Photo: EPS
Serbian contractor Energotehnika Južna Bačka has selected international technology group Andritz to supply ten new turbines for the modernization of the Vlasina cascade. Operated by state-owned Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), the complex includes pumps, effectively making it a pumped storage hydropower system.
Serbia is modernizing the Vlasina hydropower cascade (Vlasinske hidroelektrane) to increase its nominal 129 MW capacity by 8 MW. The system of four facilities has been active for seven decades and it usually operates at a much lower level. Notably, it includes two pumps at the Lisina reservoir, so the complex is in effect a pumped storage hydropower plant. The upgrade should last up to four years.
The main contractor, domestic engineering company Energotehnika Južna Bačka, has selected Andritz to design, manufacture, supervise installation and commission four Pelton and six Francis units and associated equipment. The project is organized in a way that electricity production can continue during the works, the Austria-based group pointed out.
Andritz said it would deliver four Pelton and six Francis units
Andritz hinted that the order value is in the lower double-digit million euro range and that it is included in its order intake for the first quarter of 2026. The group serves industries including pulp and paper, metals, hydropower and the environmental segment, and provides digital solutions as well.
The hydropower plants in cascade are called Vrla 1-4, after the river they are situated on. They utilize water from the Vlasina lake-reservoir.
The project is valued at EUR 109.7 million. Most of the funding is a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The European Union approved a EUR 15.4 million grant under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and EPS provided EUR 27.26 million.
The other equipment supplier is Gamesa Electric. Swiss-Serbian consortium Gruner-NET Invest is responsible for supervision. Institute Mihajlo Pupin (IMP) from Belgrade will reconstruct and modernize the control and management systems.
Serbia also has one regular pumped storage hydropower plant, Bajina Bašta, which has just been revamped. It plans to build two more – Bistrica and Đerdap 3.
Be the first one to comment on this article.