February 5 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Toplofikacia Pernik, the owner of thermal power plant (TPP) Republika, will invest 8 million levs ($4.9 million/4.1 million euro) in the plant's partial fuel switch to natural gas, local media reported.
The TPP's switch to natural gas is expected to begin in the summer of 2021 with the installation of three gas cogeneration units, public broadcaster BNR quoted the Toplofikacia Pernik's CEO Yasen Katsarov as saying on Thursday.
The cogeneration units, which have already been delivered to the heating utility, are expected to be put into operation in July or August. They will operate all year round, Katsarov said.
However, one coal-fired boiler will have to work during the winter months, as the gas-fueled units cannot provide enough output to satisfy the needs of its consumer at that time, Katsarov explained. The conversion of the remaining coal-fired unit is planned at a later stage.
The three gas-fueled units have a combined capacity of 21 MW, according to information published on the website of Toplofikacia Pernik.
According to commercial register data, Toplofikacia Pernik is owned by local company Bovi Tur which is in turn controlled by UK-based Bingham Management.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)