Ruse Iztok power station

Part of the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Related categories:

Oil & Gas power stations Health Effects of Gas Plants Oil and gas extraction Oil and gas pipelines LNG terminals

Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Related coal trackers:

Global Coal Mine Tracker Global Coal Terminals Tracker Global Coal Project Finance Tracker

Ruse Iztok power station is an operating power station of at least 460-megawatts (MW) in Ruse, Bulgaria with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Ruse Iztok power station	Ruse, Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria	43.866654, 26.010002 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

Loading map...

{"type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":16,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":43.866654,"lon":26.010002,"icon":""}]}

Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 6: 43.866654, 26.010002

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	CHP	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	30	subcritical	–	1964	–
Unit 1	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	30	subcritical	–	1964	–
Unit 2	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	30	subcritical	–	1964	–
Unit 2	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	30	subcritical	–	1964	–
Unit 3	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	110	subcritical	–	1966	–
Unit 3	mothballed	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	110	subcritical	–	1966	–
Unit 4	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	110	subcritical	–	1971	–
Unit 4	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	110	subcritical	–	1971	–
Unit 5	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	60	subcritical	–	1985	–
Unit 5	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	60	subcritical	–	1985	–
Unit 6	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	60	subcritical	–	1985	–
Unit 6	operating	coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas	60	subcritical	–	1985	–

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner
Unit 1	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 1	–
Unit 2	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 2	–
Unit 3	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 3	–
Unit 4	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 4	–
Unit 5	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 5	–
Unit 6	Toplofikacia Ruse EAD [100.0%]
Unit 6	–

Background

The 400 MW plant consists of six units totalling 400 MW. They were put into operation between 1964 and 1985.

It appears that several units have been mothballed. ENTSO-E database showed only 180MW as the plant's installed capacity. Without other sources to confirm which units remain in operation, it is assumed that Units 1-3 have been mothballed.

Ownership

In August 2006, Bulgaria's Privatisation Agency launched a tender for the sale of 100% in the Ruse plant. In December 2006, Slovenian power conglomerate Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) was selected as the buyer for EUR 85.1 million. The deal was finalised in late August 2007. In line with privatisation terms, HSE pledged to keep a 51% stake in the plant in the three years following the acquisition, unless the Bulgarian government's asset-selling agency gives the go-ahead for an earlier sale. HSE also promised to keep the core activity of the plant for three years after the purchase. Shortly after the privatisation was completed, HSE said it planned to sell 49% of the heating plant, to an unnamed business partner, to secure financing for the acquisition.

In December 2007, New York-listed Russian mining and metals group Mechel OAO said it had paid HSE EUR 50.2 million for 49% of the heating plant in a deal approved by Bulgarian anti-trust authorities. In 2010 the Russian holding giant Mechel acquired full stake in Toplofikatsiya Ruse through its Swiss-based subsidiary Mechel International. Three years later, in mid-2013 the Russian company sold 100% of the heating plant to local Toplofikatsiya Pleven.

At the end of 2022, Toplofikatsiya Ruse EAD is owned by Toplofikatsiya Pleven.

Transition to Gas

Since 2021, the plant has been working on the introduction of natural gas into the fuel mix. As of January 2023, the installation and commissioning of the first 3 co-generators was nearing completion with installed capacity of 21MW.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.