Bulgaria's Largest Coal-Fired Power Plant Launches Upgrade of Four Units

"This is the second stage of the plant's upgrade, after the successful repair and installation of desulphurisation equipment at its other four units," the plant said in a statement.

The upgrade will start with the modernisation of Unit 6, which will include the repair of its turbine, installation of new generator, reconstruction of its transformer and installation of desulphurisation unit. Toshiba will upgrade the turbine, local company Risk Engineering will install the new generator and local power equipment producer Energoremont Galabovo will upgrade the unit's boiler.

Unit 6 will be reconnected to the grid in July 2010, following the upgrade. The next step will be the upgrade of the plant's Unit 8, scheduled to begin in August. The other two units that will be upgraded are units five and seven.

Maritsa East 2 generated 8,078,291 megawatthours (MWh) of power since the beginning of the year until December 22, up by 220,327 MWh as compared to the same period a year ago.

The plant's current installed capacity is 1,556 MW. Six of its eight units have desulphurisation units.