No plans for power cuts, citizens must save energy

LAZAREVAC - The Serbian government is doing all it can to stabilise the energy system, but there are no plans for power cuts, Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said as the Kolubara Mine Basin started draining water from the Tamnava West Field coal mine on Wednesday.

The companies that won the tender to drain the water from Tamnava West Field, Novi Sad-based Energotehnika Juzna Backa and Romania's SC NESS PROIECT EUROPE, SRL, started the operation in the largest Kolubara coal mine early Wednesday.

The deadline is 90 days, with the operation to be funded by the World Bank with a EUR 15 million loan.

"There are no plans for power cuts but I urge the citizens to save energy because the situation in the energy system is quite difficult," Antic noted.

The Kolubara River flooded the area in the May floods, practically transforming the Tamnava West Field mine into a large artificial lake and, as a result, coal production on the site for the Nikola Tesla power plants has been at a standstill ever since.

The contractors need to pump out 80 percent of the remaining floodwater.

The submerged mine is one of the biggest consequences suffered by Serbia's energy system, Antic said, adding that the goal is to restart production in the mine as soon as possible.

The mine produced almost 15 million tons of coal a year, which is half of the entire output of the Kolubara Mine Basin, Antic said.

Speaking to reporters, Antic confirmed that the most recent floods have not put the Djerdap 1 hydropower plant in danger, but said that the Djerdap 2 plant is working below capacity as some of the generators are out of action.

For this reason, the Serbian government is preparing three scenarios -...