The Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Arijanit Hoxha and the director of the AD ESM Vasko Kovacevski, today held an online meeting related to the low levels of natural lakes and artificial reservoirs and the capture of water from them for electricity production.
Given that according to all indicators and comparative averages in the past 15 years, 2020 is extremely bad in terms of hydrological condition, as well as considering the more intensive operation of hydropower plants in a certain period in the last few months due to natural disasters in the mines in REK Bitola, the water in the lakes has been used to a greater extent and any further outflow will endanger the ecological minimum of the elevations, necessary for the living world.
For these reasons, at the meeting it was concluded that in order to protect the environment and biodiversity in accordance with the obligations of the Water Economy Permits, it is necessary to temporarily stop the production of electricity from hydropower plants.
According to the annual work plan of AD ESM, at the beginning of the heating season when the demand for electricity has increased, it was planned to be included in the REK Oslomej system, which is technically ready. However, at the moment the power plant cannot be put into production due to the unfavorable hydrological condition of the Studencica system, which provides water for the cooling tower.
REK Bitola works with two blocks, while a capital overhaul is performed on Block 3. Unfortunately, no overhauls have been carried out in the past 10 years, which has called into question the confidentiality and safety of the blocks.
For the stated reasons, the meeting concluded AD ESM for its needs for systemic, balancing services to procure energy through its company ELEM Trade, until the normalization of natural conditions that will enable optimal production of facilities that use water directly or indirectly in the production process.
It is concluded in the next period, AD ESM through its company ELEM Trade to develop the trading, respectively the purchase and sale of electricity, depending on the stock exchange price of electricity and the price of the universal supplier EVN Home, in order to achieve greater profits for the company and the state.