During the final phase of the construction of the third block of the Thermal Power Plan Kostolac B, with a power of 350 megawatts, for which the foundation stone was laid down in November 2017, the entire equipment necessary for the work of the power plant during the first synchronization was assembled and tested, and hot and cold tests are currently being finished and the road and environmental infrastructure is being tidied up, along with intensive training of workers.
– The projects according to which the works are done in the location have been prepared and the necessary permits for all 14 phases, for which approval has been given by the fire police of the Ministry of Interior, have been obtained. The contractors from a Chinese company are assuring us that the construction of the new block B3 will be completed in the first half of this year – says Zeljko Lazovic, the head of the project program and project manager at the Sector for Key Investment Projects of EPS.
As one of the priority conditions for the operations of the new block, strict requirements have been defined regarding the measures of environmental protection, which are in line with the national regulations, but also Serbia’s obligations based on the signed interstate agreements in this field. That is why threshold values have been adopted, 150 milligrams per cubic meter for sulfur dioxide, up to 200 for nitrogen oxides, and up to 10 milligrams for powdered matter.
The new block, which will produce 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is 5% of the production capacities EPS, will use the coal from the Drmno mine as fuel and it is estimated that around three million tons will be required for it annually.
They especially point out here that the realization of the project worth USD 618 million – a part of the second phase of the credit arrangement of Serbia and China, signed in 2012, which also encompasses the expansion of the open-pit mine Drmno from 9 to 12 million tons of coal a year – was contributed to a lot by the workers of the TPP Kostolac B with their knowledge and experience, who are involved in each segment of the execution of the works and functional tests. And, for the workers from China, back in 2013, a settlement was raised next to the TPP Kostolac B. The land and the utility infrastructure were secured by the EPS, and the Chinese secured the pre-fab facilities, furniture and equipment.
