Serbia EPS shuts 270 MW hydro plant, fire threatens power line

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 Serbia's power utility EPS shut down the 270 megawatt (MW) Djerdap 2 hydro power plant on the border with Romania on Monday as a fire threatened the 110 kilovolt line that feeds its electricity into the system, it said.

"The outage will not cause any disturbance in the supply of local consumers," EPS said in a statement.

Local media said firefighters were trying to contain flames at a waste depot in the nearby village of Prahovo that were threatening to spread to the power line.

In the past few weeks fires have raged in parts of Serbia and neighbouring Bosnia, Macedonia and Kosovo, sweeping through vegetation dried by hot weather.

Djerdap 2 is the smaller of the two Djerdap power plants on the Danube river. The plants have a combined capacity of 1,300 MW and are jointly run by Serbia and neighbouring Romania.

Serbia produces one-third of its total power from hydro power plants and 70% from coal-fire plants but prolonged drought has already hurt its hydro power output.

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