A fire has kept the Kostolac A2 unit out of service at Serbia’s Kostolac A thermal power plant. A separate 210 MW unit at the same facility remains offline following the incident. The state-owned utility EPS opened an urgent procurement procedure for replacement equipment and repairs required to return A2 to operation.
Procurement launched for replacement and repairs
The fire broke out on 31 July while the A2 unit was being restarted after scheduled maintenance. EPS released procurement documents on 9 August, which detailed the extent of the damage. The documents cite an inspection finding that about half of the regenerative air heater’s internal filling had been completely destroyed.
Damage inside regenerative air heater housing
The incident also damaged sector plates, sealing components, radial partitions, the support structure and parts of the geared ring. EPS said the fire developed inside the air-heater housing during the planned restart. The utility stated that the event could not reasonably have been foreseen or prevented.
Generation impact and share of demand
The damage has kept A2 unavailable for generation since the incident. EPS said the unit can meet roughly 4.5% of Serbia’s maximum electricity demand during the current period. The utility added that the system impact would increase if the outage becomes prolonged.
