Vučić: Serbia wants Azerbaijan to participate in major gas power project

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said in Baku that the government is starting talks with Azerbaijan on a possible joint construction of a 1 GW gas power plant in Niš or two smaller units. “Everything we have to do regarding green energy, better environment, the fossil fuel phaseout, all implies huge money,” he underscored.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku is an opportunity for Serbia to discuss how to obtain financing for renewables or non-fossil fuels, and gain knowledge on small modular reactors (SMRs), and with whom to build them, so that it doesn’t last just 12 to 14 years, President Aleksandar Vučić said.

It is important to start considering nuclear SMRs, he added. “I am not sure that currently, even though we have wonderful smart people in CERN, Vinča, in other places, we have enough knowledge and capacity to do it,” the president stated. Serbia must consider importing know-how and technology and fast, in his view.

Serbia must consider importing know-how and technology and fast, according to the Serbian chief of state

CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. It operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, in Meyrin in Geneva. The Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences is a state-run nuclear physics research institution near Belgrade.

After a bilateral meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the event, Vučić revealed that the two governments would negotiate on the possibility of a joint gas power project including natural gas supply.

He valued the investment at USD 1.2 billion to USD 1.3 billion, saying it would secure Serbia’s electricity supply for seven to twelve years.

Partnership with Azerbaijan would secure gas supply

Azerbaijan is building power plants of up to 1 GW, Vučić stressed. He said Serbia is analyzing the possibility of a 1 GW facility in Niš, the country’s third-largest city, or two smaller ones of 350 MW each. Partnering with Azerbaijan in the project would enable the security of gas supply, the president pointed out.

The country’s draft 2040 energy strategy includes a plan for a gas-fired cogeneration plant in Niš of 150 MW in electricity capacity and another 100 MW for heat. Another one would be built in Novi Sad. It is envisaged at 350 MW and 100 MW, respectively.

“Everything we have to do regarding green energy, better environment, the fossil fuel phaseout, all implies huge money,” Vučić underscored. Entire Europe will have many issues, he said, pointing to the attacks on electricity infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine. The president expressed the belief that the energy system in some parts of Europe would completely collapse.

“In three, four years America will halt the delivery of liquefied gas, as it will use it for gas power plants. Electricity consumption is becoming higher and higher. Artificial intelligence and electric cars are swilling power. In our country, we consume more power in the summer than winter. Those are our key problems,” Vučić stated.

Deals with Russia and Azerbaijan are keeping the gas price lower than in the market

It is why Serbia needs contracts with Russia and Azerbaijan and gas power plants, he added. “It is clean energy,” the president claimed.

Vučić noted that natural gas costs EUR 485 per cubic meter at the TTF hub, the European benchmark, and that Serbia pays EUR 323 per cubic meter. The cost is lower thanks to the arrangement with Russia and a relatively favorable price for Azerbaijani gas, he explained.

“That’s why we are able to keep subsidizing, additionally too, both our population and our industry. To pay a low price for gas. But a good part of the electricity price, which is also growing in the futures market and everywhere else, will be determined through the price of gas,” Vučić said.

No climate action without peace

There are several prerequisites to starting the fight with climate change, according to Vučić. “If we are not able to create peace, what else can we talk about?” he warned. COP29 is an opportunity for countries to strengthen their climate goals and display concrete steps toward environmental sustainability, the president stressed.

“Serbia is joining the global efforts in the fight against climate change. Through our national strategies and policies, we are continuing to work on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, promotion of energy efficiency, biodiversity protection and the promotion of a green energy transition,” Vučić stated.

The international community must show responsibility and act in solidarity to save the planet for future generations, he said.

“Today no one likes the word peace, because everyone wants to defeat the other guy. That’s why we have to work on peace, tackle drought, floods, wildfires, air and water pollution. But first – we have to establish peace. That’s why I am calling on all great powers to solve the problems in Ukraine, in the Middle East and everywhere in the world, because only then will we be able to solve all other problems. Number two, the big and rich ones, as always, are creating problems, and the poor and small countries pay the price for that. That is why I believe it is exceptionally important to find new financial instruments, to aid undeveloped and developing countries,” Vučić stated in Baku.

He urged large and rich countries to help poorer ones.

Vučić said the Jadar lithium project in Serbia is complete in the political sense and that Rio Tinto now needs to meet the government’s requests to be allowed to open a mine and processing facility

Turning to Rio Tinto’s controversial project for a lithium mine and processing plant in Serbia, the president told the media that the alkali metal would be excavated if the company fulfills the government’s conditions. “In the political sense, that story is long done,” Vučić asserted.

Of note, COP29’s formal name is the Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).