http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business.php?yyyy=2014&mm=05&dd=16&nav_id=90343
May 16, 2014 | 16:57 135,000 homes without electricity Source: Tanjug BELGRADE -- Severe weather conditions, torrential rain and floods left 135,000 homes across Serbia without electricity, the power company EPS has announced. The most difficult situation is in Lazarevac, Obrenovac, Valjevo, Paraćin and Smederevska Palanka. The situation is critical in the Belgrade municipality of Obrenovac, where a half of the city lost power, states the release. The Kolubara River burst its banks in Obrenovac late on Thursday flooding 80 per cent of the city and all neighboring settlements, and the power was cut for safety reasons, as in the majority of flood affected areas. If the weather forecast holds true and the rain stops, around 80 per cent of medium voltage transformer stations, now shut down as a precaution, should be brought back into service within the next 24 hours, states the release. As far as power generation is concerned, the interruption of coal production in the Kolubara mining basin and the supply of coal to the Nikola Tesla power plants still pose the greatest problem. High water inflows at hydropower plants caused the water to spill over, reducing the capacity and power production. EPS announced Thursday that its plants generate 10 percent less power due to the flooding, and that small quantities of electricity are imported in order to avoid power cuts at peak periods. Around 3.3 million kWh of electricity, or 2 percent at a daily level, are procured, and the daily consumption in Serbia today stands at 93 million kWh, said EPS.
