November 20 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government said on Monday that state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has started construction of a third unit in Kostolac B coal-fired power plant.
A total of $613 million (520 million euro) will be invested in the construction of the 350 MW unit, the government said in a statement.
The construction of the third unit is part of the second phase of a project for the overhaul of Kostolac B at a total cost of $715.6 million.
The second phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2020 and 85% of the financing was provided through a loan with a seven-year grace period extended by Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM Bank). The loan will be repaid in 20 years, the government said.
Serbia has already completed the first phase of the overhaul project, having invested $300 million in the upgrade of units 1 and 2 at Kostolac B, part of coal mining and energy complex TE-KO Kostolac, energy minister Aleksandar Antic said earlier this month.
In addition to the construction of the third unit of Kostolac B, in the second phase of the overhaul the government aims to increase the output capacity of the Drmno open-pit coal mine to 12 million tonnes annually from 9 million tonnes.
TE-KO Kostolac operates two power plants, the 310 MW Kostolac A, and the 700 MW Kostolac B.
($ = 0.848225 euro)