Shareholders’ agreement signed for the construction of the gas power plant in Niš — the EPS, Srbijagas and SOCAR partnership

Serbia’s Ministry of Mining and Energy announced today that Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), Srbijagas and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR have signed the shareholders’ agreement for developing the project to build the combined-cycle gas power plant in Niš, which also includes the founding of a joint trading company, as Danas reports.

Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović stressed that the project has long-term importance for Serbia’s energy stability, balancing the system and introducing cleaner energy sources during the energy transition. According to the announcements, the 500-megawatt plant is planned to be built within four years, after the completion of the necessary study and technical analyses.

The director of EPS, Dušan Živković, stressed that the preliminary feasibility study has been completed and the spatial plan of the City of Niš has been adopted, while the director of Srbijagas, Dušan Bajatović, recalled that Azerbaijan is, after Russia, Serbia’s largest supplier of natural gas, which makes this cooperation a natural step. SOCAR’s representative, Elchin Ibadov, said that work continues on drafting the technical feasibility study and joint work towards reaching the investment decision.

This is the first joint project of EPS, Srbijagas and SOCAR, considered an important step in further strengthening cooperation between Serbia and Azerbaijan in the field of energy. The construction of the new plant is expected to contribute to increasing the security of electricity supply and securing new production capacities, of particular importance given the growth of electricity consumption in the country.