October 31 (SeeNews) - The power utilityof the U.N.-run Serbian province of Kosovo, KEK, said on Wednesday it generated 262 GWh of electricity in July, down 30% from a month earlier due to an annual overhaul of one of its units.
However, electricity production was 12% above plan, KEK said in a statement.
Currently, 97% of Kosovo's electricity output is generated by the five-unit 800 MW Kosova A and the two-unit 700 MW Kosova B lignite-fired plants. The remaining three percent comes from two hydropower plants - the 35 MW Gazivoda plant and the 8.3 MW Lumbardhi plant. Only two of Kosova A's units are operational and they are used in emergency situations.
In July three units were operational - two units of Kosova A, which generated a combined 85 GWh of electricity, 28% above plan; and one unit of Kosova B, which generated 176 GWh of power, 6% above plan, the statement said.
Although Kosovo possesses the world's fifth-largest proven coal reserves, estimated at 12 billion metric tonnes, the province continues to suffer daily power cuts, mainly due to outdated facilities and lack of funds for extraction and research.
One of the most serious problems which KEK faces on its way of becoming a financially stable company is the huge technical and non-technical losses.
Non-technical losses, caused mainly by non-payment of bills and electricity theft, totalled 1,266 GWh last year, down from 2005 when they were estimated at 1,291 GWh. Technical losses in 2006 totalled 584 GWh, slightly up from 582 GWh in 2005.
KEK has some 400,000 legal consumers in the country with a population of two million people. The power utility registered 3,450 new clients during the first six months of this year.
Legally still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999 following NATO bombings that expelled Serb forces to end what Western powers said was repression of civilians in fighting an ethnic Albanian rebel insurgency. Ethnic Albanians who outnumber Serbs and other nationalities in the province by nine to one, are seeking independence, while Belgrade says Kosovo is an indivisible part of Serbia.
Kosovo’s future status is expected to be determined later this year.