Kolubara B Power Station
{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Template:Navbar-Serbiacoal}} The Kolubara B power station is a proposed 750-megawatt (MW) coal-fired station in Serbia.
Contents
Location
The map below shows Veliki Crljeni, the approximate area where the plant would be built.
Background
Construction on Kolubara B first started in the early 1990s but was interrupted shortly after the break up of Yugoslavia, due to the lack of a stable financial structure. In 2008 RWE Power recommended "investment in minimizing losses in transmission and distribution and improvements in efficiency at existing power plants, rather than the continued construction of Kolubara B power station."[1]
On June 30, 2011, Serbia's state-run power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and Italy's Edison signed a preliminary deal to jointly develop the Kolubara B Power Station. A feasibility study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012. After that the two utilities will set up a joint venture. They gave no estimation of the cost.[2][3] [4]
Under the proposal, Edison offered EPS a 36.4 percent stake in the new company, in which EPS had already invested 300 million euros ($424.8 million) back in 1988 until putting the construction on hold due to lack of funds. EPS had earlier put the construction cost of the plant at around 1.6 billion euros ($2.3 billion). No bidder has expressed interest in building the plant.[2]
Administrative permits for the project expired in July 2014, so the project promoters would have to apply for new ones.[5] The project is mentioned as potential in the new energy strategy of Serbia approved by the government in May 2015 and is awaiting approval from the parliament.[6]
In August 2018, the Serbian government adopted a decision to set up a working group for the management of the construction of Kolubara B.[7]
In March 2019, the Acting Director of EPS said construction on Kolubara B was planned for 2020.[8]
Financing
On Sep. 6, 2013, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) confirmed that it is no longer interested in financing the plant, saying in an email that "We have also informed [Elektroprivreda Srbije] that, should the project become active again, it will have to be assessed against the [Bank's] new energy strategy which has far more stringent rules and would make our possible participation very difficult.” EBRD is under pressure to follow the example of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank in significantly limiting coal lending.[9]
In 2014 it was reported that the Chinese electrical power corporation Sinomach-CNEEC-CNEETC had opened an office in the Kolubara District of Serbia and was interested in "large energy projects in Serbia," including the power plant Kolubara B. The corporation said it was willing to invest EUR 1.3 billion in Kolubara B and the Radljevo coal mine, and that negotiations concerning Kolubara B are ongoing and the project could begin soon if there was successful cooperation between Serbia and China.[10]
Kolubara mining basin
According to Bankwatch, locals living near the Kolubara mine have reported delayed, insufficient, or no compensation for their damaged properties.[11]
Project Details
- Sponsor: EPS, Edison
- Parent company: Edison: EDF (50%), A2A (50%)
- Developer:
- Location: Belgrade, Veliki Crljeni, Serbia
- Coordinates: 44.4675, 20.28444 (approximate)
- Status: Pre-permit development
- Capacity:
- Unit 1: 375 MW
- Unit 2: 375 MW
- Type:
- Start date:
- Coal Type: Lignite
- Coal Source: Kolubara mining basin
- Source of financing:
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "RWE identified potential improvements in Serbian electricity supply," RWE Power, 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Serbia EPS, Italy Edison in 750 MW coal-fired project", Reuters, June 30, 2011.
- ↑ Misha Savic, "Edison Agrees With Serbian EPS to Complete Kolubara B Plant", Bloomberg, June 30, 2011.
- ↑ Misha Savic, "Edison Agrees With Serbian EPS to Complete Kolubara B Plant", Bloomberg, June 30, 2011.
- ↑ "Kolubara B lignite-fired power plant, Serbia," Bankwatch, accessed May 2017
- ↑ Conversation with local activists, June 2015
- ↑ "Serbia to start building 350 MW thermal power plant," SeeNews, Aug 30, 2018
- ↑ "Tokom marta tender za obnovu blokova A1 i A2 u TENT-u - Nastavak projekta Kolubara B najkasnije 2020," Ekapija, 08.03.2019
- ↑ "EBRD gives up Kolubara B lignite power plant project in Serbia," CEE Bankwatch and CEKOR Press Release, Sep. 9, 2013.
- ↑ "Chinese company opens European office in Serbian town," Tanjug, Jan 20, 2014.
- ↑ "New arrests link corruption with land expropriation at Serbian Kolubara mine," CEE, Nov 9, 2013.
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