News agency SeeNews has cited an official from the state-owned power monopoly, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), as saying that the plants will be built to increase the share of renewable energy sources in overall electricity production in Serbia. The project is currently in the design stage. The EPS official noted that the new plants will be built near existing power plants because this will make administrative procedures for getting permission to build them much easier.
The Banjica plant will be built on the Nisava river, and between the existing Sveta Petka and Sicevo hydro plants, in eastern Serbia, with construction work possibly to start in the autumn of 2008. The plant will have an installed capacity of 2.5MW and will produce 12GWh of electricity a year. It will cost a maximum of EUR5M to construct.
The other three plants will also be located in eastern Serbia, with their construction to start by 2010. The Zavoj plant will have an installed capacity of 350kW, with the Jezero and Mala Vrla 1 to have capacities of 1MW and 460kW respectively. These last two plants will be built on the Vlasina Lake, just east of Nis, and will be part of the Vlasinske Hidroelektrane hydroelectric power complex.
