A joint Serbian-Azerbaijani project to build a gas-fired power plant with up to 500 megawatts of net electrical capacity near Niš has entered an early public-review stage.
Planning materials will remain open for comments through Nov. 10, according to Vesti Baku and notices reported by Serbian media. The review concerns a detailed regulation plan and does not constitute a final investment decision.
Plant Would Supply Electricity and Heat
The proposed site covers about 68.75 hectares on the left bank of the South Morava River, in the Lalinac and Krušce cadastral areas.
Planning documents estimate the facility’s total usable energy output at about 500 to 650 MW. That includes 350 to 500 MW of net electrical capacity and about 150 MW of usable thermal capacity.
Electricity would be delivered to Serbia’s 400-kilovolt transmission network, while heat would be supplied to the Niš district-heating system through a heat-exchange station.
During winter, the facility would operate in cogeneration mode, producing electricity and heat according to the steam-cycle conditions and the heating network’s needs. In summer, it would be used mainly to generate electricity.
SOCAR to Own Half of Joint Venture
Serbian state-owned companies Elektroprivreda Srbije and Srbijagas are developing the project with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, or SOCAR.
The Serbian partners will jointly own 50% of the planned venture, while SOCAR will hold the remaining 50%, according to a Serbian government statement.
The shareholders’ agreement was signed on Sept. 30. Serbia’s government describes the proposed plant as a strategic project intended to strengthen the power system and support industry in the country’s south.
The partners aim to complete construction by 2030. The investment amount, final financing model and commercial terms have not yet been determined.