Belgrade, Baku to build 500 MW gas turbine power plant in Serbia by 2029 - Serbian president
BAKU. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Baku and Belgrade have agreed on the construction of a 500 MW gas turbine power plant (GTPP) in Serbia, the Azerbaijani president's press service said.
In a statement to the press made in Belgrade by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, which was broadcast by the Serbian agency Tanjug, it was stated that the project would be implemented on a parity basis. Serbia needs new sources of generation and needs to produce much more electricity, Vucic said.
A term sheet agreement (a preliminary agreement that sets out the main commercial and legal terms of a future deal or project) was signed on February 15, and the sides expected to complete all procedures within the next two to three months, in order to start work on the conceptual and detailed design soon after, Vucic said. Construction is expected to take just over two years, and the sides believe that they will be able to open the gas power plant in 2029, he said. It is planned that the facility will be built in the vicinity of Nis.
President Aliyev promised Vucic that he would personally get involved, because Azerbaijan has built 1890 MW of installed capacity of gas power plants and completed these facilities in two years, Vucic said. He requested that Azerbaijani companies work in Serbia together with Serbian ones as much as possible, but that Azerbaijani companies provide supervision so that they work together on a 50-50 basis and build the gas power plant, Vucic said.
Aliyev said in turn that the GTPP project is being implemented thanks to the investment opportunities created in Serbia. If the investment climate were not favorable, Serbia would not be so attractive to foreign investors, he said. It is precisely because of the reforms carried out there that many countries, including Azerbaijan, are ready to make large investments in Serbia, Aliyev said.
The construction of new generating capacities will be required in the future, Vucic said. Serbia will have to build more gas power plants, and will need to think about small nuclear power plants. The country need to think through all the issues to create data centers and associated infrastructure, he said.
Serbia's Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic posted on social media that the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Serbia's Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and Srbijagas are jointly constructing the GTPP.
"This is the first joint project between Elektroprivreda Srbije, Srbijagas, and SOCAR, and is the result of intensive work by our institutions and companies over the past year, as well as the clear vision of the presidents of the two countries to take cooperation to a higher level. This project is an important step toward further bolstering our country's energy security and continuing our strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, the first partner with whom we diversified our natural gas supplies," Handanovic posted.
