Flood damage to EPS yet to be precisely assessed

BELGRADE - The damage that the severe floods caused to the Serbian electric power system has yet to be precisely assessed, as this would be possible after coal mines are completely dried and mud removed, Acting Director General of the public enterprise Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) Aleksandar Obradovic said on Wednesday.

The entire electric power system was at risk in May during the floods, Obradovic said at a conference dealing with effects that the floods had on the security in terms of Serbia's electric energy supply, which was organized by Balkanmagazin.net.

He said that the floods caused direct damage to the mining sector, stressing that indirect one to the EPS business operations will be felt in the next 12-18 months.

The EPS will have to provide funds for repairing the mining equipment and restoring the mines to the previous condition, he said, noting that Serbia gets 70 percent of electricity from coal, 50 percent of which are provided by the Kolubara opencast mine.

Noting that the EPS is now importing electricity and that EUR 20 million have so far been given for that import, he said that coal mines are still flooded to a great extent, and noted that the produced coal now goes to the reserves for winter, when the market price of electricity will go up.

Instead of 90,000 tons of coal on average, we now produce 45,000 tons daily, he said.

Obradovic noted that at the moment when the floods took place, the EPS financial position had already been weakened, adding that the third stage of the Serbian electricity market liberalization would take place by the end of the year.

A rise in the electricity price could not help the domestic electricity market remedy the flood damage...

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