The past three years, in which Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has achieved positive financial results, recorded a profit and strengthened its production portfolio by as much as 426 megawatts, are a clear indicator that the largest power company is moving toward intensive investments, diversification of production sources and use of new technologies – said Radovan Stanić, Assistant General Manager of EPS for Operations, at the "Energy Up" conference at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
Stanić emphasized that in the past year, EPS greened and strengthened its production mix with 76 MW of capacity from the first wind farm and solar power plant Petka.
- For us, these are projects that give an impetus for further development and new investments in RES. The good news is that a few days ago, the rehabilitation of the Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plant Bajina Bašta was completed, and after 43 years, the EPS golden reserve has been completely refurbished, providing energy when it is most needed – said Stanić.
At the panel "Security of supply at the time of energy transition and growing demand", he emphasized that the desulphurization plants in TENT A and B were completed, sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced by more than 30 times and that the installation of as many as four mining systems in MB Kolubara was in progress. This confirms that by investing in the mining and thermal sector, EPS keeps the base energy production stable, as this is still the foundation of the security of Serbia's power system.
- Our investments are aimed at increasing the share of RES. These are investments in modernization of the existing hydro power plants and the development of projects such as the Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plant Bistrica and a large 1 GW solar project, which will provide system flexibility, greater integration of RES, as well as more reliable security of the power system. We are also working on projects for solar power plants on the ash fields of old TPPs, and the construction of a new gas-fired power plant in Niš is also planned. EPS is also an active participant in all country's activities related to the use of nuclear energy - said the Assistant General Manager of EPS for Operations.
Referring to the security of supply in terms of major geopolitical crises, Stanić pointed out that the actual global crisis was an indicator that energy security was a strategic issue and that it is crucial to strive for energy independence. He explained that our key advantage is that we have our own thermal power plants and coal and good hydro potentials, but that it is necessary to diversify the production portfolio for the future, invest in electricity storage, smart use of RES, nuclear energy and hydrogen.
