Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS) initiated the negotiation procedure without publishing a public call for the delivery and installation of regenerative heater RZV No. 2 on the 210 MW block.
The document published on the Public Procurement Portal confirms that an incident occurred at the Kostolac TPP on block A2 fire about which the public has not been officially informed to date, writes Boom93.
On July 31, 2026, a fire occurred on unit A2 (210MW) within the Kostolac Thermal Power Plant, on the regenerative air heater (RZV), which caused its failure, where there was significant damage to the heater equipment.
This information can be found in the document for the negotiation procedure published by the Electric Power Company of Serbia on August 9 on the Public Procurement Portal, for the "delivery and installation of the regenerative heater equipment of RZV No. 2 on the 210 MW block".
The fire occurred when the block was coming out of repair
The document states that an inspection of the condition of the equipment after the accident revealed that 50% of the RZV filling (honeycomb) was completely destroyed, the supporting plate of the sector board was damaged, the upper and lower sector plate on one side were damaged along with the adjustment system, the sealing elements of the sector plates were destroyed, the radial and circumferential seals, radial plates (partitions on the rotor) and segments of the toothed rim were damaged.
"The failure of the heater due to the action of the fire occurred during the planned exit of the block from overhaul due to the action of causes that could not have been foreseen and prevented, i.e. due to the occurrence and spread of the fire inside the heater housing, it was not possible to prevent damage to the said equipment at the given moment," the document states.
Then it is stated: "Due to the failure of the heater, unit A2 is out of operation and does not generate electricity."
In the same document, EPS estimates that this block in this period accounts for about 4,5% of Serbia's total maximum electricity needs and warns of a "high risk of a longer shutdown of the block and jeopardizing the stability of the power system."
Boom93 published information about the fire and directed questions to the Electric Power Company of Serbia. The answers did not reach the publication of this text either.
Procurement worth around 1,2 million euros
The subject of procurement is the delivery and installation of regenerative heater equipment RZV no. 2, estimated value of 142 million dinars without VAT, that is, about 1,2 million euros. The procurement includes the manufacture, delivery and installation of all positions that were damaged or destroyed in the fire, as well as those that must be done due to dismantling and assembly works.
The procedure is not conducted as a regular tender - EPS applied the negotiation procedure without publishing a public invitation, referring to Article 61, paragraph 1, item 2) of the Law on Public Procurement.
The deadline for submitting bids is August 12 at 10 a.m.
Previously contracted overhaul
In April of this year, EPS concluded the contract for "Renovation of RZV in TEKO A". The procedure was conducted as an open public procurement, with an estimated value of RSD 7 million.
Only one offer arrived - from the companies PD Balkan DOO Niš and Balkan Naisus DOO Niš. The contract was concluded on April 3 at a price of 6.999.000 dinars without VAT.
The repair was related to two regenerative air heaters on block A2.
Inspection of rotor bearings and clearances, opening of repair holes and control of dirtiness of filling - "honeycomb", inspection and repair of seals, as well as replacement of upper, lower, axial, radial and peripheral seals on both RZVs are planned.
The contract also provides for the inspection of other sector plates, the training of the system for raising and lowering them, and the adjustment of the gap between the plates and the rotor. It was also necessary to check the system for blowing and washing the filling, perform the necessary welding, inspect the drive and check the gear teeth of the reducer and the impeller.
Some of this equipment matches the elements that EPS now says were damaged or destroyed in the fire - among them the RZV filling, sealing elements, sector plates and gear parts.
Source: Boom93
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