The manager of ENERGO-PRO met with the mayors of the villages of Bazan and Tetovo, municipality of Ruse
On November 14, 2013, the manager of ENERGO-PRO, Mr. Stefan Abadzhiev met with the Mayor of Buzan, Mrs. Vassilena Tsankova — Borisova and the Mayor of the village of Tetovo, Mrs. Nevyana Atanasova. The topic of the meetings was the conditions of electricity supply and the state of the facilities of the electricity distribution network in the area.
During the meetings, the mayors of the village of Buzan and the village of Tetovo, municipality of Ruse, raised the issue of short-term power outages in the two villages, which people call “blinks”, as well as the possibilities of replacing old facilities that have been in operation for about 40 years.
The manager of ENERGO-PRO explained that the company's analyzes show several reasons for the network outages. One of them is the atmospheric conditions that affect the operation of a certain type of air facilities, which were built en masse in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century. These facilities have a long service life, and their replacement is carried out in stages, depending on the investment opportunities that are determined by the regulatory framework. “As a private investor, we are interested in maintaining and continuously developing our network. Like all electricity distribution companies in the country, ENERGO-PRO operates in a regulated environment and the company's investment opportunities depend on the pricing decisions of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation. We strive, in the conditions of the regulatory framework, to carry out the necessary maintenance of the facilities every year, which includes inspections, prevention, repairs, and also to renew the network in order to increase its reliability and security. We did it again this year to prepare the facilities for winter operation.”, said the manager of ENERGO-PRO.
Another reason for the exclusions is the fields with crops, grain bases and flocks of birds clustering around them located near the power lines. Often, when the birds perched on the wires come into contact with the network, short circuits are triggered, in which short-term automatic interruptions occur. Setting the sensitivity of equipment automation meets modern technical norms and requirements, and therefore in these cases we are not talking about an emergency situation, but about a standard operating mode of the network. These network disturbances are seasonal in nature - most of them are in the summer period and especially during the harvest period. At this time, due to the high activity of birds, the wires are literally bent under their weight, and power outages are especially frequent in the early morning, noon and dusk hours.
A significant influence on the power supply is also exerted by existing foreign facilities, which in most cases are not maintained in the required technical condition by their owners. Mr. Abadzhiev made a commitment to Mrs. Borisova and Ms. Atanasova that the teams of ENERGP-PRO Networks also inspect the facilities in the area, which are owned by others. If malfunctions are detected, prescriptions will be given to their owners to take measures to eliminate them in order to prevent possible disruptions to the network.
Currently, together with the Municipality of Ruse, pruning of branches near the power lines is carried out in order to prevent accidents on the network due to strong winds. “We are doing everything we can to minimize the risk of power outages for our customers. We have already taken technical measures to improve the situation. The problem of birds and weathering could be permanently solved by replacing the network in the area with an underground or more modern aerial one. However, this is a large-scale investment project that we can hardly do at this stage. Practice shows that such projects are possible in times of economic growth, when sufficient funds can be allocated for the comprehensive improvement of infrastructure in settlements. The pricing policy of the state regulator is currently to maintain a socially acceptable price of electricity, which also determines the volume of investments of all electricity companies in the country. Therefore, we will continue to gradually replace the most vulnerable sections of our network each year. The goal is to guarantee the necessary quality and security of electricity supply on the territory of North-East Bulgaria.”, added the manager of ENERGO-PRO.
