Tuzla Thermal Power Plant
{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-Bosnia-Herzegovinacoal}}Tuzla Thermal Power Plant is a 715-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Two additional units have been proposed. The expansion is also known as Tuzla B.
Contents
Location
The undated satellite photo below shows the power station near Tuzla.
Background
The plant is owned and operated by Elektroprivreda BiH, a publicly owned power utility. Construction of the plant commenced in 1959. Commissioning of two 32 MW generating units took place in 1963 and 1964. Both of these units -- units 1 and 2 -- have since been decommissioned. In 1966 the 100 MW Unit 3 was commissioned. This unit was rebuilt and modernised in the late 1990's after the Bosnian War. Two 200 MW units -- Unit 4 and Unit 5 -- were commissioned in 1971 and 1974 respectively. The 215 megawatt Unit 6 was commissioned in 1978.[1]
Coal supply
The power station currently consumer approximately 3.3 million tons of brown coal and lignite a year. Elektroprivreda BiH states on its website that coal for the plant is sourced from "Kreka (Dubrave, Šikulje, Mramor and Bukinje) and Banovići for Units 1-6, and brown coal from coal mines Đurđevik and Banovići for Unit 7."[1]
Expansion
Elektroprivreda BiH has proposed a seventh and eighth unit of 450 MW each. On its website Elektroprivreda BiH states that the power station has received an environmental permit, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2014 and end in 2018.[2]
In May 2011 EPBIH stated that China National Electric Engineering CO., Ltd (CNEEC) had expressed interest in Unit 7, a 450 MW expansion. However, Reuters noted that the Swiss energy firm Alpiq had also bid to become a "strategic investor" in the plant.[3]
In April 2014 Hitachi decided to pull out of the process to build the $1.16 billion Tuzla unit, citing political unrest in Bosnia. A Chinese consortium, which includes China Gezhouba Group and Guandong Electric Power Design, is the sole bidder to build the 450 MW unit.[4]
According to a long-range plan released in May 2014 by Elecktroprivreda BiH, the new units will begin construction in 2015 and 2023 respectively and go online in 2019 and 2027 respectively. The plan stated unit 8 will be 450 MW.[5]
On August 30, 2014, China Gezhouba Group Co. (CGGC) signed the EPC contract to build the 450MW unit 7. The company is applying for permits.[6] It was later found the plant would not be economically feasible, and in May 2016 an annex to the contract was signed, which brought the cost down to EUR 722 million. in November 2016 a framework agreement on financing the plant through the China Exim Bank was signed, but the actual financing contract was not signed.[7][8]
After Tuzla 7’s initial environmental permit expired in November 2015, a new one was issued in July 2016. NGO Ekotim filed a court case challenging the permit in September 2016. In October 2016 Ekotim also submitted a complaint to the Energy Community since the environmental permit does not require the application of the Industrial Emissions Directive to the plant, as required of new plants.[7]
In November 2017 the Bosnia government indicated a loan contract for the proposed unit 7 from the Export and Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) could be signed soon, provided the State Aid Council also gives its consent for loan guarantees. The plant is expected to be built by China Gezhouba Group and Guangdong Electric Power Design.[9]
On November 27, 2017 Bosnia secured a 613 million euro (US$732 million) loan from China’s Exim bank for construction of unit 7.[10] With the loan, Elektroprivreda then hired three Chinese companies - Gezhouba Group and Guandong Electric Power Design Institute (both of China Energy Engineering Corporation) and Dongfang Electric - to construct the plant.[11]
The loan guarantee was cleared by the the State Aid Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2018, but in September 2018, the Energy Community Secretariat requested the Federal Parliament not to approve the guarantee, after concluding that the guarantee would not be in line with EU law, given that it contains elements of State aid, or subsidies, which are not allowed under the EU Energy Community Treaty.[12]
In September 2018 it was reported that Gezhouba Group, Guandong Electric Power Design Institute, and Dongfang Electric of China were pulling out of the project, after failing to get approval for the plant from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[11]
On March 7, 2019, the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federal House of Representatives approved a loan guarantee for EUR 614 million from the China Exim Bank loan for the Tuzla 7 coal power plant. The House of Peoples has still to vote on the final stage of approval. According to the NGO Bankwatch, the loan approval is illegal:[12]
- "Under the Energy Community Treaty, Bosnia-Herzegovina must follow EU rules on subsidies in the energy sector. Among other things, in most cases state guarantees may only cover maximum 80 percent of the total loan amount. The proposed guarantee for Tuzla 7, however, covers 100 percent of the loan, plus interest and other associated costs. There are circumstances in which this is allowed, but, as a September 2018 complaint to the Energy Community by the Aarhus Resource Centre and Bankwatch argued, the relevant conditions are not fulfilled in this case."
On March 26, 2019, the Energy Community Secretariat announced that it was officially opening a dispute settlement procedure on the planned Federal guarantee for a EUR 614 loan from the China Eximbank to build the Tuzla 7 coal plant. The procedure can potentially lead to temporary suspension of financing by EU banks.[13]
Project Details for expansion
- Sponsor: Elektroprivreda BiH
- Parent company:
- Developer: China Gezhouba Group, Guangdong Electric Power Design
- Location: Tuzla, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Coordinates: 44.52, 18.606111 (exact)
- Status: Unit 7: Permitted; Unit 8: Announced
- Capacity: 900 MW (Units 7&8: 450 MW)
- Type:
- Start date:
- Coal Type: Lignite
- Coal Source:
- Source of financing: Export-Import Bank of China (Unit 7 - US$882 million loan)[14]
Resources and articles
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Thermal-power plant Tuzla", Elektroprivreda BiH website, accessed September 2012.
- ↑ "Unit 8 TPP 'Kakanj,'” Elektroprivreda BiH, accessed May 2014.
- ↑ Maja Zuvela, "China's CNEEC eyes Bosnia's $584 mln coal-fired unit", Reuters, May 30, 2011.
- ↑ "Hitachi exit means consortium sole bidder for $1.16bn coal plant," Power Engineering, Apr 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Dugoročni plan razvoja Elektroprivrede BiH do 2030. sa Strategijskim planom," Electroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine, 29 May 2014, p. 142
- ↑ "CGGC signs EPC contract for thermal power project," CGGC, Sep 10, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Tuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina," Bankwatch, accessed May 2017
- ↑ "Critical economic analysis of the Tuzla thermal power plant unit 7 project," Bankwatch, December 16, 2014
- ↑ Ioana Ciuta, "Race to the bottom: dire air quality worsens as BiH government mulls new coal plant at Tuzla," Bankwatch, Nov 22, 2017
- ↑ "UPDATE 1-Bosnia secures $732 mln energy loan from China's Exim bank," Reuters, Nov 27, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Chinese Pull out From Building Bosnian Power Plant," Balkan Insight, Sep 19, 2018
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Bosnia-Herzegovina Federal parliament guarantees Chinese coal plant loan in contempt of EU law," Bankwatch, March 8, 2019
- ↑ "Energy Community opens infringement procedure against Bosnia-Herzegovina over illegal Tuzla 7 state aid," Bankwatch, March 26, 2019
- ↑ "China's Global Energy Finance," Boston University, accessed October 2018
Related SourceWatch Resources
External Articles
- "Critical economic analysis of the Tuzla thermal power plant unit 7 project," Bankwatch, December 16, 2014
