The Serbian Government has taken significant steps towards transitioning to renewable energy by declaring a public interest in the expropriation of land for a new solar power plant at the site of the existing Kolubara thermal power complex in Veliki Crljeni. This initiative is part of a broader strategy aimed at repurposing former coal infrastructure to facilitate renewable energy generation within the country.
The project will be executed according to existing spatial planning documents related to the Kolubara lignite basin. The land acquisition will impact properties in the cadastral areas of Sokolovo, Veliki Crljeni, and Stepojevac, with the state-owned power utility, EPS, designated as the beneficiary responsible for overseeing the expropriation process.
This solar project forms a critical component of a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the Kolubara A site. Public presentations showcasing urban and architectural designs for the facility were held in October 2025. Additionally, the project encompasses plans for closing and environmentally rehabilitating current ash, slag, and coal disposal sites within the complex.
Initial plans to establish solar facilities on former ash dumps at both Kolubara A and Morava thermal power plants were introduced approximately three years ago. In 2024, EPS initiated a tender to develop urban planning documentation necessary for constructing solar power plants at these locations.
The planned solar installation at Kolubara A is expected to have an installed capacity of around 71 MW. Meanwhile, a second facility planned for the Morava thermal power plant site aims to achieve a capacity of approximately 45 MW. Both projects are intrinsically linked to the gradual decommissioning of older coal-fired units.
The decommissioning process for Kolubara A and Morava TPPs commenced in autumn 2024 when EPS launched a tender for preliminary conservation designs. Notably, Kolubara A is recognized as Serbia’s oldest operational thermal power plant, having been commissioned in 1956 with a total capacity of 271 MW distributed across five generating units.
The conversion of these sites into renewable energy projects aligns with broader efforts in Serbia to transform legacy coal infrastructure into sustainable energy assets, thus supporting the nation’s transition towards cleaner power generation practices.
