The electricity supplier in Western Bulgaria is ready for the upcoming winter, but accidents cannot be avoided if there are bad weather conditions. This was commented by the Executive Director of "ERM West" - Radoslav Tsvetkov told BNT.
The average age of the network is 40 years, and it remains underfunded and the company is looking for external sources of money.
Meanwhile, the company is also tightening control so that electricity theft is not allowed, because some of it goes into people's bills.
The company that supplies electricity to Western Bulgaria has not built a new transmission line for 25 years.
"Generally speaking, the investments are not enough to build a completely new transmission line, despite this, we are replacing sections, but a completely new transmission line - let's say 100 km, yes, this has not happened, but it is necessary", said Radoslav Tsvetkov, executive director of "ERM Zapad".
There are not a few critical sections.
"We removed the top 60 of the worst condition, where they need to be repaired, the calculation shows over 1 billion leva. You understand how this would affect the prices of the end customer, which is why, realizing this burden, we are looking for financing from outside and from the European Commission", added Radoslav Tsvetkov, Executive Director of "ERM Zapad".
The company's annual permitted investments amount to 117 million leva, and the company will exceed the amount. If the set goals are met, it will take about 9 years to renew only the critical part of the network.
"As critical points, I could not locate one, unfortunately there are many. There is an interesting statistic. Currently in Bulgaria, with this depreciated network, the cost of maintaining the network itself is around 300 euros per kilometer," added Radoslav Tsvetkov, executive director of "ERM Zapad".
For comparison, in Western Europe, ten times more is spent per kilometer. When asked whether the situation from the past Christmas holidays, when settlements were left without electricity for a long time due to fallen trees on electric wires, could be repeated, the company replied as follows:
"The fact is that the average age of this network is over 40 years. So what is the condition, the condition in view of all this is good. We are coping for the moment, we are doing what is necessary. Of course, such events as unforeseen, severe weather conditions, whatever the network will not be able to withstand, commented Radoslav Tsvetkov, Executive Director of "ERM Zapad".
Since last year, the regulation on easements around the network has changed, as they have been expanded and are now 7 meters away from the power lines. Not only bad weather can disrupt the quality of electricity supply, but also electricity theft.
"The economic situation in the country creates prerequisites for encroachment on the networks and, accordingly, unregulated use of electricity," said Viktor Stanchev, Operational Director of "ERM Zapad".
Currently, 25 teams of the company are looking for electricity thieves every day. The inspections carried out are increasing daily, with nearly 1,000 cases detected this year alone. 20% of the thieves are companies, and the rest are household customers.
"Business is more problematic because more serious damage is caused in terms of overloading certain routes through which we supply electricity, and all consumers in this region suffer from this", added Viktor Stanchev, operations director of "ERM Zapad".
Part of the bill for the stolen electricity is also included in the monthly invoices of subscribers.
"To some extent it is true, to some extent it is not true. The regulator recognizes a 1% technological cost, which includes both technical and non-technical losses, but we strive to minimize this from year to year with the technologies we have implemented", commented Viktor Stanchev, Operations Director of ERM West.
By 2030, all electricity meters will be replaced with smart ones, which will make it easier to catch thieves.
"Why are they smart - because they measure energy every 15 minutes. We receive information about the network parameters, about the load and accordingly we can react on this basis," said Viktor Stanchev, Operations Director of "ERM West".
After the market is freed - each consumer will be able to manage their consumption and internal production from their own sources, if any, via their mobile phone.