Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) has to invest EUR1.2 million by 2017 to solve the issues in the area of environment protection, in order to align its operations with the standards of European Union (EU), said on Saturday Mihajlo Gavric, Manager of the Department for Environment Protection at EPS.
At the seminar for the media at Srebrno jezero near Donji Milanovac Gavric said that since 2004 up to now EPS has invested EUR138 million in the environmental protection projects which have achieved significant results in the preservation of clean water and air.
Gavric said that 30% of legislation that needs to be harmonized with EU laws refers to the area of environment protection, and that 70% of these obligations refer to EPS.
EPS emits around 40 million tons of CO2 annually, Gavric said, adding that currently Serbia has no obligation to purchase permits to emit CO2 because it belongs to a group of undeveloped countries which are not members of the Annex UN Framework Convention on climate changes.
If Serbia gets a candidate status and a date of commencement of negotiations for EU membership, ecological issue will get much more attention and consequently much greater investments will be needed in energy efficiency and ecological projects in thermal power plants (TPP), it was said at the conference.
It is expected that price of CO2 emission from TPPs on the basis of the CO2 emission permit by 2020 will be 40€/t, Gavric said, adding that if EPS does not invest in environmental protection projects it will have to pay EUR1.6 bn per year.
If these funds were to be paid, the price of electricity should be twice as expensive, thus leaving us with no money for investments, Gavric said, explaining the reasons why it is necessary to invest on time not only in ecological projects in EPS but in projects that will contribute to reduction of CO2 emission as well.
It is planned that EPS by 2017 invests about half a billion euros in the systems for flue gas desulphurization on units in TPP Nikola Tesla A and B and Kostolac B, about EUR42.5 million in the replacement of existing electrostatic precipitators in TPP, nearly EUR76 million in system reconstruction, and for the reconstruction of the system for ash and slag transport about EUR100 million, it was said at the presentation of ecological projects in EPS.
Since 2004 EPS has implemented several projects in the area of environment protection including replacement of nine electrostatic precipitators at TENT A, Kolubara A, Kostolac A, beside this flue gas desulphurization projects were done as well, and the replacement of the system for ash and slag transport has started.
As it was noted, the total emission of harmful particles into the air from TENT A and B has been reduced by 85% and from Kostolac A and B by 54%.
