Serbian power utility EPS intends to install two solar power plants at ash dumps

Power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has announced a tender for the analysis of the conditions for the construction of solar power plants at ash dumps of the Morava and Kolubara A coal power plants.

EPS has only one solar photovoltaic facility, with an installed capacity of 330 kW. The project pipeline includes the 9.95 MW Petka solar facility at the Ćirikovac coal mine and the 97.2 MW Srednje Kostolačko Ostrvo solar power project at the ash and slag dump in the Kostolac mining basin.

The construction of solar power plants at the ash and slag dumps, but also on abandoned coal mines is emerging on a worldwide scale within the processes of the energy transition, decarbonization and the development of renewables.

For example, state-owned company Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) from North Macedonia recently selected contractors for the installation of two solar power plants at the Oslomej coal mine.

TPP Morava and TPP Kolubara A should be closed by 2024

In the tendering documentation for the two solar power plants, EPS asserted that the requested services would be realized in two phases.

In the first phase, it is necessary to give an overview of the professional literature and projects for the installation of solar power plants at the ash dumps and locations of former coal-fired power plants. It is necessary also to assess the potential of solar energy at the two locations, and the condition of existing equipment in two thermal power plants, as well as to prepare a preliminary analysis of the projects’ cost-effectiveness.

The deadline for submitting bids is May 21, the public call reads.

The optimal solution should be chosen according to the principle of the minimum time required for the return on investment.

Other locations within thermal power plants are also possible options for PV facilities

Ash dumps are considered to be the primary locations for the installation of PV plants, but other locations in thermal power plants Morava and Kolubara A that are suitable for solar power plants should also be taken into consideration. As an option in the phased realization of PV facilities, other suitable locations can be analyzed, especially those that would remain unused after the shutdown of the coal power plants.

If they are not modernized, which is not planned, TPP Morava and TPP Kolubara A should be closed by the end of 2023.

Phase two envisages the preparation of the general project for the first phase of a solar power plant of up to 9.9 MW on the ash dump of TPP Morava, and phase three would be the general project of a solar power plant of up to 9.9 MW on the ash dump of the TPP Kolubara A. In both cases it is necessary to prepare a preliminary feasibility study for the construction of the power plant.