Ukrainian company Centrenergo says short of coal in storage

MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - Centrenergo, a major electric and thermal energy producer in central Ukraine, is not fully provided with coal at the moment, acting Centrenergo CEO Viktor Spichka said.

"We are not provided fully, but we see potential ways for resolving the problem through Ukrvuhillya. We're also exploring other segments of the domestic market," Ukrainian media quoted Spichka as saying at a press conference in Kiev.

Spichka said he expected the company would have enough coal due to own production.

While coal is a priority fuel for the company's power units, as its use in power generation is more economically feasible than natural gas, the company still has to use gas for shortage of coal, he said.

"At different periods, the amount of coal is insufficient to operate the facilities that need to be engaged to maintain the power system, and so we also use natural gas. This is a necessity, but the cost of electricity production using natural gas is more by 1 hryvnya/kWh," Spichka said.

He confirmed that Centrenergo is no longer working with coalmines directly but receives coal through Ukrvuhillya.

Spichka did not name the possible capacity with which Centrenergo is planning to start the upcoming heating season, saying only that the aggregate design capacity of the company's Trypillya, Zmiivska, and Uglegorsk power plants is 6.7 MW. However, the company can count only on the 16 power units of the Trypillya and Zmiivska plants, as it has "no access" to the Uglegorsk plant operating another seven units, as it is located in a territory not controlled by Kiev.

Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said on July 25 that power plants had stockpiled 1.5 million tonnes of coal.

According to open sources, Centrenergo needs up to 3 million tonnes of coal a year.