(Belgrade,6 April, 2012) Electric Power Industry of Serbia is the largest investor in Serbia, because EPS invests between 400 and 500 million euros in revitalisation and maintenance of its systems every year – said Mirko Cvetković, the President of the Government of Serbia, during his visit to Thermal Power Plant “Nikola Tesla B“ in Obrenovac today. Prime Minister Cvetković attended the beginning of major overhaul of Unit B1 in TENT B today and on that occasion emphasized that the investments of EPS provided reliable operation of our electric energy system, which enabled citizens and economy to rely on EPS even in the most difficult times, as the case was in February.EPS General Manager Dragomir Marković said that the total value of six-month-long major overhaul of Unit B1 is EUR 80 million. It is foreseen that EPS invests EUR 59.3 million in these works and EUR 20.7 million are donations of Switzerland and European Union. The Goverment of Switzerland financially supports the replacement of monitoring and control system at the Unit in the amount of EUR 8.7 million, while EUR 12 million is provided for the reconstruction of electrostatic participators from the donation of European Delegation in Serbia.
Investments in modernization of EPS thermal sector, in the opinion of General Manager, significantly contributed to more secure electricity generation.
- Only in the previous year, EPS thermal power pants generated record-breaking 26.4 billion Kwh of electricity, and the reliability of thermal power plants generation reached the amount higher than 95 percent, which represents a remarkable number even for the units that are more modern than units of EPS, that are on average 39 years old – said Marković.
– The last year increase of thermal power plants generation compared to 2010 is equal to operation of new 377 MW Unit.
He emphasized that EPS can expect large projects and significant investments in thermal, mining, hydro and distribution sector in the following years, that we shall implement with loans, own funds and in the cooperation with the potential strategic partners.
Petar Knežević, Director of Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla indicated that this revitalization shall extent lifetime of the Unit, shall increase reliability, availability and efficiency of operation, and environmental protection shall be promoted. In the following 180 days very complex and detailed procedures shall be performed, and the information that 2,200 tons of equipment and more than 70,000 welding joints shall be replaced during the overhaul proves this, which shall be the most difficult task that has been done on the “large“ units of TENT and EPS so far, in the scope, complexity and deadlines of implementation.
While addressing the audience, Adriano Martins, Deputy Head of European Delegation in Belgrade, reminded that the European Union has invested EUR 520 million in energy sector of Serbia since 2000, of which EUR 120 million has been invested in revitalization of thermal power plants.
-That is just part of total donation of the EU to Serbia, which roughly amount to EUR 2.6 billion, explained Martins and announced new investments of the EU into Serbian energy sector, but also more intense cooperation on harmonizing current laws with European acquis communautaire and application of the EU standards in Serbia.
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