Serbia’s EPS starts trial operation of its Petka PV plant on coal tailings dump

Serbian state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije, EPS, connected its first larger photovoltaic unit to the grid. The new solar power plant is called Petka and it has a 10 MW grid connection. It is located in the Kostolac coal mining complex east of Belgrade, next to a wind park that is nearing completion. Each new megawatt is important, according to Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović and the company’s General Manager Dušan Živković.

After many years of planning and launching numerous solar power projects, EPS launched the trial operation of its first larger facility of the kind. The Petka PV system has 10 MW in connection capacity. It is located on a former tailings dump of the Ćirikovac open pit coal mine in the Kostolac complex.

“It is another important pioneering milestone in our energy sector. We are now producing clean, green energy on the site of an old mining dump, which is a turning point and the beginning of the energy transition of Elektroprivreda Srbije and an example how we can use old energy for new energy,” Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović stated.

Of note, EPS recently installed solar panels of 948 kW total on the buildings within the Termoelektrana Nikola Tesla A (TENT A) coal power plant and of TENT’s rail transportation arm. Another photovoltaic system is on the Lazići dam in Zaovine, belonging to the state-owned utility’s Bajina Bašta hydropower plant.

EPS to connect adjacent wind park Kostolac to grid next month

There are no big or small projects, as every megawatt is important for Serbia’s energy security and it means greater security, Đedović Handanović pointed out.

“In addition to the Petka solar power plant, wind generators of EPS’s first wind park stand tall today in the mining area. They are also built mainly on recultivated tailings dumps. We expect the connection to the grid in August and a testing phase, when the blades will start spinning. That way we will strengthen our electricity system here in Kostolac by 76 MW of green energy,” the minister said.

The ministry’s priorities are the projects for the Bistrica pumped storage hydropower plant and battery-backed solar power plants of 1 GW in total connection capacity

She recalled that the strategic goal of the Government of Serbia is defined by the Energy Development Strategy, to reach a 45% share of renewable energy sources by 2030.

“We have much more to do and put in maximum efforts, because ahead of us are strategic projects which will change Serbia’s electricity bloodflow to a significant extent. They primarily entail the construction of the Bistrica pumped storage hydropower plant and the project for solar power plants of 1 GW with battery storage units. Energy investments necessary in the next ten years are estimated at about EUR 14 billion. Therefore, we must make up for all the delays and be up to the task, to secure energy tranquility for the future generations”, Đedović Handanović added.

EPS continuing with other green projects in its coal mining areas

EPS’s General Manager Dušan Živković said each new megawatt is important for the company and the electricity system, especially in tropical days, when electricity demand is getting higher and higher.

“Not only are we strengthening our green portfolio that way, but also the reliability of the entire energy system, while citizens and companies have a secure supply, the same as until now. Projects like this one are concrete steps toward decarbonization and a sustainable energy development, which are also our goals for the decades to come. We will continue with the similar projects both here in Kostolac and also at dumping and landfilling sites in other parts of EPS,” he asserted.

Petka is one of the first PV facilities in the Western Balkans on former coal exploitation locations.

In addition, the construction of the Kostolac B3 coal plant in the same complex was finished last year. It was EPS’s first big energy production system in more than three decades.