Elektroprivreda
Srbije (EPS) should
become the operator of the future nuclear power plant, and as the largest
energy company in the country, it has the development capacity for such a role
so the current focus, he said, should be on educating future professional
staff. This was stated by Dušan Živković, General Manager of EPS, at the
opening of the conference of experts “Energy, Projects, Security” on Zlatibor.
He
emphasized that through the process of decarbonization, EPS understands that a
new era is coming and that baseload power will have to come from different
sources. Živković pointed out that the countries with nuclear power plants rank
among the most developed, and that Serbia should find its place within this
technology.
- “The most
significant strategic investment is the construction of the reversible PSHP
‘Bistrica,’ and this project is making progress. We have obtained the location
conditions for the power plant, which is the foundation for the further
development of the project, and at the beginning of next week we are issuing
the first tenders for infrastructure works,” Živković said.
The Head of
EPS pointed out that gas is certainly a transitional energy source and that
intensive discussions are under way regarding a gas-fired power plant in Niš.
He recalled that over the past three years EPS has achieved very strong
financial and production results.
- “This is
the result of the work of the team I lead and of all our employees. Today, EPS
is a stable and profitable company with clear and decisive development plans.
Over these three years, EPS has increased its capacity by 426 new megawatts. We
completed Unit B3 at Kostolac and secured 350 MW of new, reliable baseload
capacity. We also commissioned our first wind farm in Kostolac, with a capacity
of 66 MW, as well as the ‘Petka’ solar power plant with a capacity of 10 MW. We
completed flue gas desulfurization facilities at TENT A and TENT B. As a
result, all our major thermal generation capacities now have sulfur dioxide
emissions reduced drastically—by as much as 30 times—and we have invested
significant funds in environmental protection. We have completed the
revitalization of the Bajina Bašta PSHP, ensuring energy security for decades
to come. By refurbishing our largest hydropower plants, we added a further 100
MW, and in recent years almost 550 MW of new capacity in total has been
connected to the grid,” Živković said.
Speaking
about challenges, EPS General Manager stressed the need to insist on a solution
to the CBAM levy for energy produced from renewable energy sources, as this
would enable 550 MW from wind parks—with annual generation of up to 2,000
GWh—to generate export revenues of up to €250 million. Živković emphasized that
the current position of energy from the region is uncompetitive on the EU
market, while the EU itself often faces energy shortages.
