Serbian state-owned power utility-EPS expects that the contractor – Japanese Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems will complete the construction of a flue gas desulfurization unit at coal-fired thermal power plant Nikola Tesla A (TENT A) by May 2023, said Acting Director of EPS Milorad Grcic.
The construction of flue gas desulfurization system at Serbia’s largest coal-fired thermal power plant, a project worth 167 million euros with the aim to reduce the plant’s sulfur-dioxide emissions from 74,000 to 7,700 tons per year, started in February 2019. The construction of this system at four units of TENT A – A3, A4, A5 and A6, each with power output of 350 MW, will enable the plant to operate at least 20 more years by meeting the EU’s relevant legal requirements related to environmental protection. Under the project, the four units will get wet flue-gas desulfurization systems, using limestone as a reagent and generating gypsum by-product, which can be used as a construction material and, mixed with fly ash, in the construction of roads. The deadline for the installation of desulfurization systems is 42 months, followed by 12 months of trial operation. The project is realized as part of the agreement between the Governments of Serbia and Japan, based on which a contract on the loan for funding the project has been signed between EPS and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This would be the second desulfurization facility at EPS’ plants, following the one installed at TPP Kostolac B. Termoelektrane Nikola Tesla (TENT) consists of four thermal power plants Nikola Tesla A, Nikola Tesla B, Kolubara and Morava with total installed capacity of 3,288 MW. With total power output of 1,650 MW, TPP Nikola Tesla A is the largest thermal power plant in Serbia and generates around 30 % of its total electricity production.