BELGRADE (Serbia), February 28 (SeeNews) – Serbian state-run power distributor Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) said on Tuesday it has agreed a 45 million euro ($47.8 million) loan from Germany's development bank KfW for an environmental project at coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP) Nikola Tesla A.
The loan, with a 12-year maturity including a five-year grace period, will be used for the installation of a system for the disposal of ash, slag and gypsum at the blocks of the power plant, improving the environmental protection, EPS said in a statement.
The project will improve the air quality, as it will prevent the wind from blowing away the ashes from Nikola Tesla A, and will also protect against contamination the underground water, Sava river and the land in the area, the CEO of EPS, Milorad Grcic said in the statement.
KfW has a portfolio of 1.7 billion euro in Serbia and two-thirds of that amount is invested in the energy sector, with EPS being the most important partner of the lender in the country, the director of the bank for Southeastern Europe (SEE) and Turkey, Christoph Tiskens, said.
Last week, Serbian energy minister Aleksandar Antic said EPS plans to invest a total of 1 billion euro in environmental projects by 2026 to comply with EU requirements.
With a capacity of 1,502 MW, Nikola Tesla A is the largest coal-fired power plant in Serbia. It is equipped with two LMZ steam turbines with a capacity of 210 MW each and four 308-MW GE units.
Nikola Tesla A is part of the TENT power generation complex, which also includes the TPP Nikola Tesla B, TPP Morava and TPP Kolubara power plants.
($ = 0.941507 euro)