SERBIA’S GREEN ENERGY Serbian hydro-electric power provider Hidroelektrane Djerdap is investing in new equipment in order to be prepared to maintain its environmentally-responsible production in the country’s open market. EmmaJane Batey spoke to general manager Dragan Stankovic to find out more.
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idroelektrane Djerdap d.o.o is part of the Serbian state-owned power industry Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and is a hightech hydro power complex. With more than 1000 employees and its own maintenance capabilities, Hidroelektrane Djerdap is an important part of the state energy provision. General manager Dragan Stankovic told Industry Europe why its production is key to the nation. He said, “Serbia has only one company that distributes electrical power – EPS – and we are the most environmentally responsible element within it thanks to our hydro power capabilities. While it is not currently an open market and we have the monopoly on electricity provision across Serbia, this is expected to change in 2013 and so we must ensure we are able to maintain our leading position in an open market.”
To achieve this, Hidroelektrane Djerdap has been investing heavily over the past few years in preparation for this major change. With the aim of guaranteeing its hydro power provision is reliable, efficient and cost-effective, Hidroelektrane Djerdap’s facilities are stateof-the-art. Mr Stankovic continued, “After 40 years of continual usage, it was necessary to replace the machines in our first power plant – HPP Djerdap 1. We started the renovation project in 2009 with the upgrade of all its six aggregates – a project worth $139 million – which will be complete in 2016. We started with an expert assessment of what elements needed renovation and in what order so that we could maintain our service without stoppage or failures. It was decided that we would entrust the rehabilitation of the generating sets to the Russian companies that originally
installed them – OJSC Power Maschines from Saint Petersburg. We’ve also engaged a number of Serbian companies in the rehabilitation, with several hundred experts from the country involved in providing their expertise to the project.”
Investment for better production With an annual production of 7.5 billion kilowatt hours of pure, ecologically compatible electricity, Hidroelektrane Djerdap operates HPP Djerdap 1 and HPP Djerdap 2 plants. The modernisation of HPP Djerdap 1 will signal the completion of the largest investment by the electric power industry of Serbia, with around $39 million of the total $139 million cost provided by the Russian partner, as a result of clearing debts associated with the USSR towards Serbia.
