Sonja Vlahović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Mining and Energy, and Johan Zathof, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany visited today works on the construction of the Wind Farm Kostolac, the first wind farm of Elektroprivreda Srbije. This visit was also attended by the General Manager of Elektroprivreda Srbije, Dušan Živković, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Anke Konrad, representatives of the German Development Bank KfW and the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
Vlahović pointed out that all 20 wind turbines have been installed, and these will produce 187 million kilowatt-hours per year, which is sufficient to supply green electricity to about 30,000 households.
- Climate Partnership between Serbia and Germany is yielding visible results, and we are grateful to the German Government for their strong support in the implementation of this project. With it, not only do we provide 66 megawatts of new green electricity, but we also show our ambition to rely more on domestic renewable energy sources in the future, which contribute to the decarbonization of the energy sector and a better environment. It is expected that the power plant will be put into trial operation by the end of the year - Vlahović said, adding that the wind farm is being built on the old mining landfill that is being transformed into a space for production of clean energy.
She emphasized that financing of the project was provided through an arrangement with the German Development Bank KfW in the amount of EUR 110 million, with an additional EUR 30 million from the European Union's Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), as well as EPS's own funds.
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Johan Zathof, said that this year marks 25 years of cooperation between the two countries, with a clear goal of Serbia's accession to the European Union.
- The wind farm in Kostolac is a symbol of this long-standing cooperation, and it is jointly financed by Germany through KfW, the European Union's Western Balkans Investment Framework and EPS. We are proud to support Serbia's just transition towards decarbonization and energy independence - Zathof said.
