The President of the Municipality of Sjenica, Munib Mujagić, stated that there is still interest from investors in the construction of the “Štavalj” thermal power plant, but that it is the desire of the local government to build solar power plants on the Pešter plateau.
He pointed out that the thermal power plant project near the “Štavalj” coal mine has been talked about for more than 20 years, but at the moment it is questionable whether it will be built at all.
“There is interest, because there are huge tested reserves of coal. Our condition, as a local community and political option to which I belong, from which we will not give up, is that the highest possible environmental standards are respected in the production and processing of coal, so that neither agriculture nor tourism would be endangered. “Without such standards, the construction of the thermal power plant would be wrong,” said Mujagić.
The construction of the thermal power plant, with a capacity of about 350 megawatts, was announced several times in the previous twenty years. Feasibility and justification studies were also done, and the Czechs were the most interested in that project.
While the construction of the thermal power plant is in the domain of plans, Sjenica, adds Mujagić, will “promote solar energy and the construction of solar power plants on the Pešter plateau”.
“We are building the largest solar power plant in the Balkans, of 50 megawatts.” If we built several such energy facilities, it would bring great benefits to the local budget, from which we could independently solve many of our communal problems,” said Mujagić.
He estimated that Sjenica, next to the south of Serbia, has the highest number of sunny hours a year, and the construction of solar power plants is favored by the altitude, climate, and the quality of the sun’s rays on the Pešter plateau.
