SOCAR will hold a 50% stake in a joint venture preparing to build a 500-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in Niš, Serbia, with construction planned over four years.
SOCAR, Serbia’s state power company EPS and gas company Srbijagas signed the shareholders’ agreement, according to Vesti Baku. The Serbian partners will jointly hold half of the venture, while the Azerbaijani side will hold the other 50%.
The agreement establishes management principles, financing arrangements for project work and a requirement for unanimous decisions on key issues during the preparatory stage.
Project Reaches Advanced Planning Stage
A preliminary feasibility study has been completed and Niš’s spatial plan has been approved. Contracts have been signed for project documentation and a study of the plant’s connection to the transmission network, while work on a full feasibility study has begun.
The partners will make a joint investment decision after the technical, economic and design studies are completed. The shareholders’ agreement therefore does not mark the start of construction, but it establishes the ownership and management structure for the proposed project.
The combined-cycle plant is intended to help Serbia balance its electricity system and gradually reduce its dependence on coal and fuel oil.
Azerbaijan is already Serbia’s second-largest supplier of natural gas after Russia. The planned power plant would expand cooperation beyond fuel deliveries into joint electricity generation.