Serbia’s state-owned utility EPS and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR have formalized a cooperation framework for a planned power plant in Niš. The agreement sets out the basis for creating a joint venture covering the project from development through construction and operation. It also defines key commercial principles for the partnership over the coming years.
Joint venture scope and commercial framework
The framework agreement establishes how the joint venture will manage the planned facility across its lifecycle. It includes oversight from the development stage to eventual operation. The parties also set out commercial principles intended to guide cooperation in the next phase of work.
The planned plant is expected to become one of Serbia’s new sources of baseload electricity generation. Serbian government officials link the project to efforts to modernize the national energy system, improve supply security, and diversify the generation mix. They also cited Serbia’s gradual move toward lower-carbon technologies.
Capacity target and grid integration
Serbian authorities said the target is to integrate up to 500 MW of new capacity into the national grid by the end of the decade. The project is expected to support long-term energy security. It is also described as providing additional flexibility for the ongoing transformation of Serbia’s electricity sector.
Serbia–Azerbaijan energy cooperation context
The latest agreement also points to deeper energy cooperation between Serbia and Azerbaijan. Bilateral relations in energy have expanded in recent years, including areas such as natural gas supply, infrastructure development, and strategic investments. Officials said the partnership could enable additional joint projects beyond the Niš power plant.
For EPS, the initiative is presented as another step in reshaping its generation portfolio. The company is working to balance traditional production assets with newer technologies aimed at delivering stable output while aligning with evolving energy and environmental priorities.
Representatives of both companies said their cooperation combines technical expertise, financial capacity, and industry experience. They described this as a foundation for developing a modern power facility intended to support long-term stability of Serbia’s electricity system. The Niš gas-fired power plant is also described as a flagship project under an intergovernmental energy cooperation agreement signed earlier this year between Serbia and Azerbaijan .
