Electricity

Serbia mulls construction of its own nuclear power plant

Serbia mulls construction of its own nuclear power plant rosatom vucic

Photo: Serbian President

Published

November 24, 2021

Country

Comments

comments icon

1

Share

Published:

November 24, 2021

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

1

Share

Serbia is considering the possibility of building a nuclear power plant, President Aleksandar Vučić said and added the country is discussing the idea with Russia’s state nuclear construction company Rosatom.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić has already announced Serbia is willing to become a minority shareholder of any nuclear power plant in the region. One of the options is the planned nuclear power plant near the Hungarian town of Paks. However, this is the first time the option of constructing a plant in Serbia has come up.

There is an issue with financing the construction of a nuclear power plant

In an interview with Soloviev Live on YouTube before his two-day visit to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin, Vučić stressed Serbia did not think before about building its own nuclear power plant, but that it is now starting to seriously consider the option.

There is a problem with financing because a nuclear power plant costs more than EUR 10 billion, while Serbian laws don’t allow state debt to be above 60 percent of GDP, Vučić underlined, as quoted by local media.

Vučić added many issues are being discussed with Rosatom.

Serbia is in talks with Rosatom on the next steps

Serbia needs additional consultations with Russian partners regarding future activities in this sector, Vučić added.

A few days ago, the Serbian president spoke in Belgrade with Director General of Rosatom Alexey Likhachev about the construction of a center for high technologies and innovations in Serbia.

Serbia and Rosatom are negotiating about a proposed center for high technologies and innovations

The governments of Serbia and Russia have already signed the agreement on cooperation in the construction of a center for high technologies for medical, scientific, agricultural, industrial, and social development.

The implementation of the project is planned after the signing of two agreements during the president’s visit to Russia.

Nuclear energy is experiencing a boom

Due to the energy crisis, caused by a spike in the prices of electricity and gas, the proponents of nuclear energy are gaining ground. Countries in the region, such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, but also those in the European Union, particularly France, already planned to build nuclear power plants. The recent market disturbance returned the topic to the spotlight.

Timmermans: EU has nothing against nuclear energy

In mid-October, ten EU countries asked the European Commission to include nuclear power in the EU’s green taxonomy framework and recognize it as a low-carbon technology. However, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, and Portugal oppose the idea.

European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans said a month ago that the EU has nothing against nuclear energy, but also warned it is expensive.

In addition to conventional nuclear power plants, small modular reactors are increasingly becoming popular, and the first such plant in Europe could be built in Romania.

Comments (1)
EEE Koncept / November 26, 2021

Problem for Serbia, as well as any other country that has no experience with Nuclear Power Plant is that by the time that Plant is being finished, Reserves of Uranium will be very short.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

belgrade energy forum bef 2025 western balkans electricity market coupling cbam

Western Balkans power markets: hope for coupling with EU, concerns about CBAM

29 May 2025 - Representatives of TSOs, regulators and power exchanges gathered at a panel on the integration of Western Balkans markets into the EU market

Global battery storage capacity expands record 200 GWh 2024

Global battery storage capacity expands by record 200 GWh in 2024

29 May 2025 - The cost of storing electricity has dropped thanks to the declining cost of battery projects and technological advancements, Rystad says

Olympus CCUS project breaks ground in Greece

Olympus carbon capture project breaks ground in Greece

29 May 2025 - Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is a must for the future of the cement industry, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said

CyberGrid is committed to energy transition in SEE with its aggregation solutions Candellari

CyberGrid is committed to energy transition in SEE with its aggregation solutions

28 May 2025 - CyberGrid's Nikolaj Candellari said at BEF 2025 that the firm believes in the energy transition in SEE, contributing to the process with its solutions