October 25 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's state-owned electricity producer ESM said it has launched a new call for the supply of up to 900,000 tonnes of coal for the needs of the REK Bitola thermal power plant (TPP), after failing to attract bids for the amount it targeted in an earlier tender.
Bidders can send their offers by November 2, ESM said in a notice on Saturday.
The electricity producer launched a tender for coal supplies for REK Bitola and REK Oslomej TPP earlier in October as part of plans to beat the rise in energy prices by increasing power output from coal. ESM received five offers for coal deliveries to REK Bitola
The ESM general manager, Vasko Kovacevski, said earlier this month that the company will increase its power output from coal from December 2021 to April 2022, to meet demand from local companies as the global energy crisis intensifies. ESM will sell the power at prices lower than those on the free market, Kovacevski said.
Under the plan, ESM will increase coal mining and purchase additional coal. It will also put into operation the third unit of REK Bitola TPP and continue to operate REK Oslomej TPP. The government previously intended to stop the operation of Oslomej as part of a plan to build a solar power plant at the site of an old coal mine in the mining and energy complex.