Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic said that 2017 was one of the best years for Serbian energy sector in terms of investments. While the start of the construction of unit B3 at thermal power plant Kostolac is the most important energy event in decades.
Minister Antic reminded that on 20 November, in cooperation with Chinese partners, state-owned power utility EPS started the construction of 350 MW unit at TPP Kostolac worth 613 million dollars. He added that the realization of several larger wind farm projects started in 2017, as a part of a broader plan to achieve 500 MW of installed capacity in wind farms.
He said that EPS produced 39 million tons of coal in Kolubara and Drmno open pit coalmines, which is 4 % more compared to last year, and the second best result in the company’s history, adding that EPS has some 1.6 million tons of coal on stock, enough to produce 550,000 kWh of electricity.
In 2017, oil company NIS started the construction of deep conversion unit at Pancevo oil refinery, electricity transmission system operator EMS has put into operation Serbian section of transmission line to Romania, which is a part of Trans-Balkan Energy Corridor, while gas company Srbijagas agreed the expansion of underground gas storage in Banatski Dvor with Russian Gazprom.
