Despite the fact that summer is the time when Serbia, as a rule, exports electricity, the opposite is happening in our country. According to Nova’s analysis, and based on officially published data, we have not exported a single megawatt of electricity since the beginning of the month, but we have imported an average of 370 megawatts per hour. In the last ten days alone, Serbia has purchased electricity from abroad in the value of nearly 14 million euros, according to data from the website of the Electric Network of Serbia.
The energy system of Serbia experienced a collapse during the winter period, and judging by the available data, it has not yet recovered from that, and we will not soon. This is evidenced by the black smoke that can be seen day by day from the chimney of the Nikola Tesla B Thermal Power Plant near Obrenovac. Such a color indicates that the block is running or working on fuel oil, instead of coal necessary for the production of electricity. In translation, that means that there is not enough of it.
That this is confirmed by the figures from the official website of the Electric Network of Serbia.
In the last ten days, Serbia spends more than a million euros on electricity imports almost every day. It imported the most on May 21, when an average of 557 megawatts per hour arrived from abroad. Bearing in mind that the price of electricity at that time was around 80 euros, Serbia spent around one million euros on energy imports that day.
She paid the most for electricity on May 23, when she imported 466 megawatts per hour. Considering that the price of electricity that day was very high, on average around 200 euros, we paid more than two million euros for imports.
On the other hand, our exports are “zero” at the same time, although it should be common in this period.
Dušan Nikezić, economist and president of the SAA department board, points out that our coal landfills are empty, and that all accumulations have been completely emptied.
“Many wrong decisions preceded this situation: the coal homogenization system was not put into operation, in which 200 million euros were invested, the exploitation of the coal mine in Radljevo, which was supposed to be completed four years ago, did not start, and the Law on Renewable Energy Sources “Balancing has been imposed on EPS, which is why it loses over 150 million euros a year,” he said.
Nikezic states that there is no coal and it will not be enough for at least another two years, which is why Serbia imports electricity every day and will continue to import it regardless of the weather conditions.
“If EPS had been managed professionally and responsibly, there would be no reason to increase the price of electricity today, since we produce electricity from Serbian coal and the power of Serbian rivers, and until yesterday we were a big exporter. That is why it happens to us that instead of earning 500 million euros on electricity exports, EPS is making a loss of over a billion euros, and announcements of price increases are just confirmation that the government was waiting for the end of the elections to pass this cost on to all Serbian citizens. of 400 euros per household “, he concludes and adds that it additionally prohibits the fact that EPS has started making decisions on canceling planned overhauls and new investments.
“This will put us in an even worse position before the new winter season and the real danger of new accidents and daily restrictions.” “Stopping the overhaul and investments in EPS will stop a significant part of the Serbian economy, because EPS has been the carrier of economic development and the largest investor in the country for decades,” Nikezic states.
Milos Zdravkovic, an energy expert, told the Nova newspaper that our power plants are good, that we have engineers and technicians, but that we need serious time, a serious amount of money and work to recover. As he says, it will take us at least a year for the mines to be revitalized.
“We have coal, but coal has not been discovered, it is covered underground. We need time to repair the way they mined and prepared the ore. On the other hand, when you mention the export of electricity, when they boasted that they exported electricity in the first quarter for 60 million euros, they exported electricity at 48, 50, 52 euros per megawatt hour, and then we are from August, when it began to bad ore is coming, we started importing electricity. “Production in TENT started to fall, and later in Kostolac as well”, states Zdravković.
“Electricity cannot be stored. There are some batteries, but they are small. The only way is reversible power plants, and we have the only one in Bajina Basta, about 600 megawatts. Then, since the electricity could not be stored, they had to deposit the surplus produced coal on the depots in front of the TENT, and then they do it in the winter. They did not do that, but produced to the maximum, and then it happened that at one point the stoves stopped. Now, our electric power industry is working on revitalizing the mines in order to get as much coal as possible “, states Zdravković.
How much will electricity increase in price?
EPS, as well as the relevant ministry headed by Minister Zorana Mihajlović, are asking for an increase in the price of electricity for citizens. The President of the Supervisory Board of EPS, Jovan Despotović, said that it was necessary to increase the price by 20 to 40 percent.
Although the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said relatively recently that the price of electricity will not increase, he stated two days ago that it will still happen.
“It will not be close to 20, let alone 40 percent. Electricity will certainly become more expensive, but that it will be only when we can endure it, and our prices do not go to heaven “, he stated, Nova S. writes.
