Electric Power Options and the Balkan Countries

                                                                                         

Recent research into Eastern Europe's electrical power industry has suggested that the Balkan countries may need to rebuild over 90% of the electrical generation capacity. This need comes at a time when Balkan economies are re-organising and are being rebuilt due to major changes that have occured across Eastern Europe in recent years. The challenge is being compounded by changing weather patterns that include excess summer rain and flooding in some parts of Europe while other parts of Europe experience excess summer heat and drought.
A significant proportion of the electric power is generated at coal powered power stations in the Balkan countries. The region has several large coal deposits and several coal mines. Environmental concerns about gas emissions from coal powered stations may require the introduction of new generation clean coal technology in Balkan coal fuel power generation. It may take anywhere from 5-years to 7-years to build a such a power station and Western Europe may have to provide financial assistance and technical expertise to introduce such technology into the Balkan region.
Developments and advances in the electric power industries of other nations may provide relief to the Balkan region in the short-term future as well as into the longterm future. There has been recent progress in ultra-high voltage transmission technology that can carry electric power over greater distances at higher efficiency and at lower cost. Solar power experts in Germany have predicted lower prices for solar electric technology in the future. They have also proposed that Europe import up to 50-gigawatts of solar electricity from North Africa by 2050. Some of this electric power could be supplied to the Balkan region.
There are discussions underway in North Africa to build an ultra-high voltage power line across the Southern Mediterranean between Morocco and Egypt. An undersea power cable of 400,000-volts AC has been installed under the Strait of Gibraltar between Morocco and Spain. In the future another undersea cable could carry solar electric power across the shallow Sicilian Strait between Cape Bon in Tunisia and Marsala in Sicily. An undersea power cable could carry such power under the Adriatic Sea from Italy to the Balkan region.
The potential to generate massive amounts of electric power at competitive cost from renewable sources in the future would require research into energy storage technologies. There are discussions underway in the Middle East and North Africa about using hydraulic pumped storage of ocean water in the Dead Sea depression and in the Qattara Depression. The combined storage potential is estimated to be between 5,000 and 8,000-gigawatt-hours of electrical energy. Excess solar electricity could be put into storage during the day and be used during the evening hours. Nuclear electricity can be placed into storage between 00:00 and 06:00 every day and be used during the morning hours. Some of that stored power could be transmitted into the Balkan region in the future.
There are many other technologies by which to generate clean electricity across Europe during a time of changing weather patterns. The ancient Mayan engineers of South America built rock dams at regular intervals at high elevations on the tributaries of rivers. This method reduced the velocity of water at the lower elevations where it also reduced damage from flooding. The ancient Mayan technique could be used on the tributaries of many European rivers. Kinetic turbines can be mass-produced and sold at competitive prices. They can be placed at regular intervals at high elevation in the tributaries of many European rivers.
The kinetic turbines that are placed in streams, tributaries and rivers would drive electric generators and supply extra electric power to European markets. The turbine would also reduce river velocity and also the amount of flooding that would occur at lower elevations. There would also be many locations where new small hydroelectric dams could be built at the higher elevations to produce electric power and also reduce flooding downstream. Kinetic turbines are portable and could easily be transported to different rivers if changing weather patterns require that this be done.
Some parts of Europe including some of the Balkan countries have experienced intense summer heat and lack of rainfall as a result of changing weather patterns. It will be possible to generate more solar electricity during such weather as the prices of solar-electric technology declines in the future. Changing weather patterns could result in some European and Balkan countries using power generation technologies that may have previously been more appropriate to the Middle East and North Africa. These weather patterns along with prevailing economic conditions in the Balkan countries may require the use of new approaches to generate electricity, to import electricity and to reduce consumption of electricity.

About the author:
Velimir Lackovic runs internet portal "Energetika" ( http://www.energetika.co.yu )
dedicated to renewable energy sources,oil gas and energy efficiency. Velimir has
completed gratuadte studies in power systems engineering and
has industry experiance of over 20 years in this field.

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