A press conference that will determine the future destiny of the country is being held inside the magnificent "Serbian Palace" in Belgrade. Dubravka Jedovic Handanovic, the Minister of Mines and Energy of Serbia, stood in the spotlight with a firm and powerful voice: "We must start building the first nuclear power plant in Serbia before 2035." This moment marks the end of the Balkan country's 35 year ban on nuclear energy and officially enters a "new era" of energy development.

Century long gamble on energy investment

Serbian President Alexander Vucic unveiled an ambitious investment blueprint at a press conference. He announced that from 2028 to 2035, the country will invest at least 14.4 billion euros (approximately 115.7 billion yuan) in the energy sector, of which 6.5 billion euros will be directly used for production capacity building.

This huge amount of funds will flow into multiple key areas. Wu Qiqi emphasized the importance of natural gas power generation and plans to invest about 940 million euros to build a natural gas power plant to provide 1 GW of stable electricity. In addition, the country will also renovate the natural gas pipeline system from Trupar near Ni š to Khorgos, increasing its transmission capacity to 10 billion cubic meters, making Serbia a "transit station" for transferring natural gas to neighboring countries.

The leap from zero to gigawatts

Nuclear energy is a clean energy source, a safe energy source, and a fundamental energy source, "Minister Jedovich Handanovic repeatedly emphasized in his speech. She revealed that Serbia has bravely amended its 35 year old laws, clearing policy barriers for the construction of nuclear power plants.

The construction of the first nuclear power plant is expected to require approximately 3 billion euros in funding. The minister stated that if the work progresses smoothly, Serbia can immediately achieve nuclear power generation after 2040, with a power generation capacity ranging from 1000 megawatts to 1650 megawatts, depending on the final chosen technological route. To support this grand plan, Serbia is establishing a national nuclear program development agency and plans to recall Serbian nuclear energy talents from around the world, while investing in training a new generation of engineers and construction workers.

Rebirth of 13000 kilometer pipeline network

In addition to building new production capacity, Serbia also faces a severe problem of aging infrastructure. Jadovi ć Handanovic admitted, "Our power grid has not been repaired since the 1970s and 1980s." She pointed out that the country needs to rebuild 13000 kilometers of pipelines, 4000 substations, and 1000 kilometers of transmission lines, with a total investment of about 2.4 billion euros.

In terms of natural gas pipelines, plans are underway to construct 1000 kilometers of pipelines within Serbia's borders, as 60% of the pipelines in the existing network have been in use for over 40 years. In addition, Serbia will cooperate with Hungary to build a new oil pipeline and construct a 100 kilometer refined oil pipeline to reduce dependence on the Danube River water level and railway transportation.

Serbia is fully prepared in terms of energy security. Jedovich Handanovic stated that the oil derivatives warehouse has been fully filled, and the mandatory reserve has increased from 32 days of average consumption in 2023 to 50 days. In terms of natural gas supply, she made it clear that Serbia has been obtaining reliable Russian natural gas at favorable prices for over a decade, and the country is grateful for this and believes that the Russian natural gas supply contract should be extended. Keywords: International News Network, New Energy Information, Nuclear Power Plant

The outbreak of war is often due to energy, because of natural gas, because of oil, "said Jedovich Handanovic meaningfully in his summary." We are located in the center of Southeast Europe, and investing in energy is investing in the future. "With the launch of the 14.4 billion euro investment cycle, Serbia will not only change its energy structure, but also reshape the energy and geopolitical landscape of the entire Balkan region.Editor/Yang Meiling