In the Thermal Power Plant “Kostolac A“, the achieved electricity generation unambiguously indicates towards a high level of operating reliability of this thermal power facility.
The achieved production in the TPP “Kostolac A“ amounts to 517.937 MWh, which is by only several percent lower than the plan for the period from 1st January to 31st March, i.e. for the first quarter of the year. Blocks A1 and A2 are among the oldest thermal power facilities in the domestic power system, which is no obstacle to also achieving the envisaged electricity plans. Block A1 began operations as far back as 1967, when it was the largest block in Serbia with its capacity of 100 megawatts. The construction of the block A2, with the capacity of 210 megawatts, started producing electricity 35 years ago, i.e. in 1980.
Head of the Electricity Production Directorate in the thermal power facilities of Kostolac, Zoran Stanojević, is satisfied with the realization of balance on the blocks A1 and A2, on which an extremely small number of downtimes has been recorded:
– Since the beginning of this year until the end of March, there was only one downtime on the block A1, whereas only two downtimes were recorded on the block A2, which indicates that the maintenance had been planned well and, above all, adequately, which resulted in minimum interruptions of the electricity generation process. It should be emphasized that the blocks in the Thermal Power Plant “Kostolac A“ had been balanced with nominal parameters and with a maximum number of operating hours. On the block A1, the capacity of which is 90 megawatts, a production of 173.753 MWh was recorded in the first quarter of this year, which, expressed as a percentage, amounts to around 96.5 percent of the plan which amounted to 180.000 MWh. In the first quarter of the year, the planned production on the block A2 amounted to 369.000 MWh, and around 344.184 MWh were achieved, i.e. around 93.3 percent of the plan for this period.
According to the needs and the operating status, the thermal energy for heating Požarevac, Kostolac and the surrounding settlements amounts to around 4.000 MWh, whereas the reduction ordered by dispatchers at the level of the Thermal Power Plant Kostolac A was 0.9 percent. In the previous winter period, the supply of thermal energy for the district heating network was stable, although there were big problems with the loss of demineralized water in the district heating network. This problem will be solved in cooperation with the Public Enterprise “District Heating Požarevac“ and the local self-government:
-We have a fair relationship with the “District Heating Požarevac“, our cooperation has already yielded results and I expect that, in the following period, we will succeed in permanently eliminating the problem of demineralized water loss, said Stanojević.
In the Thermal Power Plant “Kostolac B“, the beginning of this year was marked by the final preparations of the block B1 after a several-month revitalization, aimed at achieving the designed capacity. The revitalization of the block B1 has enabled that, in the current mode of operation, this thermal power facility also satisfies the environmental parameters, prescribed by the legal provisions in our country. After the end of warranty testing, the optimization of operation of the block B1 will ensue, which will enable the production of electricity with around 350 megawatts, whereas the Thermal Power Plant “Kostolac B“ will start using fully its designed capacity of 700 megawatts. If we observe the production output of the blocks B1 and B2 in the first quarter of this year, due to the completion of revitalization, block B1 produced around 65 percent of the plan which amounts to around 379.135 megawatt-hours. Block B2 produced by only several percent less than the planned amount of electricity, so a 95 percent plan realization was recorded with 593.898 MWh produced.
The terms for carrying out overhauls in all our company blocks were defined, determined on the basis of an agreement with the Electric Power Industry of Serbia, more precisely on the basis of the document called the “electric power portfolio“. The initial terms have undergone certain changes, so that this year’s overhaul works in the TPP “Kostolac A“ and the TPP “Kostolac B“ will begin somewhat later, director Stanojević pointed out:
-After the coordination and consultation with the colleagues from the company’s mining sector, we sent a request for adjusting the terms for this year’s overhauls. The overhauls have also been postponed due to the delivery of parts for the capital overhaul on the block A2, for which the delivery time is very long, so that the overhaul of the block A2 has been postponed to August and it will last until mid-October. Block A1 will also enter the overhaul in August, when the coal line is also undergoing overhaul, and the conclusion of works on this thermal power facility has been scheduled for mid-September. This year, the overhaul of the block B2 will be in July and August, whereas the overhaul of the block B1 will ensue from 15th to 31th August.
