In the first six months of this year, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) recorded a loss of 418 million euros, according to the report on the implementation of the three-year business plan of EPS, Danas reported. From January to the end of September 2021, EPS made a profit of 8.5 billion dinars (72 million euros), and since then, in the following nine months, ending on the last day of June, a loss of approximately 610 million euros was realized. .

From January to the end of September 2021, EPS made a profit of 8.5 billion dinars (72 million euros), and since then, in the following nine months, ending on the last day of June, a loss of approximately 610 million euros was realized. Danas announced. In the last quarter of 2021, expenses exceeded revenues by 185 million euros, then another 418 million euros were lost in the following six months. Thus, the financial effects of a series of accidents and energy collapses of the last heating season approach the sum of one billion euros.

The total financial debt of Serbia’s largest energy company as of June 30 this year was 177 billion dinars or 1.5 billion euros, 30 billion dinars more than at the start of the year . At the end of June, there were only thirty million euros left in the EPS accounts. The most important reason for this poor performance of Elektroprivreda is the lack of electricity production. Electricity production in the first half of the year is 16% lower than the same period in 2021. Electricity production from renewable sources was 56% lower than forecast, while electricity production in the thermal power plants was lower than in 2021. last year by nine percent. Coal-fired power plants produced 10% less electricity, but Pannonia Elektrane’s TE-TO produced 56% more electricity than in the first half of last year. 3.7 billion dinars were spent on gas for electricity generation in TE-TO, and 6.8 billion dinars were spent on additives and fuel oil for burning coal in boilers in six months. EPS’ plan is to import as much high-quality coal as possible from the surrounding region, mainly from Montenegro, and by blending it with coal from Kolubara, to reduce the potential import of electricity during the winter months. winter and to increase the national electricity production as much as possible. possible. 1.1 billion dinars were spent on imported coal for thermal power plants.

Another reason for EPS’s financial disaster, closely linked to the production deficit, is the increased import of electricity and, as the report of this company indicates, at record prices. In the first half of this year, 2,356 gigawatt hours were purchased on the market at an average price of 222.08 euros per megawatt hour, or more than 520 million euros. In June this year, EPS bought electricity at 236.79 euros per megawatt hour and, on the other hand, sold it to the economy on the commercial market for 67.52 euros per megawatt hour due to the government recommendation to limit the price of electricity. The situation of the energy sector in Europe is deteriorating, so for example last Friday at 12:00 a megawatt cost 547.78 euros on the stock exchange, while in Central Europe it was a little less, but above 500 euros. In previous years, EPS, in addition to importing electricity during the winter months, was an exporter in the second half of the year.

The cost to EPS of mismanagement, ultimately of coal mining, is not only measured by the cost of importing expensive electricity due to lack of own generation, but also by the loss of earnings he would have had if he had exported electricity at such high prices on the international market. However, over the past three years, from 2019 to 2021, the average annual export of EPS was around 4,300 gigawatt hours. Last year, for example, 5,400 gigawatt hours were imported into Serbia and 4,800 gigawatt hours were exported. Since there is nothing exported this year, except electricity which has been returned to the Republika Srpska Electric Power Company (about 20 million euros for the first six months according to the balances EPS), the question arises as to how much money they would have earned if the thermal power plants had operated at their usual capacity as in the previous three years. It should also be noted that production, especially for export, is also affected by the operation of hydroelectric power stations, which are not operating at full capacity this year due to the drought. By way of illustration, if EPS exported 4,300 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2022 at the average price at which it imported in the first half of 232.8 euros per megawatt hour, it would earn exactly one billion euros. This does not mean that electricity would not be imported, but the final financial results would certainly be much more favorable for both EPS and Serbia. In July, the government of Serbia approved an increase in the fee for renewable energy sources from 0.437 dinars to 0.8 dinars per kilowatt hour.

Source: https://rs.n1info.com/biznis/danas-gubitak-eps-a-za-prvih-sest-meseci-418-miliona-ukupan-dug-15-milijarda/

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