In 2015, the Power Grids of Serbia (EMS) will start constructing the first section of the large Pan-European project the Trans-Balkans Corridor for power transmission within the region, the executive director for investments and strategy in this company, said EMS executive director Jelena Matejić.
In 2015, Serbia started the first phase of the Trans-Balkan Corridor, and this was the direction Pančevo – Rešica, which the EMS would finance from their own funds, Matejić specified.
She announced that, in 2016, the beginning of construction of the route from Kragujevac to Kraljevo was also envisaged, in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia.
It was necessary to invest 25 million euros in the route section from Kragujevac to Kraljevo, whereat the funds of 10 to 12 million [were] potentially expected from the EU, and the rest would be financed by the EMS from their own funds, said Matejić.
As she explained, the route Kragujevac – Kraljevo was a precondition for the realization of the second large part of this interconnection system from Obrenovac to Bajina Bašta.
The Trans-Balkan corridor is one of the most important projects of national and Pan-European importance, in which 150 million euros will be invested, she indicated and added that that corridor would run from the northeast to the southwest of the country.
The length of this interconnection long distance line, with the voltage of 400 kilovolts, will amount to more than 150 kilometers.
The Serbian Government had supported the project Trans-Balkan corridor by a special law, Matejić commented and indicated that that project would contribute to the strengthening of security of the Serbian power transmission system capacities.
That project had also been recognized as one of the most significant by the European Union, which [would] support its construction by having already included one part of the route into the IPA donation programs for 2015, Matejić added.
By that time, the EU Delegation had donated around 900 000 euros for the preparation of the feasibility study for the route Pančevo – Rešica, Matejić said.
In the explanation of this project, it is stated that the Trans-Balkan corridor will enable trans-national power transmission at large distances with minimum losses, connecting the markets of Eastern and Western Europe.
In addition to the construction of new long distance lines and the raising of voltage level of parts of the old transmission grid in Serbia, the construction of interconnections between Serbia and Romania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Hungary is envisaged.
