March 25 (SeeNews) - Serbian power grid operator Elektromreza Srbije (EMS) has signed a 13.5 million euro ($14.6 million) contract for the construction of a 400 kV transmission line with a consortium led by local company Koda Elektromontaza, EMS said.
The construction of the 60 km-long transmission line linking Kragujevac to Kraljevo is part of the second phase of the Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor project on Serbian territory, EMS said in a statement on Tuesday.
The consortium comprises EMS, Serbian company Elektromontaza and Bosnia's Elnos BL.
EMS plans to invest 29.6 million euro in the second phase of the Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor project, which also includes the overhaul of substations in Kragujevac and Kraljevo, the company said.
The financing has been secured from a 15 million euro loan from German development bank KfW, a EU grant of 6.5 million euro allocated via the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), and from own financial resources of EMS.
The selection of the contractor for the overhaul of the two substations is in the final stage and an agreement is expected to be signed soon, EMS noted.
The first phase of the project in Serbia included the construction of a double-circuit 400 kV transmission line from Pancevo to the border with Romania, which was completed in December 2017 and was entirely financed by EMS. The third phase envisages the construction of a 109 km-long 400 kV transmission line from Bajina Basta to Obrenovac, the upgrade of Bajina Basta substation's capacity to 400 kV, and the overhaul of the Obrenovac substation. The fourth phase will include the construction of 400 kV transmission line linking Bajina Basta to Bosnia's Visegrad and Montenegro's Pljevlja.
The entire Trans-Balkan Electricity Corridor, linking Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Romania via a 400 kV transmission line and Montenegro and Italy via an undersea cable, is expected to come on stream in 2022.
($ = 0.923834 euro)