September 24 (SeeNews) - Macedonian power producer Elektrani na Makedonija (ELEM) AD said it will invest 2.0 million euro ($2.95 million) for additional prospecting for coal in the Mariovo basin, the Macedonian Economic Chamber said.
The ground and laboratory research will provide data needed for drafting a mining project for exploitation of coal from the Mariovo basin, the Chamber said in the statement posted on its website on Wednesday.
Mariovo basin is located 50 kilometres from the city of Prilep, in central Macedonia. ELEM has already launched a procedure for selecting a project designer.
According to current estimates, the Mariovo coal deposits will justify their mining and the construction of a coal-fired power plant with an installed capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) and an estimated annual production of 2,000 gigawatthours of electricity for a period of 30 years, the statement said.
The projects should be implemented in the period 2010-2013, with the entire investment estimated at some 460 million euro, of which 15% would come from ELEM’s own resources, the Economic Chamber said.
Macedonia has two thermal and seven hydropower plants, which produced a combined 5,615 gigawatthours of electricity in 2008, 1.9% up from a year earlier. The biggest thermal power plant, Bitola, has three generation units which accounted for some 80% of electricity production in Macedonia last year.
($=0.6776 euro)