Solar park opens in Beocin

BEOCIN - Serbian Minister of Energy Aleksandar Antic has opened a 1 MW solar power plant in Tancos, Beocin municipality, near Novi Sad.

The investment is worth EUR 2 million, with EUR 1.4 million secured from an Erste bank loan.

The 2.5-hectare solar park, which has 4,500 solar panels, is one of the largest in Serbia, Antic told reporters on Wednesday after opening the plant.

An investment of Slovakia's Prima Energy, it is Serbia's sixth solar park, and will hire ten people.

The solar park will supply 5.5 MW of electricity, accounting for around 55 percent of solar power-generated electricity in Serbia, Antic said.

Serbia has plans to obtain 10 MW of solar power-generated electricity annually by 2020, while the energy strategy envisions obtaining an additional 100 MW from renewable sources by the end of this year, Antic said.

Serbia is bound by international acts to ensure that, by 2020, 27 percent of the energy it consumes annually is generated from renewable energy sources, the energy minister said.

The Beocin solar park project is an example of good economic cooperation between Serbia and Slovakia, which can still be improved, Slovakia's Ambassador to Serbia Jan Varso said.

Beocin Mayor Bogdan Cvejic said that the solar park will indirectly supply electricity for one third of the municipality, which has around 16,000 residents.

Photo Tanjug, R. Prelic