Coal-fired thermal power plant Stanari has been successfully reconnected to the network on 28 October after its first general overhaul.
TPP Stanari was taken offline on 28 August after 163 days of uninterrupted operation. A joint overhaul of the turbine and generator was performed for the first time since the commissioning of the plant in 2016. Due to the complex and extensive works, the overhaul took two months.
TPP Stanari is the first private investment in large conventional power production facility in former Yugoslavia. The project started in 2004, when UK- based EFT Group was selected as the best bidder on the international tender for the selection of strategic partner for coalmine Stanari. Since the demand of lignite in the region was in decline, EFT decided to build a thermal power plant near the coalmine. Initial plans envisaged the construction of 400 MW unit that was supposed to produce some 3 TWh of electricity per year, project was financially supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the equipment was to be delivered by French Alstom. However, the final agreement was not reached, EFT turned to Chinese company Dongfang and reduced the output of the plant to 300 MW, planned production to 2 TWh of electricity per year and gross efficiency from 43 % to 38.5 %. TPP Stanari was officially commissioned on 20 September 2016, the cost of the project totaled some 550 million euros, while most of the funds were provided by China Development Bank.
