Public consultation starts on study on TENT thermal power unit in Serbia

Elektroprivreda Srbije is seeking approval for the study on the assessment of the environmental impact of the formal legalization of TENT A. The Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia launched a public consultation about the document. EPS is planning to reconstruct blocks A1 and A2 in its TENT thermal power division, claiming pollution would then be well under the maximum acceptable level.

The planned renewal of a part of the biggest power plant in Serbia will result in lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and suspended particulate matter and they will be “substantially below acceptable values,” Delta inženjering said. The firm conducted a study commissioned by Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), which intends to replace the equipment in blocks A1 and A2 in thermal power plant Nikola Tesla A – TENT A.

The country’s biggest power producer has asked the Ministry of Environmental Protection to approve the document on the environmental impact assessment within the attempt to legalize the structures in the complex. Buildings without an operational permit must undergo the procedure. The thermal power plant runs on coal. State-owned EPS intends to completely overhaul blocks A1 and A2, which are fifty years old.

EPS is planning to extend the life of the first two blocks in thermal power plant TENT A by at least 15 years and to lift their capacities

Blocks A3, A4, A5 and A6 are above 300 MW each and the public enterprise has the obligation to bring facilities above the threshold into compliance with the European Union’s Directive on Industrial Emissions by the end of 2023. The study reads the entire impact of the complex has been analyzed. It included three tanks for fuel oil and the remaining structures.

The public discussion and presentation have been scheduled for June 25 in Obrenovac, where both TENT A and TENT B are situated

Suggestions and comments on the environmental impact assessment study can be submitted to the ministry. The public discussion and presentation are scheduled for June 25 in Obrenovac, the municipality in the territory of capital Belgrade where both TENT A and TENT B are located.

The conclusions were drawn on the basis of the levels of waste that was generated, air quality and the consumption of fuel and water – in 2018. The study’s authors wrote the reconstruction proposal contains all necessary measures of environmental protection, in line with international contracts, for over 15 years, which is how long the units are envisaged to operate after the renewal.

Net efficiency is projected to be boosted to 32.4% from 31% and both emissions of pollutants into the air and transboundary pollution will be reduced, EPS said.

The company is bound by law, in case of any kind of reconstruction or introduction of technology, to ask regulators to decide whether an environmental impact assessment is warranted

Blocks A1 and A2 have 210 MW each and their capacities are planned to be enhanced to 225 MW. The study’s authors noted the company will have to ask regulators, in case of any kind of reconstruction or introduction of technology, to decide whether it needs to conduct an environmental impact assessment. EPS must comply with the best available techniques and the EU’s directive on integrated pollution prevention and control or IPPC.

The electrostatic precipitator filtering system is planned to be upgraded to become hybrid in order to lower the pollution from the lignite-fueled facilities, while air cooling should end the use of hydrogen for the generators.

Special natural reserve Obedska bara is near TENT A and TENT B.