ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP celebrates one year of successful operation as part of ContourGlobal

On June 28, 2012 ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP celebrated its first year of successful operation as part of the global energy family of ContourGlobal. The Bulgarian company remains the biggest asset of the energy group which has operations on four continents.

ContourGlobal’s 1^st year in Bulgaria was celebrated with an internal event at the plant. Since the Anniversary occurred while the planned maintenance period was in its peak, the concept of the celebration was to say “Thank you for your hard work and dedication” to all of the company’s employees. The company invited the Stara Zagora Military Big Band, which virtuoso and passionate performance made one different day full of positive emotions for all workers at the plant. The program of the event included awarding of the employees who participated at the 2012 Spring Volunteering Day, at the Environment Quiz organized during the 2012 World Environment Day, and was drawn the Q1 winner out of a hard hat of the Near Miss Reporting Campaign. The company paid respect to the retired personnel by inviting a group of people to share the emotions of that day. Two of them who went on pension since the beginning of 2012 were honored with Plaques of Gratitude for their hard work. The key element of the ceremony was the cutting of the cake by the top managers of the company, Garry Levesley, CEO, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3, and Quinto Di Ferdinando, Plant Director, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP.

One of the most notable achievements of the company during the celebrated period was the record power production in 2011. ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 TPP ended 2011 with a power production record of 5.02 TWh, which is app. 7% more than the 2010 record. In fact, the production record was broken on December 6th, 2011 when the plant produced its 4.67 TWh, thus equalizing the whole production of 2010. “The achieved power record is the highest display of how reliable and well managed asset we’ve added to our portfolio”, said Garry Levesley, CEO. “The record is a result of a well executed planned maintenance program and the skilful operations by everyone, as well as the excellent partnership we have with NEK, ESO and Maritsa East Mines. We are happy that we’ve reached this accomplishment in our first year of presence in the Bulgarian market. It will be a benchmark for the rest of our operations teams of ContourGlobal in the world.”

ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 is operating in implementation of an approved 2012-2013 business plan. As announced during the Official Celebration of the Major Investment of ContourGlobal in Bulgaria Ceremony, November 3^rd, 2011, the energy company is planning to invest BGN 28 mln in enhancing the ecology parameters and increasing the safety work of the Bulgarian plant. The company has already started the project for NOx reduction on Unit 4. It is expected to be successfully implemented till the end of 2012. The aim of the overall project is to reduce the NOx emissions from the actual limit of 500 mg/Nm³ to 200 mg/Nm³. As a result, the power plant will become fully compliant with the new EU directive that will be enforced in 2016.  Additionally, this year the company intends to replace the first 2 fields of the ESP of Unit 4, further improving the removal of dust from the emissions. Currently, the capturing of the fly ash is over 99.96%.

Over its first year as part of ContourGlobal Group, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 has prepared its Sofia office to become a regional hub in charge of monitoring the business opportunities for investments in Southeast Europe. Moreover, some of the key managers of the company took more responsibilities and global roles thus ensuring compliance and excellent results in the area of legal services, operations, health and safety, and information technologies.

Finally, ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3 is continuing its traditions as a socially responsible company, trying to enhance its environmental and social contribution.