ELCEN announces that repairs at the Bucharest West CHP Plant are on schedule and the plant could be restarted at the beginning of November

Repairs at Bucharest West CHP Plant are proceeding according to schedule, and the plant could be put back into operation at the beginning of November, said Mirela Pavel, general director of Electrocentrale București (ELCEN). The company says it is prepared for the cold season, as the Sud CHP Plant and Grozăvești CHP Plant are operating, while the Progresu CHP Plant can be started if necessary.

Intensive work is underway on the electrical installations at the West CHP Plant, after the plant was unavailable during the summer. The equipment for the 6 kV electrical substation has arrived at the facility; the first transformer is expected by the end of October, and the second during November. ELCEN hopes that the work will not be affected by further delays.

The West CHP Plant was shut down after two major incidents. On April 20, a failure in the electrical installations damaged the two 110/6 kV transformers. Another transformer was temporarily used to power the installations, but it became unavailable on May 23 following a fire.

According to ELCEN management, the incidents accelerated maintenance work and required a significant investment in the electrical substations. In parallel, the company is preparing a video-monitoring system for all the plants, a project currently at the design-preparation stage.

At present, the Sud CHP Plant is operating with one turbine and one boiler, the Grozăvești CHP Plant is in operation, while equipment that can be started at any time is being kept in reserve at the Progresu CHP Plant.