North Macedonian state-owned power utility ESM announced that its thermal power plant Negotino has entered into operation on 6 December, following an extensive overhaul.
TPP Negotino is running on fuel oil and has to boilers with power output of 90 MW each, which is equivalent to a single units of TPP Bitola. The company reminded that an extensive overhaul of the plant, the first since its commissioning in 1978, has been completed a day earlier.
Previously, coal-fired TPP Oslomej has entered into operation on 4 December, which, along with the country’s largest power plant Bitola, will be the backbone of ESM’s electricity generation during the upcoming cold spell. The power utility is trying to increase its electricity generation as much as possible in order to avoid pricey electricity imports.
In 2020, North Macedonian Government said that it is planning to convert TPP Negotino from fuel oil to natural gas. TPP Negotino is state-operated and was used to provide cold reserve service, although it has not been used lately due to extremely high cost of operation. For years, there have been speculations whether the plant should be decommissioned or converted to use new type of fuel, but the Government said that it will launch a tender procedure for the plant’s conversion to natural gas.
