Electricity

Serbia’s coal-fired thermal power plants to keep working until 2050

Serbia s coal fired thermal power plants keep working 2050

Published

May 27, 2021

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

May 27, 2021

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlović said a plan would be developed for the operation of thermal power plants in Serbia until 2050 as new energy production capacities must be sustainable and cost-effective.

The decision of the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia to stop the construction of thermal power plant Kolubara B prompted a strong public reaction. After receiving the letter, state-owned coal mine and power plant operator Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) opposed the decision, and so did the members of the trade union of the Kolubara mining basin, which held a protest. The union claimed thermal power plants would be shut down by 2030 and that it would make electricity imports surge and lead to massive layoffs.

Many European Union member countries determined the deadline for a coal exit as the administration in Brussels declared it would become climate neutral by 2050.

Thermal power plants won’t be closed

“I really believe that we will very soon finish the plan for the operation of our thermal power plants by 2050. Therefore, thermal power plants won’t be closed, if this is the main issue that we are hearing these days. The question is how we will make the thermal power plants capable to produce electricity in a sustainable way,” Mihajlović told RTS.

We have to take care of expenses that the CO2 tax will bring for the thermal power plant business

She stressed the ministry isn’t in favor of building thermal power plants and expressed the opinion that it isn’t reasonable, arguing that Serbia should turn to healthier and more sustainable ways to produce energy and be careful about the costs that would be introduced with carbon dioxide surcharges.

“Everything that thermal power plant Kolubara B would produce, most income would be spent on CO2 surcharges, because of pollution. The surcharges are now at EUR 51 per ton of carbon. They were at EUR 35 at the beginning of the year, and they are expected to reach EUR 130 by the end of the year. If we know we will have to cover the surcharges for the energy from new thermal power plants, than it is very questionable whether we should build them, if we know that we would then pay even more,” she told Happy TV.

In her words, the new capacities that Serbia would install will mostly consist of mid-sized and large hydropower plants, gas-fueled power plants, solar and wind power plants.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

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

Open call for green hydrogen combined heat and power pilot project in Western Macedonia

Open call for green hydrogen high-efficiency CHP pilot plant in northern Greece

04 July 2025 - The Greek government has opened a call for a pilot CHP unit in Western Macedonia that would run on green hydrogen

Foreign renewable energy investors remain committed to Romania as large plants coming online

Foreign renewable energy investors remain committed to Romania as large plants coming online

04 July 2025 - Renewable energy companies from abroad aren't intimidated by negative power prices in Romania, especially with the BESS segment accelerating

projects euros modernisation fund celan energy

EU’s Modernisation Fund disburses EUR 3.66 billion for clean energy projects in nine countries

04 July 2025 - Focusing on renewables, grids, storage, and energy efficiency, the funds will support projects in Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and Romania.

sostanj coal fired plant unit 6

Slovenia’s sole coal-fired power plant Šoštanj to keep main unit offline until fall

04 July 2025 - The 600 MW unit at Šoštanj will not be restarted until the end of September, when demand for heat is set to rise.