Serbia will have profit to make gas plants only when produced electricity for households is not cheaper than heating on gas.
Russian Gasprom reconsiders possibility of constructing gas plants in Serbia and it is ready to establish joint company so Russian and Serbian side can invest in the project- Aleksey Miller, President of Gasprom Executive Board, stated during the last visit to Serbia.
Miller also said that they will sign contracts for gas delivery at preferential prices with these companies because when they participate in electricity delivery market, this kind of contract and preferential price will enable them to have goods at competitive prices, he said.
This is not the first time Miller announces cooperation of gas plants in Serbia. Idea is old as long as South Stream construction idea. Public call for construction gas plants in Serbia was also announced. EPS, NIS and Srbijagas were interested but negotiations stopped last year because of financial part of the offer i.e. high price for Russian gas which is not profitable for Serbia.
Pit excavation for South Stream is postponed for the end of this or the beginning of the next year- Managing Director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, said.
Vojislav Vuletic, President of Serbian Gas Association, says that construction can begin immediately if gas is free, but it isn’t.
-This can have big significance for Serbia because not only problem of missing MW in Serbia will be solved but electricity import will also be possible, not only in the Balkan region but also widespread, depending on that who needs electricity- Vuletic said.
-Not one plant was built in the last three decades. The last new aggregate in EPS is launched more than 25 years ago while there is more than 20 years since TPP “Kolubara B” stopped working- Vuletic explains.
The whole business of constructing gas plants will be meaningful if the agreement for price of gas that will provide electricity is achieved. He couldn’t say which price it can be because it is one price if the plant is being build of 100 MW and another for 1.000 MW plant, but it reminds on preferences Miller announced.
-Gas delivery at preferential prices tells us that we won’t be lead by market prices of blue fuel but with some other parameters also, and in this case it will be profitable for Serbia to produce electricity from gas- Vuletic explains.
Construction of gas plant is three times cheaper than normal plant- Vuletic says and adds that degree of coal use is 25 in electricity production while it is 75% in steam-gas plants. Then the electricity production from gas is rentable and this made Germany construct North Stream and to produce electricity from gas.
Besides, if Srbijagas has calculation to deliver gas at lower prices for Azotara, MSK and other firms, it surely has interest to deliver it cheaper for gas plants- he said.
The construction of gas plants that suppose to provide 450 MW of electricity is also planned. Informed people say that the job would be profitable, on condition that gas plants with modern, efficient blocks are built and that natural gas cost 330 to 350 dollars per 1.000 cubic meters.
Construction of cogeneration plants can be possible in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Kragujevac, Nis, Subotica and Sremska Mitrovica, Vuletic says.
The construction of gas plants will make sense when energy prices are harmonized and when electricity for households is not cheaper than gas heating- our interlocutor concludes. We shouldn’t forget the fact that Serbia uses 25% of gas total consumption from its own sources.
Source;Serbia Energy/Agencies
