Bulgaria's caretaker government plans to seek rescheduling of the long-term
power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed with two coal-fired power plants owned
by U.S. companies, the energy ministry said on Friday.
The Maritza Iztok
1 coal-fired plant operated by AES and thermal power plant Maritza Iztok 3,
owned by Contour Global, have signed 15-year PPAs with state-owned power utility
NEK.
The power plants have a 50-year lifespan so the PPAs can easily be
rescheduled to ease the related financial burden in the coming years, Vasil
Shtonov said in a statement published on the ministry's
website.
According to state-run news agency BTA, Shtonov said he hopes
the country's next government will continue this initiative as investors would
hardly change 15-year contracts within the timeframe of the mandate of a
caretaker government.
ContourGlobal acquired a 73% stake in the 908
megawatt (MW) Maritsa Iztok 3 TPP from Italy's Enel in June 2011.
In
2011, energygroup AES launched the Maritza East 1 TPP with a 670 MW
capacity.
Shtonov pointed out that NEK's current liabilities amount to
1.0 billion levs ($651.7 million/511.3 million), while accrued debt reaches 2.9
billion levs.
Source: SeeNews