Settlement between Rafako and Tauron. Tauron received PLN 240 million

The President of Tauron Wytwarzanie, Trajan Szuladziński, referred to Rafako’s communiqué during the European Economic Congress (ECE). Rafako announced on Tuesday that on April 24, 2023, the issuer, a subsidiary, PKO BP, PZU, mBank, and on April 25, 2023 also by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and PKO BP, PZU, mBank and BGK signed who issued the contract performance bonds, the agreement on mutual settlements between the Issuer, the subsidiary and the guarantors, as well as the acceptance of the settlement by the guarantors, dated March 31, 2023. – As far as Rafako is concerned, the last condition is being finalized. I receive text messages confirming subsequent payments This is the last element of the finalization of this settlement. I assume that it will be finalized today, because this is the deadline until the end – informed Szuladziński.

Tauron received PLN 240 million for claims resulting from improper performance by Rafako of the contract for the construction of a 910 MW unit in Jaworzno, the company announced in a Tuesday communiqué.

On March 31, 2023, Tauron signed a settlement with Rafako, ending the dispute over the 910 MW power unit in Jaworzno, the energy concern announced on Friday. The settlement, which is the result of mediation conducted before the arbitration court at the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Poland, sanctions the settlement and termination of the contract. Rafako was the contractor of a new 910 megawatt Tauron power unit in Jaworzno worth over PLN 6 billion. The companies have been arguing for many months over problems in the operation of the block. In mediations with the participation of the General Prosecutor’s Office in February this year, the parties informed about the conclusion of a preliminary agreement, in recent weeks they postponed the date of signing the settlement.

“Mediations conducted before the Arbitration Court of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Poland have already been conducted between the parties in the past, each time the parties worked out a compromise and signed settlements. The amicable formula for closing a pending dispute brings rational benefits to all parties to a dispute that has just ended” – Paweł Szczeszek, President of the TAURON Group, announced in a press release.

Removal of all identified problems with the block will be spread over time, but the positive effects of the concluded settlement are already visible today. TAURON Wytwarzanie established direct cooperation with the existing subcontractors of the main contractor, which was not possible before the settlement. Plans for target design and technical solutions are being developed, and the amount of PLN 240 million, which the company received as a result of the settlement, ensures the possibility of their implementation. Successful completion of these works is crucial for the future operation of the unit in the most favorable configuration and with maximum efficiency.

“We know what we need to improve and we consistently implement our plan. Our goal is to maintain high availability of the unit, which directly translates into the security of the national power system, while eliminating technical limitations and improving the unit’s operating economy” – noted Trajan Szuladziński, President of the Management Board of TAURON Wytwarzanie.

Tauron pointed out that despite the need to solve a number of technical problems, since Tauron Wytwarzanie took over responsibility for the operation of the 910 MW unit, its operation is much more predictable, the availability of the unit in the first quarter of 2023 exceeded 95%, and in March, immediately before commencement of the first scheduled maintenance shutdown, amounted to 100%.

The unit in Jaworzno was launched with a delay in November 2020. In June 2021, it was shut down due to faults. The unit was restarted – also with a delay compared to the original plans – at the end of April 2022. After that, the unit was temporarily turned off twice more. According to Rafako, the reason for the failure was the inadequate quality of coal supplied by Tauron. According to Tauron – the reasons are numerous defects and faults of the block. The companies eventually reached a settlement.

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