A part of the funds stipulated in the formula tariff, called “Rotterdam +”, for the purchase of coal, in NKREKU decided to transfer to the needs of other types of generation. But there is a downside to this medal - empty storage facilities of thermal power plants and the threat of rolling blackouts in the winter..

The national commission implementing state regulation in the areas of energy and utilities (NKREKU) decided to make a gift for hydropower companies - from October 16 for PSP “Ukrhydroenergo” the tariff was increased by 43% - from 288.85 kopecks. up to 413.01 kopecks. per kWh (without VAT). Thus, in the 4th quarter of 2018, the cost of commodity products of Ukrhydroenergo will increase by almost a billion, or more precisely, by UAH 946 million.

At the same time, the wholesale market price of electricity (ORC) and tariffs for consumers remain the same.. This means that the additional billion, which will be earned by pumped storage stations, will not be received by other electricity producers - coal-fired power plants..

The fact is that according to the existing model, coal generation receives money from the state-owned enterprise “Energorynok” according to the closing principle. This means that as a result of the increase in the tariff, Ukrhydroenergo is exactly the same amount (UAH 946 million).. ) in the 4th quarter the amount of marketable products for GK TPP.

Thus, the Rotterdam + formula continues to be inside the tariff for industrial consumers, but part of the funds they allegedly paid to buy coal for thermal power plants, in fact, after the destruction of the Regulator, go to the investment program Ukrhydroenergo.

Zrada it or peremoga? For those whose perception of the world is shaped by the posts of experts like Parasyuk and Semenchenko, even a certain joy can cause a departure from the “Rotterdam” price of coal.. But everything is not so simple. As a result of the redistribution of funds between generations, the price of coal covered by the tariff of GC TPPs in the 4th quarter will decrease to 2091 UAH / ton (against 2400 UAH / ton in the 3rd quarter). And this is significantly lower than the prices at which stations can buy coal.. For example, the regulatory price of coal of state mines, established by the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, is 2535 UAH / ton. Accordingly, the difference between the real price and the price of coal in the tariff of TPPs with will be 18% or 444 UAH..

For the state coal mining sector, such a turn is very critical - with the planned volume of coal purchases from state mines in Q4 at the level of 0.6 million tons, the deficit of GC TPP amounts to UAH 261 million. In the absence of compensation for the cost of buying coal, the debt of the CC TPP to state mines will be the same UAH 261 million. In turn, the debt to state mines will entail delays in the payment of wages to miners, as well as a decrease in capital expenditures on the construction of new lavas. The underfunding of coal output will have a negative impact on the indicators for mining. mines in 2019 and exacerbate the preparation for the heating season 2019/2020. Although the knock of miner's helmets under the Cabinet we are likely. hear much earlier.

But the debts of power engineers to domestic government mines may seem like flowers on the background of another problem - the failure of anthracite reserves at power plants as early as this fall-winter season. As we know, coal will need to be imported from abroad at fairly high prices: from the Russian Federation - 2800 UAH / ton, from the USA / South Africa - about 3200 UAH / ton. Now the gap between the price of real import and the price taken into account in the tariff of the GC TES can increase to 1000 UAH per ton!.

What does this mean now for power engineers - in fact, refusal to import anthracite?. This is despite the fact that even now in the warehouses of TPPs of anthracite is more than two times less than the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry planned (only 226 thousand. tons instead of 494 thousand. tons). The inevitable decrease in ambient temperature will quickly “eat” these remnants.. How the anthracite power units of TPS will balance the power grid during the winter period becomes a mystery covered with darkness. I am afraid that the commission NKREKU themselves are not able to explain the reason why imported anthracite will have to be in the warehouses of the TPP.

The bottom line is the debate around the Rotterdam + formula, which allegedly sets the price for Ukrainian coal on the basis of import parity, in the light of recent decisions of the NKREKU lose all meaning. Now, Rotterdam + is a total conditional coal variable in the formula for calculating the wholesale market price of electricity and tariffs for industrial consumers..

By the present prices for coal and tariffs GK TPP having a very indirect relationship.

But the virtual problem “Rotterdam +” is being replaced by a completely tangible one - the lack of funds from the generating companies for the purchase of coal by the state mineshaft and imported anthracite. And the likelihood of fan cuts following this, which in the context of impending presidential elections can become not only an energy, but also a political problem of power.

Vitaly Kulik.