North Macedonian state-owned power utility ESM said that its coal-fired thermal power plant Bitola will soon double its electricity generation after the plant’s unit 1 reconnects to the network in the evening hours of 15 October, in time for the start of heating season.
The statement said that unit 1 is back online after 23 days of overhaul and, together with unit 2, it will start supplying electricity to the network. This kind of overhaul usually lasts for 45 days or more, but ESM managed to complete the overhaul in record time, ahead of the start of heating season.
According to the plan, TPP Bitola will continue to operate units 1 and 2 until the start of November, when unit 3 will enter production after almost a year due to the fire at one of the transformers. At the same time, unit 2 will be taken offline for a short overhaul in order to increase the reliability of the plant during the peak of the winter season.