The launch of the modernized Prunéřov is hampered by the insolvency of the main suppliers
CEZ power plant, whose modernization cost 32 billion crowns, was taken over in August. All three new units have been in operation since then. “We are now talking about trial operation, stabilization and optimization. In the end, all fine-tuning should ensure that all three units of the power plant will be available 93 percent of the year, “says the plant’s director Otakar Tuček. The incident, such as the October cracked seal, is part of a trial run that will last two years.
However, the start-up of the power plant, the construction of which was provided by ČEZ’s subsidiary Škoda Praha Invest, is complicated by the fact that some suppliers of equipment and systems have become insolvent. “Sometimes we’d rather fix the defects ourselves than wait for the suppliers to send someone,” says Tuček.
We are talking about Vítkovice Power Engineering, which has been in decline since the summer. According to the minutes of the meeting of the Interim Credit Committee, the management of VPE sees the cause of insolvency in addition to the failure to build the Turkish coal-fired power plant Adularya also in Prunéř’s modernization. This is due to the interconnected chain of Czech companies to which ČEZ has verified the modernization.
Pipes and other components were supplied to Prunéřov by Modřany Power. She has been insolvent since last October. At the same time, it owes Vítkovice over 400 million crowns for supplies to Prunéřov and partly also for the construction of power plants in Ledvice.
VPE filed this claim in insolvency proceedings with Modřany Power. However, according to the VPE management, the restructuring plan of the Modřany pipe plant will provide Vítkovice with a return of only 5.5 percent of total receivables.
Škoda Praha Invest applied contractual penalties to VPE for late elimination of defects. VPE’s management also told the interim credit committee that the cost of repairs in Prunéřov was much higher than originally expected. In insolvency proceedings with VPE, Škoda Praha Invest itself is demanding repayment of receivables for 450 million crowns, which come from Prunéř’s modernization.
When the new Prunéřov power plant is in full swing, it should have an efficiency of over 40 percent thanks to modernization. It uses 15 percent less coal to generate electricity and heat for the surrounding cities than it did before the renovation. “We will need 7,000 tons of coal per year for the same amount of electricity,” adds Tuček. Pollutant emissions are already 60 percent lower. Compared to the old units, which ČEZ still operates in the neighboring Prunéřovo number one, the variable costs of electricity production in the Prunéřov number two are about a quarter lower.
CEZ launched the modernization in 2012 as a sister project for the renovation of the nearby Tušimice power plant. According to the original plans, the new boilers and turbines were to start in the middle of last year.
CEZ justifies the delay, among other things, by the longer time required to obtain zoning and building permits. Several environmental organizations protested against the modernization project.
CEZ is now thinking about how to continue to use the Tušimice and Prunéřov localities. There is plenty of space in both and both produce raw materials that can be further processed. A terminal for filling ash, which can be used in cement production, is already being built in Tušimice. For 150,000 tons of fly ash a year, it travels mainly to Germany. CEZ is also planning the same facility in Prunéřov.
Gypsum is a by-product of flue gas desulphurisation. Both power plants produce 400,000 tons per year. This could be processed directly in the Prunéřov area in cooperation with plasterboard producers for the sought-after building material. “Three companies are interested in renting the land and building the plant,” says Tuček.
A project for the construction of a five-hectare greenhouse for growing tomatoes worth 200 million crowns is also completed in Tušimice. It would be heated by the power plant with waste heat from electricity production. CEZ has already preliminarily agreed with investors, but a zoning decision is awaited. A data center with 4,000 servers will also be built in Tušimice, into which ČEZ will merge all its data warehouses.