October 12 (SeeNews) - Serbian state-owned energy utility EPS said on Monday it has started upgrade works at its 96 MW hydro power plant (HPP) Zvornik worth 70 million euro ($79.6 million) that will extend its life span by 40 years.
The four-year upgrade, which will be financed with a loan from German development bank KfW, will expand HPP Zvornik's capacity to 125.6 MW, EPS said in a statement.
The expected increase in HPP Zvornik's annual electricity output will be by up to 15%, depending on hydrological conditions.
The upgrade will be carried out by Germany's Voith Hydro.
EPS turned to a consolidated net loss of 10.5 billion dinars ($99.5 million/87.5 million euro) in 2014 from a net profit of 19.3 billion dinars a year earlier.
The total net output capacity of the EPS power generation facilities added up to 7,124 MW at the end of 2014. The group's electricity output fell 14.6% to 31,963 GWh last year.
(1 euro=119.9354 Serbian dinars)