January 20 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Sofia municipality said on Monday that it has signed an 8.85 million levs ($5 million/4.5 million euro) deal with a consortium of local thermal power plant Bobov Dol and heating utility Toplofikatsiya Sliven, which will utilise refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced from Sofia's municipal waste.
The consortium submitted the sole offer in the tender for the contract which was signed on January 9, Sofia municipality said in a notice.
According to registry agency data, TPP Bobov Dol located some 45 km south of Sofia holds 60% interest in the tie-up with the heating utility serving the city of Sliven, in southeastern Bulgaria.
The contract envisages the utilisation of up to 70,000 tonnes of mostly non-shredded RDF per year. The two companies will get the RDF from Sofia's mechanical biological treatment plant located at the Sadinata site.
On Saturday, Bulgaria's new environment minister Emil Dimitrov said that one of TPP Bobov Dol's installations will be shut down as it does not have all of the necessary licences. On Friday, the regional prosecutor's office said that it is investigating TPP Bobov Dol for a possible environmental pollution endangering the local population.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)