Polish utility Tauron trades blows with boiler maker Rafako over cause of plant shutdown

Rafako SA w upadlosci

30/08/2022 11:52

GDANSK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Polish power utility Tauron
 TPE.WA  said on Tuesday that repairs to its boiler had been
completed and it will be back online on Friday, as it traded
blame with boiler maker Rafako  RFK.WA  over the cause of the
problem.
    Tauron has been disconnected from Poland's power grid since
Aug. 6 due to a fault with the boiler and was asked by Poland's
energy market regulator URE to explain the reasons for halting
operations at its 910 MW Jaworzno power plant.
    Tauron has not said publicly what the problem was but
refuted claims by Rafako on Tuesday that bad quality coal had
caused the problem.
    Rafako CEO Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki said that several
parameters of coal used by Tauron for the unit, including
chlorine content, were beyond the set standards and that may
have led to damages to the boiler. 
    "We have conducted a sample study of the coal which has
shown that this coal (...) is in a such a plastic form... that
it sticks to various parts of the boiler from the inside and
causes sinter formations," Domagalski-Labedzki said during a
news conference.
    In response, Tauron tweeted: "Saying that the coal is the
only ... problem (at Jaworzno power unit) is not true. Rafako is
covering its own technological problems that they cannot deal
with."
    Tauron said that the repair of the boiler had been completed
with the help of a substitute contractor. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN3060JL

 (Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega, Patrycja Zaras, Marek Strzelecki
and Maria Gieldon; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((Mateusz.Rabiega@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 57;))