September 30 (SeeNews) - Serbia is in talks for the construction of a new hydropower plant (HPP) within the Djerdap complex with US civil engineering company Bechtel, energy minister Zorana Mihajlovic said.
"We are in talks with them about Djerdap 3, as well as a large wind farm that could be one of the largest in Europe," Mihajlovic said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of local broadcaster Happy TV on Wednesday.
The Serbian government is also in talks with Bechtel on renewable energy projects worth a total of some 2 billion euro ($2.3 billion), Mihajlovic added.
"The value of the projects of the new investment plan is 17 billion euro, of which more than 10 billion euro will be for renewable energy," Mihajlovic said during a meeting with Bechtel representatives in Belgrade on Monday, according to a press release by the Serbian energy ministry.
The Djerdap hydropower complex, located in the Iron Gate gorge on the Danube river, was built jointly by Serbia and Romania and commissioned in the 1970s. The Serbian part of the complex comprises Djerdap 1 and Djerdap 2 HPPs with installed capacity of 1,058 MW and 270 MW, respectively.
Serbia is considering the construction of a third hydropower plant, Djerdap 3, with installed capacity of 2,400 MW.
($ = 0.86215 euro)