November 29 (SeeNews) - The operator of Slovenia’s Sostanj coal-fired power plant TES plans to reconnect to the grid the plant's 600 MW Unit 6 at the beginning of December after suspending it for more than a month to save fuel, local media reported.
The unit was temporarily disconnected from the grid on October 14 due to the lower amounts of coal produced at the Velenje mine caused by geomechanical problems and coal phase-out measures introduced by the government, public broadcaster RTV reported on Monday.
The operator initially planned to restart the unit on November 2, but later it said the shutdown would last longer, RTV said.
At the same time, Velenje coal mine concluded two contracts, worth 42.5 million euro ($44.0 million) and 7.9 million euro respectively, for the import of Indonesian coal with Swiss company Petraco to compensate for the reduced amount of locally produced coal.
Slovenian state-owned electricity producer Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) has made a successful test for the burning of Indonesian coal at Unit 6, RTV noted.
Slovenia's net electricity production declined by 54% year-on-year to 530 GWh in October, as the output of the country's thermal power plants fell by 53%, while the sole nuclear power plant Nuklearna Elektrarna Krsko was shut down for regular maintenance.
($ = 0.964486 euro)