Serbia’s EPS commissions Kostolac B3 coal plant of 350 MW

After seven years of construction, Chinese contractor CMEC handed over the Kostolac B3 coal-fired thermal power plant to state-owned EPS. It is the Serbian company’s first major production facility after more than three decades.

Serbia’s power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) took over the Kostolac B3 coal-fired power plant in the Kostolac complex. The framework agreement for Kostolac B3 with the contractor, China Machinery Engineering Corp. (CMEC), was signed in 2010.

Construction started in 2017. Officials earlier attributed some of the delay to pandemic lockdowns.

The commissioning certificate was signed by EPS’s General Manager Dušan Živković and CMEC’s President Fang Yanshui. Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović and Ambassador of China to Serbia Li Ming attended the ceremony.

Kostolac B3, of 350 MW, is the first major production facility in EPS after more than 30 years.

“Today the energy sector’s long hybernation is over. We have new projects ahead of us, new investments with which we will create the conditions for our country to have enough electricity from its own sources. The new power plant will provide about 5% of total electricity in Serbia,” Đedović Handanović stated.

Project envisages net efficiency of 37.3%

The net efficiency level of Kostolac B3, located east of Belgrade, is 37.3%, according to the project.

EPS is building its first wind power plant and mid-sized photovoltaic facility in the same complex. Notably, the company has recently launched a project for six solar power plants of 1.2 GW in peak capacity in Serbia, including batteries.

The state-owned utility is preparing to mothball two old coal plants.

Kostolac B3 has better environmental performances than planned

The project for the Kostolac B3 coal-fired thermal power plant envisages sulfur dioxide emissions of 150 milligrams per cubic meter, nitrogen oxides would amount to 200 milligrams while dust or fly ash are not supposed to exceed 10 milligrams per cubic meter.

According to Živković, even better results were registered in terms of environmental protection during the trial phase.

Annual output is estimated at 2.2 TWh to 2.5 TWh.

The endeavor, including the increase of production at the Drmno open cast coal mine, is valued at USD 715.6 million. Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim or China Exim Bank) provided a 20-year loan covering 85% of the investment.

Kostolac B2, built in 1991, was the newest coal unit in Serbia.

Kostolac B3 could be Europe’s last new coal-fired power plant. Numerous facilities are being closed throughout the continent. There are occasional attempts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to build more units. But the country is lately struggling to maintain coal production and even remain competitive.  Turkey has some projects left after several cancellations.