I read this article over at MINA:
And it got me wondering why Macedonia does not build a large hydropower plant somewhere on the stretch of the Vardar river.
As it is today the Republic of Macedonia derives most of its power from Thermal plants ie coal burning plants.
Here are some statistics, in the first view you can see the data from the Thermal plants 82.1-90.2%, in the second you can see the production of electricity in the Hydroelectric plants, 9.8-17.9%:
To burn coal to produce power is not a sustainable way of producing electrical power but if Macedonia were to build a large dam in the lower regions of the Vardar, such a power plant would produce a lot of renewable electricity for many years into the future.
The Republic has many rivers why not use them for a good purpose instead of using them as sewer pipes.
Macedonia has other advantages as well in renewable energy production such as mountains, many sun hours a year, etc. why not use them?
One century since the beginning of electricity production in Macedonia
Thursday, 05 November 2009
Today two very important jubilees were marked in Debar. The electricity production in Macedonian celebrates its 100th anniversary and the hydro plant Spilje its 40th.
At the ceremony the General Manager of ELEM, Vlatko Cingovski, talked about the time 100 years ago when the first kilowatts of electricity were produced in Macedonia, about the production capacity that we have today, and also about the priorities and obligations in the upcoming period.
The hydro plant Spilje which at the beginning produced one third of the total electricity production in Macedonia produced 10,600 GWh of electricity in the last 4 decades.
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/9007/55/
Thursday, 05 November 2009
Today two very important jubilees were marked in Debar. The electricity production in Macedonian celebrates its 100th anniversary and the hydro plant Spilje its 40th.
At the ceremony the General Manager of ELEM, Vlatko Cingovski, talked about the time 100 years ago when the first kilowatts of electricity were produced in Macedonia, about the production capacity that we have today, and also about the priorities and obligations in the upcoming period.
The hydro plant Spilje which at the beginning produced one third of the total electricity production in Macedonia produced 10,600 GWh of electricity in the last 4 decades.
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/9007/55/
And it got me wondering why Macedonia does not build a large hydropower plant somewhere on the stretch of the Vardar river.
As it is today the Republic of Macedonia derives most of its power from Thermal plants ie coal burning plants.
Here are some statistics, in the first view you can see the data from the Thermal plants 82.1-90.2%, in the second you can see the production of electricity in the Hydroelectric plants, 9.8-17.9%:
Electricity Production in Thermal Plants
Year Data Source Value Notes
2003 U.S. DOE (2005) 83.7 % of total (provisional)
2002 U.S. DOE (2005) 87.0 % of total -
2002 IEA (2005) 87.6 % of total -
2001 U.S. DOE (2005) 89.7 % of total -
2001 IEA (2004) 90.2 % of total -
2001 World Factbook (2004) 83.7 % of total -
2000 U.S. DOE (2005) 82.1 % of tota
http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/...a/MK-elpt.html
Year Data Source Value Notes
2003 U.S. DOE (2005) 83.7 % of total (provisional)
2002 U.S. DOE (2005) 87.0 % of total -
2002 IEA (2005) 87.6 % of total -
2001 U.S. DOE (2005) 89.7 % of total -
2001 IEA (2004) 90.2 % of total -
2001 World Factbook (2004) 83.7 % of total -
2000 U.S. DOE (2005) 82.1 % of tota
http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/...a/MK-elpt.html
Electricity Production in Hydroelectric Plants
Year Data Source Value Notes
2003 U.S. DOE (2005) 16.3 % of total (provisional)
2002 U.S. DOE (2005) 13.0 % of total -
2002 IEA (2005) 12.4 % of total -
2001 U.S. DOE (2005) 10.3 % of total -
2001 IEA (2004) 9.8 % of total -
2001 World Factbook (2004) 16.3 % of total -
2000 U.S. DOE (2005) 17.9 % of total -
http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/...a/MK-elph.html
Year Data Source Value Notes
2003 U.S. DOE (2005) 16.3 % of total (provisional)
2002 U.S. DOE (2005) 13.0 % of total -
2002 IEA (2005) 12.4 % of total -
2001 U.S. DOE (2005) 10.3 % of total -
2001 IEA (2004) 9.8 % of total -
2001 World Factbook (2004) 16.3 % of total -
2000 U.S. DOE (2005) 17.9 % of total -
http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/aws/...a/MK-elph.html
To burn coal to produce power is not a sustainable way of producing electrical power but if Macedonia were to build a large dam in the lower regions of the Vardar, such a power plant would produce a lot of renewable electricity for many years into the future.
The Republic has many rivers why not use them for a good purpose instead of using them as sewer pipes.
Macedonia has other advantages as well in renewable energy production such as mountains, many sun hours a year, etc. why not use them?
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