tons more coal the originally planned amount had to be used up in two months from July to August, as a result of which the headquarters checkpoint in lignite center of Western Macedonia redesign their programs to anticipate winter with full yards reserves.

The lignite center planned production with the expectation of an annual doubling of production, which, however, happened in August, since many years later all five Ag. Dimitriou together with Meliti, raising the share of brown coal to power generation mix by 24%. The participation of lignite in electricity generation also increased by 17% in July, which was the first month of the implementation of the program “return” of domestic fuel, dictated by energy crisis and the need to reduce prices and ensure power supply in the event of a complete blackout Russian natural gas.

In order to ensure continuous operation of the units in winter with high temperatures power consumption due to heating, the competent PPC staff in the lignite center of Western Macedonia is adjusting the work schedule.

Taking advantage of the limited two-month operation of the units from September to October, when consumption is down, he directs contracts to small areas with rich deposits that are easier and faster to extract to fuel the yards with fuel for the winter. .

In August, the share of brown coal in the electricity generation structure reached 24%.

The rate will be decided by whether they manage to increase the production of brown coal from 1 million tons per month today to 1.5 million tons. To date, over 1.6 million tons of lignite have been collected from the sites of six lignite plants in Western Macedonia.

Meanwhile, tests of the loading and transport system are being completed. fuel to the mills and boiler of the new Ptolemais V plant, as well as to the fuel ignition systems, while the reserves of lignite in the yard of the plant are also increasing daily in order to start its trial operation in September for a limited period, with a goal of starting its commercial operation in December .

PPC has announced another contract out of six planned to open new production sites at the southern field. The tender, with a total budget of US$6.575 million, covers excavation, loading, transportation and storage of materials.

So far, no progress has been made on the future Ahladas lignite mine, as well as the Vevi lignite mine, after the Ministry of the Interior started their operation with the help of the checkpoint. OUR Minister for the Environment and Energy by his decision in early July, he declared the company Lignitoryheia Achladas, which was granted the development of the field, liquidated due to non-compliance with the contract it signed with PPC for the supply of certain volumes. brown coal, as well as non-payment of rent at the expense of the Greek state about 4.7 million euros. A month and a half later, the company is still operating the mine and producing the volumes it exports to North Macedonia, within the context of the tolerances it allegedly secured, as information from the ministry confirmed, PPC and Achladas Lignite Mines in discussions for a new agreement that would allow its operation to continue without return the deposit to the state.

Competent sources of the Ministry of Internal Affairs indirectly but unequivocally confirm the relevant information, emphasizing that if the company repays its debts to the state, it can appeal against the decision of the ministry and continue working at the field. It is reported that the company is ready to start repaying the debt, which, in addition, as refer to “K” responsible officials, was initiated through an extrajudicial mechanism that dragged on.