According to representatives from EPS, the Kostolac coal basin has the potential to support over 1,000 MW of solar power plants on its mined-out areas, closed landfills and former ash dumps. Jovan Tosic, Project Manager for the Petka solar power plant, stated that once this capacity is installed, it could generate more than 1,300 GWh of electricity annually.
The 9.75 MW Petka solar power plant, currently under construction at the Cirikovac open-pit coalmine in Kostolac, will be the first facility in EPS’s portfolio. It consists of 18,725 modules arranged into 585 solar panels and is expected to be completed by the end of February 2025.
In addition to the Petka project, a 100 MW solar initiative is already in development for the Klenovnik exhausted field, and another 100 MW project is being considered for the outskirts of the Drmno open-pit coalmine. Additionally, a solar power plant with a capacity of up to 600 MW is planned for the internal landfills of the Drmno coalmine.
Two more solar plants, each with a capacity of 150 MW, are planned for the Srednje Kostolacko Ostrvo and Cirikovac ash dumps.
The Kostolac coal complex includes two power plants with a total installed capacity of over 1,000 MW, along with the Drmno coalmine. A fifth coal-fired unit, with a capacity of 350 MW, is expected to be commissioned soon.
