Kosovo A power station

{{#badges:CoalSwarm|Navbar-Kosovocoal}}Kosovo A power station is a 610-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Obiliq, Kosovo.

It would be replaced by the proposed Kosova e Re power station.

In early June 2014 an explosion ripped through part of the plant, killing two workers and injuring thirteen. It was reported that the origin of the explosion was a hydrogen tank in the electrolysis unit. As a result of the disaster the plant was shut down temporarily.

Location

The map below shows the plant, located several miles northwest of Pristina in Kosovo.

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Background

The plant consisted of five units built in 1962 and 1975. The first two units have been retired, leaving only three units of about 200 MW each. It is operated by Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK). It uses coal from the Mirash coal mine and is the second largest power station in Kosovo.

The production capacity of Kosovo A power station and Kosovo B power station has been hampered by chronic technical problem, including a lightning strike in July 2002. Kosovo has been importing electricity in order to make up some for its deficit. Despite the imports for much of 1999-2002 electricity was not guaranteed 24 hours a day.

June 2014 explosion

On Friday June 6 an explosion ripped through part of the plant killing two workers and injuring thirteen. (One news report -- citing Derat Rukiqi, the chairman of plant's management board -- put the death toll at three while other early local news reports stated the death toll was four.)

A Kosovo Energy Corporation media release stated that there had been two fatalities with a third missing worker found alive.

A plant worker, who was outside the plant at the time of the explosion, that "there was a huge fire that broke out after the explosion. Panic broke out. We started to run as no-one knew what was going on." (A short video clip of smoke billowing from the plant is available here).

It was reported that the origin of the explosion was a hydrogen tank in the electrolysis unit. As a result of the disaster the plant has been shut down for an unspecified time. In response to the shut down the Kosovo's energy distribution and supply company, KEDS, stated that it would import 250 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity to cover demand.

In a statement after the disaster, the Kosovo Civil Society Consortium for Sustainable Development called on:

"the authorities to light the truth about this incident. KOSID also calls KEK to take immediate measures to increase safety at work, taking into account the high number of workers who have lost their lives in their workplace in this corporation since the end of the war in Kosovo. Explosions like this today should be avoided regardless of the cost."

"The extraordinary risk for employees of this corporation is stated several times by both international institutions and domestic ones. A study by the European Commission on decommissioning the power plant “Kosova A” published in March 2010, had highlighted the high health and safety risks for the operators and for the maintenance workers due to breakdown of plant systems and structures, neglected maintenance and poor housekeeping. We call on the authorities to take stringent security measures to avoid any other possible disaster. For the safety of workers, no compromise should be made."

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Kosovo and coal
• Kosovo B power station

Europe and coal

• Austria and coal
• Belgium and coal
• Bulgaria and coal
• France and coal
• Germany and coal
• Greece and coal
• Hungary and coal
• Italy and coal
• Netherlands and coal
• Norway and coal
• Poland and coal
• United Kingdom and coal
• World Bank and coal

External Articles

http://issuu.com/lptap/docs/tpp-task-4-environmental-and-social-impact

Background information

Wikipedia also has an article on Kosovo A power station. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.