Czech power utility CEZ announced plans to build a new 880 MW gas and steam unit at its Varna thermal power plant, CEZ director and head of Varna plant, Jan Vavera, said on March 4, as quoted by mediapool.bg.

On the same day, CEZ Distribution, the power distribution arm that covers Sofia, Sofia region and Pleven, said its investment purse for this year would amount to 70 million leva. The funds will go for the construction of new electricity stations and substations, as well as for the replacement of high, medium and low-voltage grids, CEZ said.

CEZ is yet to estimate the cost of the new Varna thermal power plant unit, Vavera said. It will do so once it files for and receives a building permit and draws up a project to link the unit to a gas pipeline. CEZ is also yet to decide whether the unit will operate alongside the remaining three units or will serve as a back-up facility.

The project is part of the large-scale environmental programme that is intended to bring the plant in line with European Union regulations. The plant will only pour money into the project once the government makes the final greenhouse quota distribution across industrial producers in the country. Investments earmarked for this year, eight million euro, will be used for maintenance.

CEZ Distribution's investments, however, have already been factored into the higher electricity fees, which it hopes the State Electricity and Water Regulation Commission (SEWRC) will approve. CEZ requested a nine per cent hike for household consumers, a 6.2 per cent hike for low-voltage business consumers and a 1.1 per cent hike for companies using medium voltage.

During its three years of operations in Bulgaria, CEZ has spent 212 million leva on power grids of Sofia, Sofia region and Pleven.