Serbia’s Mining and Energy Ministry announced on Friday (29 December) that a new “Požarevac 2” high-voltage substation in eastern Serbia has been commissioned.
“The completion of the construction and commissioning of the new high-voltage substation Požarevac 2, as well as the double-circuit transmission line, is of exceptional importance for the city of Požarevac and the surrounding area, considering that it stimulates the industrial development of the city and provides the population with a more secure and reliable power supply,” said Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Serbia’s Energy & Mining Minister, who attended the substation’s commissioning ceremony.
“The industry in Požarevac is rapidly developing, which is very good, and that’s why it was important to build new energy capacities that allow a more reliable and secure network operation. In addition to this, the intention was to enable further industrial development of Požarevac by building the transformer station, which has been realised, and we have invested 785 million dinars [6.7 million euros] in it,” said Minister Đedović Handanović.
The minister noted that the Serbian government invested 180 million euros in medium and low-voltage networks in 2023. Serbian electric utility company Elektrodistribucija Srbije has recently begun the modernisation and replacement of existing old metres with smart digital metres.
“The goal is to replace 80 percent of the meters in our country by the end of the decade. The first meters were replaced in Belgrade and Novi Sad, and in the past two months, more than 100,000 consumers have received digital meters. They should help reduce losses, simplify consumption management in the network, and respond faster to the elimination of faults and problems in the supply,” said Minister Đedović Handanović.
“We must strengthen transmission capacities and be better connected with neighbouring countries. This will allow us to exchange electrical energy more quickly, especially in situations of instability and energy crises. It has been shown that countries better connected with neighbours have more easily overcome the crisis and ensured supply security,” added the minister.