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Construction of the Wind Farm Kostolac is in the very end and we expect a trial operation in the autumn, and the new 66 megawatts of green power of the first wind farm of Elektroprivreda Srbije, confirm Serbia's commitment to, like the countries of the European Union, produce more energy from renewable sources and thus reduce dependence on fossil fuels - said Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Minister of Mining and Energy, during the visit of the works on the construction of the Wind Farm Kostolac.
She emphasized that all 20 wind turbines have been installed so far and that the works on the substation and the connection of the Wind Farm to the grid are finishing.
- The first propellers will spin during the summer, while the entire Wind Farm is expected to be put into trial operation in the autumn. This project is a clear indicator that the state has seriously addressed the energy transition and increasing the share of renewable sources in overall production, and at the same time contributes to the development of the local community and the strengthening of Serbia's energy security under the conditions of more intensive energy consumption - said Đedović Handanović.
She pointed out that it is very important that in this way the old mining disposal site gets a new purpose and becomes a space for production of clean energy with a significantly lower impact on the environment. The Minister of Mining and Energy emphasized that the Solar Power Plant Petka, with a capacity of almost 10 MW, will be connected to the grid in Kostolac in the coming days, which will contribute to increasing the share of RES in our power system and will enable more efficient use of already used areas for production of green energy.
- Over the past two years, capacity from wind and solar has increased by 85 percent, and we are approaching the goal of having 45 percent of electricity generated from RES by 2030. With the Wind Farm Kostolac and the Solar Power Plant Petka, EPS will increase its generation capacity by 76 MW, for the second year in a row, because last year a new B3 unit with 350 MW was commissioned right here in Kostolac. The plan is to start the pre-works of our strategic project of the Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant Bistrica next year. The past year, this year and the next year will forever change the face of our energy industry. In addition, in the next three years, there should be 1 GW of solar power plants on the grid, with 200 MW of battery storage, said Dubravka Đedović Handanović.
Dušan Živković, General Manager of EPS, pointed out that the construction of the first wind farm was a great challenge, but also a real opportunity for both experienced engineers and young, new forces to gain new knowledge and experience.
- We have changed the appearance of this landscape and hardly anyone could have supposed that wind turbines would spin in the famous mining area. This project is a specific step towards decarbonization and sustainable energy development not only of EPS, but of the entire Serbian energy sector – said Živković. - Our Wind Farm will produce about 187 million kilowatt-hours per year, which is sufficient for the average consumption of about 30,000 households. I am convinced that the Wind Farm Kostolac and Petka, the first solar power plant in Kostolac, are only the beginning of further intensive development of new green capacities within Elektroprivreda Srbije.
The project is financed from a loan from the German development bank KfW in the amount of EUR 110 million, while the grant from the European Union,
i.e. the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF),
amounts to EUR 30 million, while part of the funds is provided by EPS.
