AES Galabovo thermal power plant begins mass layoffs in Stara Zagora

The American AES Galabovo Thermal Power Plant is already preparing to cease operations on May 8 – when its contract with the state for the purchase of energy at fixed prices expires. On Thursday, the employment office in Stara Zagora received information about mass layoffs, the director of the office, Georgi Gyokov, told reporters.

We received word from our colleagues in Radnevo that such a notification had been filed, and the majority of those being laid off are from Stara Zagora,” he clarified, as quoted by BTA.

Georgi Gyokov stated that representatives from headquarters will meet with the staff on Friday, at which time the registration process at the Labor Offices will be clarified.

He added that the exact number of those laid off will be determined at a later stage, but it involves over 300 people.

All of them will be notified,” added the director of the Labor Office Directorate in Stara Zagora, who today officially opened a job fair at the Zahari Knyazheski Regional Library, organized by the Employment Agency through the Labor Office Directorate in Stara Zagora.

We recall that in February 2024, the contract for the other American power plant – the “ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3” Thermal Power Plant – expired. Since then, it has operated sporadically and only when the price of electricity on the exchange is high enough to cover the high costs of coal-fired production. The plant is also developing its own projects for photovoltaic power plants and batteries.

Acting Energy Minister Traicho Traikov commented on the matter, stating that the production capacity of the American power plant could be taken over by the state-owned Maritsa East 2 Thermal Power Plant and that the power grid would not be affected.

Translated with DeepL.