac-cordance to competition rules.
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INA to issue convertible bonds by the end of 2010 (Croatia)
On May 18, Shareholders assembly of Croatian oil industry (INA) has authorized Management board to issue up to 200 million euros of convertible bonds by the end of the year. The shares will be subscribed by two largest shareholders, Hungarian MOL and the government of Croatia.
The official decision on issuing the bonds should be pre-viously approved the Supervision board. Maturity of the bonds will be three years at most.
Minority shareholders protested against the fact that only MOL and government will be entitled to bonds. Financial director of INA explained that convertible bonds were mentioned in the annex to the Main agreement on natu-ral gas business signed by the government of Croatia and MOL and that inclusion of minority shareholders would hinder entire procedure.
Chair of the Management board of INA, Zoltan Aldott said that issuing of convertible bonds would increase capital of the company without acquiring of any loans, while own-ership stakes will not be changed. The bonds will not be used for payment of debts, yet they would be used for in-vestments, Aldott said. He did confirm that INA owes some 34.3 million euros to the state budget and that the debt should be paid in the next six months.
In the last year, INA has invested 220 million euros in ex-ploration projects in Syria and 120 million euros in Adri-atic. However, large investments have affected company’s liquidity and the main priority of the company was stabi-lization. The overall debt of INA amounted to some 50 % of company’s capital value, which was considered as great risk. The bond issuing was seen as solution aimed to re-duce that risk.
During the same occasion, head of INA said that company wants to win back markets that have been lost during last 15 years due to lack of investments. This will require chang-es in business policies and internal changes in INA, Aldott said. He said that main segments of INA, i.e. retail sector,
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refineries, exploration and development improved their profitability during the last and this year, due to measures introduced in the last year.
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INA demanded 10-12 % increase in natural gas prices (Croatia)
Croatian oil industry (INA) said in a press conference it had demanded from the government to approve 10-12 % increase in wholesale natural gas prices for tariff custom-ers. If approved, the price would be increased by some 27 euros/1,000 cbm.
CEO of INA Bojan Milkovic said that request was in accord-ance to the annex to the Main agreement on natural gas business signed by government of Croatia and MOL in the last year.
By December 1, natural gas trade and storage activities, currently owned by INA, will be taken over by the govern-ment of Croatia. Until that time, INA will try to minimize losses in this sector, the management said. Milkovic also confirmed that INA still negotiate on new natural gas pric-es for this year with two large customers, Croatian power utility (HEP) and Petrochemical factory Petrokemija.
As recalled, wholesale natural gas prices for households have been increased in the beginning of 2010 up to 233 euros/1,000 cbm. In the last year, average wholesale nat-ural gas price in Croatia, for households and companies, stood at 160 euros/1,000 cbm. Half of the natural gas sales of INA went to households.
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Prime minister: HEP posted 124 million euros of profit in January-April (Croatia)
Prime minister of Croatia Jadranka Kosor said that Croatian power utility (HEP) has posted some 124 million euros of profit during the first four months in 2010. PM Kosor also said that new management of HEP managed to reduce company’s debts from 100 million euros down to 27.5 mil-lion euros in the end of May.
The data said by the PM Kosor were confirmed by officials from HEP. The company said that overall income in period January-April amounted to some 690 million euros. The fa-vorable results were mostly the consequence of favorable hydrology, the company said. HEP also added that overall debs toward the company stand at some 190 million eu-ros.
In a separate occasion, PM Jadranka Kosor said that, thanks to favorable results posted by HEP, the announced in-crease in electricity prices should be lower than originally demanded.
In the same time, officials from HEP said that company has been considering submitting corrected request for in-crease in electricity prices. In April, Croatian energy regula-tory agency (HERA) issued partial approval for increase in electricity tariffs starting from July 1. At the time, sources said that tariffs should rise by some 13 %. However, sources said that, due to favorable hydrology and favorable prices in the tender for import of electricity in 2011, HEP should demand some 8 % increase in prices.
Officials from HEP said that, during 2011, EFT should de-liver 200 MWh/h of electricity to HEP at price of 46.95 euros/MWh, while Rudnap should deliver 70 MWh/h at price 58.75 euros/MWh. Overall worth of the procurement should reach 97.8 million euros. Spokesperson of HEP, Radomir Milisic said that agreements with two electricity traders should be signed in the first week of June.
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ELPE signed 400 million EUR load (Greece)
Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE), Greek largest refinery, signed a 400 million EUR loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), as financial help to upgrade its Elefsina refinery, near Athens. The 1.2 billion EUR Elefsina upgrade project, one of the biggest industrial investments undertaken in Greece, is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2011.
The company is in the process of implementing a “Tree year – 2 billion EUR” investment plan.
DESFA and Gazprom to form joint venture (Greece)
Spokesman of Greek natural gas operator, DESFA, said that agreement between Gazprom and Greece regarding con-struction of pipeline will be signed on June 7th.
DESFA and Gazprom will each have 50% stake in the joint venture company which will build and manage the part of South Stream running through Greece.
Greece joined the South Stream project in 2008. The Greek section of South Stream, which will run from the Bulgar-ian-Greek border to Greek western coast, is estimated to cost 1 billion EUR.
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Government to invest 500 million EUR in energy sector (Macedonia)
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that the government plans to invest over 500 million euros in next 10 years in several energy projects. “We are currently fo-cusing on HPP Boskov Most project, while project for HPPs Cebren and Galiste is near finish. This project alone is 600-700 million EUR worth, represents 2.5% of GDP and it will be in construction for 7 years”, Mr. Gruevski said. Beside these project, government plans to invest in Lukovo field and furder exploration of Mariovo field.
Tender procedure for Cebren and Galiste is longest ten-der procedure in history of Macedonia. Two HPPs will be pump storage hydropower plants with capacity: Cebren (347 MW) and Galiste (194 MW). Two HPPs should produce overall amount of 1.1 TWh of electricity per year.
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High electricity export in Jan-April 2010 (Macedonia)
During first four months of 2010, Macedonia has exported high amounts of night energy (22-06 hrs). According to MEPSO data, 219 GWh was exported in Jan-April 2010, which is three times more than amount of imported day energy (06-22 hrs). In the same period last year, ELEM has exported only 2.5 GWh of electric energy.
Price of night energy is 30% cheaper than regular day energy. Higher than normal production of electric ener-gy is resulted by heavy rainfall in Jan-April 2010. During first four months, ELEM has produced 2.428 GWh, which is 5.4% higher than planned. HPPs alone produced 1.015 GWh. 78.7 GWh was imported, which is 30% less than in same period last year.
SDSM accuses ELEM for 15 million EUR production losses (Macedonia)
Macedonian opposition party, SDSM, accused ELEM for in-adequate operation of hydro power plants. According to SDSM, ELEM has caused 15 million EUR losses due to high amount of overspill in hydro power plants accumulations. They claim that 200 GWh of electric energy could be pro-duced if ELEM did not decide to hold high level of accu-
mulations. SDSM claims that around 80 cbm/s is lost every second, which costs the state 120 000 EUR per day.
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Government published new public invitation for Maoce coalmine (Montenegro)
In mid May, ministry of economy of Montenegro decided to cancel the first and to publish second public invitation for granting the concession for Maoce coalmine and for construction of 500 MW power plant.
The ministry decided to reject the offer of French company Sechilienne Sidec, which was the only bidder during the first procedure. Government said that French company did not meet tender criteria.
The government decided to ease most of the criteria in the second tender. The bidder should have annual income of 300 million euros (compared to 500 million euros), and overall assets of 900 million euros (compared to 1.5 billion euros). In the same time, future concessionaire should be involved in electricity production from coal fired thermal power plants with output of at least 500 MW ( compared to 1,000 MW), where annual output should reach at least 4 TWh per year in one of the last three years (compared to 6 TWh ). In the same time, annual coal production of the bidder should reach 2 million tons in one of the last three years. Finally, the bidder’s credit rating should be at least BBB- or Baa3.
As recalled, public invitation was published in November 2009, while the deadline expired on May 10 this year. New deadline was set at July 19. The future concessionaire will be selected through two-stage tender procedure. Maoce coalmine is located near city of Pljevlja. The proven coal reserves are estimated at 110 million tons, while ex-ploitable coal reserves stand at 93 million tons.
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Concession agreement for wind farm Mozura to be signed in June (Montenegro)
Tender commission of ministry of economy of Montene-gro said it had prepared Draft concession agreement for construction of wind farm Mozura (46 MW), which will be located near cities of Ulcinj and Bar.
The 20-year concession agreement will be signed with con-sortium led by Spanish Fersa Energias Renovables, which submitted the bid in March this year. The future farm will have 23 turbines. The estimated cost of the project is 64.6 million euros and it should be completed in two years.
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In the same time, tender commission said it has been ne-gotiating with consortium Ivicom Consulting & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries regarding the concession agreement for wind farm Krnovo (50 MW). The agreement should be har-monized by June 1, officials said. The wind farm Krnovo has an option for increase of the output by 22 MW and the cost of the project is estimated between 70 and 90 million euros.
As recalled, tenders for construction of wind farms Mozura and Krnovo were published on December 24 last year.
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EPCG published tender for electricity import in 2011 (Montenegro)
In the end of May, Power utility of Montenegro (EPCG) published tender for import of 545.95 GWh of electricity in period January 1, 2011- December 31, 2011. Estimated cost of the procurement is 25 million euros. The requested amount was considerably lower compared to previous an-nual tenders.
EPCG has divided requested amount in two lots. The first lot refers to import of 438 GWh of electricity (band deliv-ery of 50 MWh/h) in period January 1, 2011- December 31, 2011. The second lot refers to import of 107.95 GWh of electricity (band delivery of 50 MWh/h) in period January 1, 2011- March 31, 2011. The potential bidders are allowed to submit bids for one, both or part of the lots, where mini-mal bid is set at 10 MWh/h.
The qualified bidders will be entitled to sign preliminary contracts in period January 1, 2011-December 31, 2012. Deadline in the tender was set at June 18 and the results should be published 20 days later.
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Electricity production increased by 4.9 % in Q1 (Montenegro)
Government of Montenegro said that gross electricity pro-duction in Montenegro during the first quarter of 2010 was increased up to 1.38 TWh, i.e. 4.9 % higher compared to the same period last year and 36.6 % higher than planned.
According to the government’s data, electricity production in hydropower plants (HPPs) has reached 1.05 TWh (+19.5 %). In the same time, thermal power plant (TPP) Pljevlja produced 334 GWh of electricity (-24.1 %).
Gross electricity production, without including HPP Piva, which is being operated by Power utility of Serbia (EPS)
under long-term agreement, was 1.3 % lower compared to the last year and 28.2 % higher than planned.
In the same time, gross electricity consumption amounted to some 1 TWh, which was 6 % lower than planned, the government said. The consumption of largest industrial customers was lower than planed, i.e. Aluminum factory reduced its consumption by 1.8 %, Steel factory by 61.5 %, and Railway Company reduced its consumption by 13 %. In the same time, electricity consumption of custom-ers connected to distribution grid was 5.1 % lower than planned.
In the related news, in the second half of May, thermal power plant (TPP) Pljevlja was disconnected for the pur-pose of regular annual overhaul. The overhaul should last three weeks, and the TPP should be back in service on June 7, the management said.
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Four eligible bidders for construction of HPPs on Moraca River (Montenegro)
In the end of May, ministry of economy said in press re-lease that four companies have qualified to submit bids in the tender for granting the 30-year concession for con-struction of four cascade hydropower plants (HPPs) on Moraca River.
Public invitation for prequalification tender was published on February 26, and the deadline was set at April 30. In the end of April, the ministry confirmed that five companies and consortia submitted bids.
The tender commission decided that eligible candidates for granting the concession would be Sinohydro Copora-tion (China), Enel (Italy), consortium lead by Italian A2A (with EPCG), and Strabag International (Germany). The commission also said that fifth bid, submitted by consor-tium led by Allgemeine Baugesellschaft A. Porr Aktienges-ellschaft (Austria), was rejected since it did not meet ten-der criteria.
Ministry of economy said that Chinese Sinohydro Corpora-tion was leading world company in the field of construc-tion of HPPs that has been active in 50 countries. Its last’s year income was 2.8 billion dollars.
Italian Enel is the largest energy company in Italy. It has been active in 23 countries and it has been delivering elec-tricity and natural gas to 61 million customers. In Italy, Enel operates 500 HPPs with installed output of 14,400 MW, the ministry said in press release.
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A2A, strategic partner of Power utility of Montenegro (EPCG), owns several HPPs and its last year’s income was 3.5 billion euros.
Finally, German Strabag is one of Europe’s leading compa-nies in the field of construction of HPPs, with 13 billion eu-ros of income in the last year, the press release said.
The qualified bidders will be allowed to purchase tender documentation and concession agreement (which is yet to be prepared) and they will be invited to submit bids. The commission said that qualified bidders would be informed on continuation of tender procedure.
The four HPPs on Moraca River, HPPs Andrijevo (127 MW), Raslovici, Milunovici and Zlatica (37 MW each) should be built by future concessionaries under Build-Operate-Trans-fer concession agreement. Annual output of four HPPs is estimated at some 700 GWh. The HPPs should be built in period of six years, while overall costs are estimated at over 500 million euros.
The project is the part of national energy strategy, but it has been opposed by the majority of ecological organi-zations, NGOs, local communities and the church. On the other hand, the government believes that most of the citizens in Montenegro were in favor of the project, which should boost national economy.
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EPCG wants to increase collection rate for electricity bills (Montenegro)
Power utility of Montenegro (EPCG) said it should prepare action plan in order to increase collection rate for electric-ity bills. According to official data, only 69 % of bills were paid during the first two months in 2010.
EPCG said that network losses remained very high, despite 4 % reduction compared to the last year. In the same time, despite high number of non-paying customers, insignifi-cant number of them was disconnected from the grid, EPCG said.
According to company’s data, unpaid bills amounted to 140 million euros, where industrial customers owe 23 mil-lion euros.
Board of directors of EPCG decided that 20-30 largest debtors would be paid special attention, where this would include exact evaluation of the debts, choice of collection method and disconnections from the grid. During this process, EPCG said it should use experiences of A2A, a stra-tegic partner of EPCG.
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EPCG posted 16.2 million euros of profit in Q1 (Montenegro)
Power utility of Montenegro (EPCG) said it has posted 16.2 million euros of net profit during the first quarter of 2010, which was lower two times compared to the same period last year.
In the same time, overall income was increased up to 86.44 million euros (+19 %), while retained loss amounted to 56.4 million euros. The overall active capital was slightly increased up to 848.7 million euros, EPCG said. EPCG is yet to publish final financial report for the last year. Representatives of EPCG earlier said that last year’s profit should reach 20 million euros.
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Transgaz to increase transmission fees by 10 % from July 1 (Romania)
Natural gas transmission company Transgaz announced it would increase natural gas transmission fees by 10 %, i.e. from 1.8 euro/MWh up to 1.97 euro/MWh from July 1. The price increase is aimed to cover lack of regulated revenues (some 22.5 million euros), approved by the Romanian En-ergy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), in period July 2008-June 2009.
Transgaz also announced that average purchase price for natural gas from domestic sources should reach 49 euro/MWh in this year or 10 % higher compared to the last quar-ter of 2009.
According to Transgaz’s estimations, overall natural gas transport in Romania in 2010 should reach some 134.4 TWh or 12.6 billion cbm of natural gas, which would be 4.5 % higher compared to the last year.
In related news, sources said that ANRE has been reconsid-ering to approve 5 % increase in natural gas prices for do-mestic producers starting from June 1. On the other hand, president of Romania, Traian Basescu announced that nat-ural gas prices would remain regulated at least until the end of economic crisis.
According to original plans, Romania should have harmo-nized domestic natural gas prices in accordance to EU pric-es until January 1, but this deadline has been prolonged for several times.
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Government to subsidize coal prices after 2010 (Romania)
State secretary in ministry of economy, Tudor Serban, con-firmed that the state would continue to subsidize domes-tic coal producers even after 2010, despite disagreements with International monetary fund (IMF) and EU.
Serban said that this sector, which was country’s tradition, needed to be relieved from historic burdens and the gov-ernment should continue to look for subsidy solutions.
National coal company (CNH) is the biggest debtor to the state budget, and its debt continues to rise. In this year, CNH should be granted 58.5 million euros of subsidies.
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Government to reduce stake in future units in NPP Cernavoda (Romania)
State secretary in ministry of economy, Tudor Serban, said that government decided to reduce its stake in the joint venture company EnergoNuclear, which will build units 3 and 4 (700 MW each) in nuclear power plant (NPP) Cerna-voda.
In this moment, the government holds 51 % stake in the project, and it should be most likely reduced to 25 %, Ser-ban said. Other shareholders in EnergoNuclear are RWE, Enel, GDF Suez (9.15 % each), and ArcelorMittal and Iber-drola (6.2 % each).
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Report on energy resources in period January-March 2010 (Romania)
According to National Institute of Statistics (INS), primary energy resources in period January- March 2010, reached 8.404 million tons of oil equivalent (toe), which was 0.8 % lower compared to same period last year. The domestic production reached 5.823 million toe (-4.3 %), while im-port of primary energy resources reached 2.581 million toe (+8.2 %).
The coal resources amounted to 1.587 million toe (-12.2 %), where domestic production reached 1.457 million toe (-4.0 %) and import reached 0.130 million toe (-55 %).
Oil resources amounted to 2.459 million toe (-8.3 %), where domestic production reached 1.019 million toe (-6.1 %) and import reached 1.440 million toe (-9.8 %).
Natural gas resources amounted to 2.829 million toe (+10 %), where domestic production reached 2.260 million toe
(-5.3 %) and import reached 0.569 million toe (+206.6 %).
Electrical energy resources reached 15.781 TWh, which was 0.556 TWh or 3.4 % lower compared to the same pe-riod last year.
The electricity production was decreased by 0.522 TWh (-3.3 %) The production in thermal power plants (TPPs) was reduced by 0.718 TWh (-8.0%) down to 8.247 TWh, while the production in hydropower plants (HPPs) was increased by 0.339 TWh (+8.5 %) up to 4.331 TWh. The production in nuclear power plant (NPP) Cernavoda was reduced by 0.143 TWh (-4.7 %) down to 2.917 TWh.
The domestic electricity production amounted to 98.2 % of overall electricity resources, while electricity import amounted to 1.8 % of overall electricity resources. The production in thermal power plants amounted to 53.2 % of overall electricity production, production in hydro-power plants amounted to 28.0 %, while production in nuclear power plants amounted to 18.8 % of overall elec-tricity production.
63.6 % of overall electricity produced in the country was spent by industry, 19.1 % by households, 14.0 % was technological consumption in power plants and electric-ity networks, 1.9 % of electricity was exported, while 1.4 % was spent by public lightning.
Final electricity consumption amounted to 13.268 TWh (+3.0 %), where consumption of households was in-creased by 1.2 %. In the same period, electricity export was reduced by 1.048 TWh (-77.6 %).
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Hidroenergetica and Electra to be operational from July 1 (Romania)
Mihai David, general manager of Hidroelectrica an-nounced that two integrated energy companies, Hid-roenergetica and Electra, should be operational from July 1. David said that Competition council should issue its opinion regarding establishment of two companies in the beginning of June.
David said that establishment of two companies would boost national economy, where two companies would be competitive in terms of quality and prices.
In January this year, government of Romania officially approved establishment of two national energy com-panies. Electra will include energy complexes Turceni, Rovinari and Craiova, Nuclearelectrica, Hidroelectrica’s branches Ramnicu Valcea, Sibiu and Targu Jiu and Na-tional lignite company Oltenia (SNLO). Hidroenergetica
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will incorporate Electrocentrale Deva, Electrocentrale Bu-charest, thermal power plant Paroseni, Hidroelectrica’s subsidiaries in Bistrita, Buzau, Cluj, Curtea de Arges Hateg, Iron Gates, Oradea, Sebes and Slatina and National coal company (CNH). After this restructuring, Hidroelectrica will cease to exist.
The government also announced that general manager of EC Craiova, Constantin Balasiou, will be the head of Electra, while Mihai David, will be the head of Hidroenergetica.
In a separate occasion, David announced that Hidroener-getica should issue several million euros worth bonds next spring, which should be only the first step. He believes that financial markets should support new company.
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German PNE Wind to invest 622 million euros in wind farms (Romania)
German company PNE Wind plans to develop four wind farms in Romania, i.e. in Moldova, Dobrogea, Banat and Transylvania, where overall investments should reach 622 million euros. Overall output of four wind farms will be 366 MW.
According to general manager of PNE Wind Romania, Dan-iela Dinescu, several projects were under way and the first wind farm should be completed in the end of 2011. Dines-cu said that projects would be developed and sold after achieving necessary profit.
PNE Wind Romania plans to purchase land for new wind power projects near Bucharest, Constant, Galati and Man-galia.
So far, PNE Wind has built 92 wind farms all around the world, with overall output of 770 MW. The company has been developing wind farm projects with overall output of 1,400 MW in Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, UK, Ireland, Canada and Romania.
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Petrom to invest 1 billion euros per year until 2015 (Romania)
Oil and natural gas company Petrom announced it should invest some 1 billion euros per year until 2015 in order to expand in oil and electricity sectors. The funds for the projects will be provided through reduction of expenses and capital increase of 600 million euros.
Petrom said that exploration and production activities in oil sector would focus on projects in Caspian region. In the same time, the company’s refinery in Brazi should be mod-
ernized and upgraded in order to process 100 % of domes-tic oil production.
The company announced it should increase natural gas sales in the region, which will depend on capabilities of natural gas network.
In electricity sector, Petrom plans to seize 10 % market share. Petrom has been engaged in construction of natu-ral gas fired power plant in Brazi (860 MW). This Greenfield project will be the first modern plant in accordance to country’s obligations for reduction of greenhouse gasses, Petrom said. The company wants to use renewable energy sources, especially wind power, in electricity production, the press release said.
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NIS to become open joint stock company in June (Serbia)
In mid May, Management board of Oil industry of Serbia (NIS) approved the draft decision on transforming the NIS into open joint stock company.
The company, majority owned by Russian Gazprom Neft, said that several other decisions related to the transforma-tion were also reached and they should be approved by the Shareholders assembly on June 21.
During the same session, the board approved consolidated financial report for 2009, which was made by independent auditor PriceWaterHouseCoopers. The report needs to be approved by incoming Shareholders assembly. PriceWater-HouseCoopers was proposed by the Management board to make audit of financial statements for 2010.
General manager of NIS Kiril Kravchenko said that compa-ny should post some 19 million euros of profit in this year. The positive results should be reported despite declines in sales volumes (-20 % in Q1) and depreciation of local cur-rency (-11.5 %), Kravchenko said.
In the last year, overall bookkeeping loss of NIS, after ap-plying international financial standards, was 370 million euros. The main reasons for enormous bookkeeping loss-es were reevaluation of company’s fixed assets (some 180 million euros), disputable customers’ losses (120 million euros) and court proceedings. General manager pointed out that loss from business activities in 2009 was 43.3 mil-lion euros.
The main reasons for last year’s loss were depreciation of local currency and payment of dismissal wages (some 29 million euros). According to Kravchenko, in period Febru-ary-December 2009, after Gazprom Neft officially took over
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the company, NIS has posted 27 million euros of profit, but huge losses from January prevailed.
In this year, NIS should invest some 300 million euros for modernization of Pancevo oil refinery and for reconstruc-tion of 60 petrol stations.
According to company’s data, NIS holds 29 % share in retail market and 68 % share in wholesale market. Kravchenko said that NIS would be ready for liberalization of oil market in 2011.
By the end of 2010, NIS should increase production of euro diesel, the only type of gasoline which import is liberalized in this moment. During the first quarter of 2010, NIS’s share in euro diesel sales reached 43 %.
General manager believes that NIS should float shares on Belgrade Stock Exchange by the end of June. As recalled, Gazprom Neft took over 51 % shares in February 2009 by paying 400 million euros. Citizens of Serbia and employees of NIS were granted 15 % and 4.34 % stake in NIS, respec-tively.
On the other hand, local financial experts believe that NIS should list its shares in July, at the earliest. The latest losses of NIS should not affect share price in July, because Gazprom Neft was obliged to offer to purchase shares from all minority shareholders at price of 4.8 euros until Febru-ary next year. Analysts believe that real market price could be even tenfold of initial price.
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Energy minister: government considers potential participation in Belene project (Serbia)
Minister of energy and mining Petar Skundric confirmed that government of Serbia has been considering potential participation in construction of nuclear power plant (NPP) Belene in Bulgaria. Minister believes that this would be in the best interest for not only Serbia but also entire region and EU. He said this during the energy conference in Bel-grade in the second half of May.
During the conference, minister Skundric reiterated that government could take part in Belene project in coopera-tion with Chinese investors, which should provide loans. Skundric explained that, by construction of NPP in Bulgar-ia, the government would not breach local moratorium for construction of NPPs.
The joint development of Belene project would strengthen relations between Serbia and Bulgaria as well as regional cooperation. Minister Skundric said that government was in favor of regional energy strategy. He reminded that Ser-bia has recently signed cooperation protocols and agree-
ments for joint construction of power plants with Italy and Republic of Srpska.
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EPS to publish tender for smart electricity meters in this year (Serbia)
Power utility of Serbia (EPS) said in official press release that tender for purchase of smart electricity meters should be published by the end of the year.
Overall cost of the procurement is estimated at 80 million euros and it should be funded by loans of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Europe-an Investment Bank (EIB).
EPS said that new Advanced Meter Infrastructure and Meter Data Management (AMI/ MDM) equipment, would improve energy and economic efficiency and it should in-crease collection rate of electricity bills and reduce losses. New equipment will enable remote metering of consump-tion and management of distribution network.
EPS posted on its website an official document, which de-fines technical requirements of the future equipment. All interested equipment manufacturers will have enough time to be acquainted with demands and to prepare them-selves for procurements that will be conducted in incom-ing years, EPS said in press release.
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EPS published agreement forms for purchase of electricity from renewable energy producers (Serbia)
Power utility of Serbia (EPS) published on its website agree-ment forms for owners of power plants that produce elec-tricity from renewable energy sources (RES), which want to sign electricity purchase contracts with EPS.
The forms include requests for signing the agreement, the agreement forms and five more documents that define ob-ligations of preferential electricity producers.
In November last year, the government of Serbia approved feed-in tariffs. The tariffs, which vary from 6.7 eurocents/kWh up to 23 eurocents/kWh, will be guaranteed in period of 12 years.
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Re-Energy to start construction of 25 MW farm in this year (Serbia)
Austrian-Serbian company Re-Energy said that first wind generator in the future wind farm in Indjija municipal-ity should be built by the end of the year. The particular generator will have 1 MW output. The farm should have 12 wind turbines and overall output of 25 MW. The overall cost of the project is estimated at 30 million euros.
In August 2006, Re-Energy and municipality of Indjija signed an agreement for construction of the wind farm. The municipality has adopted detailed spatial plan of the farm, which will be located between Beska and Krcedin.
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Environment minister: oil refinery in Smederevo to meet environmental standards (Serbia)
During the visit to city of Smederevo, minister of environ-ment and spatial planning Oliver Dulic said that oil refin-ery in Smederevo should be built in accordance to all en-vironmental standards. Serbia needs investments and the project should be supervised by the state. However, the state will not allow employment of dirty technologies, Du-lic said.
If local authorities in Smederevo do not approve the project, the project should be relocated to Belgrade, Novi Sad or Subotica, minister Dulic said.
As recalled, in 2008, Comico Oil, subsidiary of Comico Over-seas, and Smederevo municipality signed Memorandum of understanding regarding construction of 250 million dollars worth oil refinery in Smederevo. According to MoU, daily output of the refinery should be 4,000 tons of gaso-line, euro diesel and kerosene. Since than, the project has been delayed after municipality failed to issue necessary approvals due to political disputes in local parliament.
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Agreement for enlargement of TPP Kostolac B to be signed in June (Serbia)
General manager of thermal power plant (TPP) and coal-mine Kostolac, Dragan Jovanovic, announced that com-mercial agreement for modernization of TPP Kostolac B (2x300 MW) with China National Machinery and Equip-ment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) should be signed in the second half of June. Jovanovic confirmed that negotiations with CMEC were under way.
TPP Kostolac and Chinese CMEC signed the preliminary agreement for modernization of TPP Kostolac B in Febru-ary this year.
In the first half of May, during the official visit to China, minister of energy and mining of Serbia Petar Skundric announced that commercial agreement for the project should be signed in July.
In China, minister Skundric signed the Memorandum of un-derstanding in energy sector, which, among other things, had supported cooperation in the project in Kostolac. In addition, delegation of Power utility of Serbia (EPS) and TPP Kostolac and CMEC signed cooperation protocol aimed to support future commercial agreement.
The cost of the project is estimated at 1.25 billion dollars. The project will include revitalization of existing units, con-struction of desulphurization facility, and enlargement of Drmno coalmine and construction of unit 3 (350 MW). 85 % of the funds for the project should be provided by Chi-nese Eximbank, while the rest should be provided by Ser-bia. According to recent announcements of minister Skun-dric and Chinese officials, the loan should be granted 3-6 months after signing the commercial agreement.
In 2009, TPP Kostolac has produced 5.9 TWh of electricity. TPP Kostolac includes TPP Kostolac A (300 MW) and TPP Kostolac B (600 MW).
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Italian Lusis&Partners to build small HPPs on Lim River (Serbia)
Italian company Lusis&Partners said that, by acquiring the energy licenses, project for construction of two out of six small hydropower plants (HPPs) on Lim River was officially started.
The company said it should submit request to ministry of energy and mining to issue energy licenses for remaining four projects, since the company has submitted necessary documentation.
Overall cost of the project on Lim River is estimated at 120 million euros. The power output of single HPP should be 10 MW at most. Lusis&Partners said that HPPs would not en-danger natural environment, climate or wildlife nor would they change the river flow. The project should meet high-est ecological standards, the company said.
State secretary in ministry of energy and mining, Nikola Ra-jakovic, said that overall cost for construction of the above-mentioned two HPPs, which will have combined output of 15.3 MW, should reach 25-30 million euros. The investor is obliged to start construction works in period of two years,
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otherwise, the energy licenses would be revoked, Rajakovic said. Rajakovic too confirmed that HPPs would be environ-mentally friendly projects, because the flooding should be minimal and there would be no dislocation of population.
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Energy minister: tenders for TPPs Kolubara B and Nikola Tesla B3 to be ready in July (Serbia)
Minister of energy and mining Petar Skundric said that ten-ders for construction of thermal power plants (TPPs) Kolu-bara B (2x 350 MW) and Nikola Tesla B3 (700 MW) should be ready in July. Minister said this during energy confer-ence in Belgrade in mid May.
In a separate occasion, minister Skundric said that several foreign investors are highly interested in construction of TPPs in Serbia. Skundric said that government had talks with potential investors from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Russia, Austria and China.
In the beginning of May, Power utility of Serbia (EPS) urged the government to speed up the tender procedures for new TPPs by creating favorable business environment and by adoption of necessary bylaws and decisions.
Since January this year, tender procedures, which have been launched in January 2009, have been delayed at the request of potential bidders. The government of Serbia blamed the financial crisis for ongoing delays. Several local analysts said that additional reasons for delays were inade-quate legislation and delays in preparation of the tenders.
In the meantime, AES, EnBW and CEZ, potential strategic partners selected by EPS, decided to abandon the projects, so that only Edison is expected to submit bid for TPP Kolu-bara B, while Edison and RWE should submit bids for unit 3 in TPP Nikola Tesla B.
According to original plans, EPS should own between 20 and 49 % stake in new power plants. The first unit in TPP Kolubara B should be built by 2014, while the second unit should be in service in 2015. In 2016, unit 3 in TPP Nikola Tesla B should be built. Overall cost of the projects is esti-mated at 1.6 billion euros.
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Company / organization: PPC, Greece
Consulting services for the implementation of operational efficiency improve-ments in Mines
Content: . PPC has launched an international open procedure call for tenders with sealed tenders, for selection of a contractor for the project “consulting services for the implementation of operational efficiency improve-ments in Mines Bu”. The project has an estimated budget of 300 000 EUR, plus VAT. The above budget constitutes an upper limit for the tenders.
The award criteria shall be the most technoeconom-ically advantageous proposal/offer according to the procedure described in the Article 6 of the docu-ment “Bidding Terms and Procedures”
Deadline: 07 June 2010, 11:00 hrs, local time
Contact: Mr. John Ioakeim+ 30 246 10 930 66Ms. Anna Siganou+30 210 510 [email protected]
Company / organization: EBRD, related Bulgaria
Announcement: Energy efficiency rehabilitation at Martisa East mines
Content: . “Mini Maritza East” EAD (the “Employer”) intends using the proceeds of the grant funds provided by the “Kozloduy International Decommissioning Sup-port Fund” (the “KIDSF”), administered by the Eu-ropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “Bank”) and of its own financial sources towards the cost of design, implementation and consultancy services for:
A. Construction (Supply and Installation of Plant and Equipment) of on-line load control of the operation of the belt conveyors and excavators at “Mini Mar-itza East” EAD, Bulgaria.
It shall include design, engineering, procurement, delivery, construction, installation, pre-commis-sioning and commissioning of on-line load control system (including software) to overburden remov-al, transportation and spreading facilities of Troy anovo-1, Troyanovo-North and Troyanovo-3 Mines.The procurement of the contract is expected do be-gin in the beginning of the second quarter of 2010.
B. Rehabilitation (Supply and Installation of Plant and Equipment) of the power supply system thatshall include design, engineering, procurement,delivery, construction and installation of plant and equipment of 4 off installation platforms required for the construction of new mobile sub-stations20/6 kV and their transfer in Troyanovo-North Mines at “Mini Maritza East” EAD, Bulgaria
C. Rehabilitation (Supply and Installation of Plant and Equipment) of the substations, including instal-lation of new power transformers for Troyanovo-North and Troyanovo-3 Mines at “Mini Maritza East” EAD, Bulgaria.
Tenders:
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Content: D. PIU Consultancy service for advising the Employer in the procurement of the projects financed and co-financed from the Kozloduy International Decom-missioning Support Fund.
More info on:http://www.ebrd.com/oppor/procure/opps/goods/general/090925a.htm
Deadline: 24 September 2010 at 24:00, Stara Zagora time
Content: Srbjiagas intends using the proceeds of a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-ment for a project to optimize its capital structure through replacing emergency bridge loans with long term financing; undertake urgent works aimed at preserving the pipeline network integrity, and build a new underground gas storage facility. The proposed project, which has a total estimated cost of EUR150 million equivalent, will require the procure-ment of the following goods, works and services:
- Works: Pipeline network rehabilitation, including environmental protection and safety upgrade; and construction of a new underground gas storage fa-cility- Goods: Components for the pipeline network reha-bilitation (pipes, valves and fittings); Equipment and components for the new underground gas storage facility- Consultancy services: PIG survey fitness for pur-pose study; PIU support including procurement; Ba-sic design for the underground gas storage facility; feasibility study for storage/design/preparation of tender documents; feasibility study for interconnec-tion; Integrated Strategic Expansion plan study for Srbjiagas; and a Lenders Technical MonitorTendering for the above contracts is expected to begin at the end of the first quarter of 2010 for the consultancy services, and during the third quarter of 2010 for goods and works contracts.
Deadline: 17 February 2011, Belgrade time
Contact: JP Srbijagas, 12 Narodnog Fronta,21000 Novi Sad, SerbiaTel: +381 21 481 2703Fax: +381 21 481 4305 Email: [email protected]
Content: EPS has applied for a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development towards the cost of modernizing the electricity distribution in-frastructure in Serbia to enable EPS to reduce losses, improve the quality and reliability of supply, and im-prove energy efficiency.
The proposed project has a total estimated cost of 80 million EUR, of which 40 million EUR is proposed to be financed by the EBRD, and 40 million EUR by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The project will require the procurement of the following consultan-cy services, goods, works and services to be funded by the EBRD for:
1. Goods and related services for purchasing of me-tering equipment for medium voltage, and the in-stallation of the aforementioned items;
2. Goods and related services for purchasing of me-tering equipment for low voltage with remote read-ing and remote disconnection capabilities, and for cables, poles, metering boxes, and auxiliary equip-ment for the installation of the aforementioned items;
3. Supplies and services for supply, implementation and training of hardware and software with the ca-pabilities of remote management, remote reading, and a measurement database
4. Consulting services to support the Project Imple-mentation Unit established by EPS.
Tendering for contracts under 4. above is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2010, and for the rest of the Project in the second quarter of 2010.
Deadline: 17 February 2011 at 23:00, Belgrade time
Content: Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (“EPCG”) has applied for a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “Bank”) towards the cost of modernising the electricity distribution infrastruc-ture in Montenegro to enable EPCG to reduce losses, improve the quality and reliability of supply, and im-prove energy efficiency.
The proposed project has a total estimated cost of Euro 43 million, of which EUR 38 million is proposed to be financed by the EBRD, and will require the procurement of the following consultancy services, goods, works and services for:
(a) Goods and related services for purchasing of me-tering equipment for medium voltage, and the in-stallation of the aforementioned items;
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Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
Content: (b) Goods and related services for purchasing of me-tering equipment for low voltage with remote read-ing and remote disconnection capabilities, and for cables, pillars, metering boxes, and auxiliary equip-ment for the installation of the aforementioned items;
(c) Supplies and services for supply, implementation and training of software for remote management, remote reading, and measurement database
(d) Consulting services to support the Project Imple-mentation Unit established by EPCG.
Tendering for contracts under (d) above is expected to begin in the final quarter of 2009, and for the rest of the Project in the second quarter of 2010. Thesecomponents are anticipated to be financed princi pally by the EBRD.
Contracts to be financed with the proceeds of a loan from the EBRD will be subject to its Procurement Policies and Rules and will be open to firms from any country. The proceeds of the EBRD’s loan will not be used for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations or under a law or official regulation of the purchaser’s country.
Deadline: 3 November 2010 at 23:00, local time time
Contact: Mr Velimir StrugarDeputy DirectorFunctional Unit DistributionUl. Ivana Milutinovića 12,PodgoricaMontenegroFax: +382 20 241 235E-mail: [email protected]
Content: Bulgartransgaz Silistra, Kozloduy, Oryahovo De-velopment Bulgartransgaz EAD (the “Employer”) intends to use the proceeds of the Grant funds provided by the Kozloduy International Decommis-sioning Support Fund (the “KIDSF”), administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-ment (the “Bank”) and its own resources to finance the cost and complete the Project for delivery and construction of high pressure gas pipeline to, and gas regulation stations in Silistra, Kozloduy and Oryiahovo.The Project, which has a total estimated cost of EUR 23.2 million, will require the following deliveries and construction services:A. Delivery of steel pipes and fittings for a gas pipe-line. B. Delivery of gas valves. C. Automatic Gas Regulation Stations (AGRS). D. Construction of high pressure gas pipelines and gas regulation stations. Construction and Commissioning of about 70 km gas transmission pipeline, optical fiber cable line within the gas pipeline easement and two AGRS.
Content: More info on:http://www.ebrd.com/oppor/procure/opps/goods/general/090901a.htm
Deadline: 1 September 2010 at 00:00, Sofia time
Contact: Mr. Angel SemerdjievExecutive Director Bulgartransgaz EAD66, Pancho Vladigerov Blvd. Sofia 1336 BulgariaFax : + 359 29396462e-mail: [email protected]
Company / organization: EBRD, related Bulgaria
Announcement: Sofia District Heating Rehabilitation
Content: The Kozloduy International Decommissioning Sup-port Fund (KIDSF), administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was established in 2001 for the support of the de-commissioning of Units 1-4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. One of the purposes of this Fund is to finance or co-finance preparation and implemen-tation of selected projects that aim the necessary restructuring, upgrading and modernization in vari-ous Bulgarian industry sectors consequential to fi-nal shutdown of Units 1-4 of the Kozliduy Nuclear Power Plant.
Toplofikacia Sofia EAD, the single owned joint stock district heating company serving the city of Sofia carried out the rehabilitation of the centralized dis-trict heating system in the city. The District Heating Rehabilitation Project comprised the modernization of district heating substations, replacement of pipe-lines, compensators, valves, thermal insulation of over-ground pipelines, conversion to variable flow of the Sofia district heating network.
Toplofikacia Sofia EAD intends to use additional grant funds of the Kozloduy International Decom-missioning Support Fund (KIDSF) for continuation of the Project for replacement of the left, old, not au-tomated substations in Sofia district heating system. These funds shall be used for delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of: individual heating substations units for space heating and domestic hot water including. heat exchangers, circulation pumps, control valves and automation devices.
Tendering for the above contracts is expected to be-gin in the first half of 2010. In case the KIDSF does not grant these additional funds to Toplofikacia So-fia, the tender procedure shall be cancelled.
The budget for the project, subject of this GPN is about EUR 10 million.
Balkan Energy NEWS, e-journal Issue No: 2010-V/2 - issue covers period 16.5.2010-31.5.2010
Company / organization: EBRD, related Bulgaria
Announcement: National Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility
Content: The Kozloduy International Decommissioning Sup-port Fund (KIDSF) has been established and is ad-ministered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). One of the purposes of this Fund is to finance, or co-finance preparation and implementation of selected projects, which would require procurement of goods, works and services for establishment of the National Disposal Facility for Low and Intermediate Level Short Lived Radioactive Waste in an environmentally safe and cost effective manner.
A Project Management Unit has been established and is in operation at State Enterprise Radioactive Waste to manage the projects notified below.
This General Procurement Notice draws attention to the following new upcoming procurement activi-ties:• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site - Geo-desic Monitoring
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site – Geo-technical Monitoring and Analysis
This project is for Geotechnical monitoring and anal-ysis of the Radiana site. The work
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site - Seis-mic Monitoring
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site – Geo-dynamic Monitoring
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site – Hydr-ogeological Monitoring and Geochemical Analysis
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site – Ra-diological Monitoring
• Pre-disposal Monitoring of the Radiana Site – Me-teorological Monitoring
• Preparation of the Radiana Site
• Technical Design and ISAR preparation for National Disposal Facility
More info on: http://www.ebrd.com/oppor/procure/opps/goods/general/091130a.htm
Deadline: 29 November 2010 at 23:59, Bulgaria time
Contact: Mr. Boris PekovExecutive DirectorState Enterprise Radioactive WasteBlvd, James Bourchier 51, fl.18Sofia 1407BulgariaFax. + 359 2962 5078e-mail: [email protected]
Company / organization: EBRD, related Bosnia and Herzegovina
Announcement: BH Gas D.O.O. Sarajevo (General)
Content: BH-Gas intends to use the proceeds of a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Devel-opment („EBRD“) and its own resources towards the costs of high-pressure gas pipeline construc-tion in Central Bosnia Canton enabling gasification of 4 municipalities - Travnik, Vitez, Busovaca, Novi Travnik - in this Canton.
The proposed project has an estimated cost of EUR 17,0 million, proposed to be financed by the EBRD, and will require the following deliveries and con-struction services:
A. Line Pipe Supply: Delivery of steel pipes for high pressure gas pipeline, which are DN 400 (16, cca 41 km) and DN 200 (8, cca 7 km)
