TPP Maritsa 3 is temporarily closed - due to violations there is a risk for the entire electricity system

The bulgarian authorities temporarily shut down the Maritsa 3 thermal power plant in Dimitrovgrad because of a series of violations of environmental standards. The latest exceedances of the permitted levels of sulphur dioxide were recorded a few days ago.

At a briefing, the caretaker ministers of energy Rosen Hristov and environment and water Rositsa Karamfilova said that besides the risk to the health of the population, the frequent violations of environmental standards by TPP Maritsa 3 put at risk the functioning of the entire electricity system in the country and may even lead to the shutdown of large installations in the Maritsa basin.

Coal-fired power plants in the country operate thanks to a derogation from the European Commission, which allows 3 average daily exceedances and 24 average hourly exceedances. In the period from Friday to Saturday, TPP Maritsa 3 committed 8 average hourly exceedances out of 24 allowed for all power plants in Bulgaria. With the recorded pollution from TPP Maritsa 3, our country has already reached the allowed 3 daily average exceedances of the standards and has 23 hourly average exceedances. In the meantime, Bulgaria is facing two air quality infringement procedures - for high levels of fine particulate matter and for high levels of sulphur dioxide.

"We are now at 23 average hourly exceedances of the standards, and there are still 3 more months until the end of the year. With two more breaches, this derogation would be revoked, leading to the closure of all coal-fired power plants in the country. This will turn Bulgaria from a net exporter of electricity into a net importer. At the same time, the capacity of the Maritsa 3 thermal power plant is small and the installations in the Maritsa basin are critical for the entire energy system. And with two more violations in TPP Maritsa 3, the work of the Maritsa power plants is at risk, the country may lose 30% of its electricity production, given that all neighbouring countries import electricity to Bulgaria," said the caretaker energy minister Rosen Hristov.

Therefore, TPP Maritsa 3 is temporarily suspended and will be subject to inspections by the Ministry of Environment and Water. If it complies with the environmental regulations, operations will resume. According to Rosen Hristov, the shutdown of the TPP will not seriously affect the electricity production in Bulgaria, as its capacities are insignificant.

"With its 65 megawatts of capacity, it is an absolutely insignificant part of the country's power system. So the interruption of its operation does not affect in any way the energy balance, the energy security. All these prescriptions that are being given are a form of advice on how to bring their production within the prescribed norms and that is technically possible. They can work within these parameters - they just violate them systematically for economic gain or technical incompetence," Hristov said.

TPP Brickel continues to operate, but with daily inspections by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. For this purpose, officers from various regional eco-inspectorates are on duty on weekends.

"None of us want to close large combustion plants, but there are complex permits that have set conditions under which each of these plants can operate. Failure to comply with these permits results in a violation of environmental standards, and this leads to the suspension of their operations until they are brought into compliance," the Minister of Environment and Water said.

In August, a compulsory administrative measure was imposed on TPP Brickel for a number of non-compliances in its operation. It has a preliminary injunction that was lifted by the court.