May 3 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian state-owned thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa Iztok 2 said that its net loss widened to 331.9 million levs in 2018 from 162.9 million levs the year before, following a sharp growth in expenses.
The power plant's operating expenses rose to 967.7 million levs in 2018 from 774.4 million levs in 2017, following a sharp rise in greenhouse gas emission allowance costs, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2 said in an annual financial statement.
TPP Maritsa Iztok 2 spent 363.3 million levs on emission allowances in 2018 from 196.5 million levs the year before.
The greenhouse gas emission allowances are part of the EU Emissions Trading System, which works on the “cap and trade” principle. Within the cap, companies receive or buy emission allowances which they can trade among themselves as needed. Each year companies must surrender enough allowances to cover all their emissions, otherwise fines are imposed.
The plant's operating revenue added 4.83% to 636,755 levs in 2018, mainly due to higher electricity sale prices. TPP Maritsa Iztok 2 sold 7,639,139 MWh of electricity in 2018, down 4.03% year-on-year.
In a separate financial statement, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2 said that its net loss widened to 33.7 million levs in the first quarter of 2019 from 19.5 million levs in the same period of 2018.
TPP Maritsa Iztok 2's operating revenue rose to 191.8 million levs in the January-March period from 173.2 million levs in the comparable period of 2018, while total operating expenses increased to 218.3 million levs in the review period from 187.5 million levs a year earlier.
The power plant's greenhouse gas emission allowance costs grew by an annual 80.62% to 81.3 million levs in the first three months of 2019.
Maritsa Iztok 2 has eight operating units with a total installed capacity of 1,620 MW.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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