Serbian oil and gas producer NIS has started trial operation at two small gas-fired power plants at the Banatsko Miloševo and Srpska Crnja gas fields. The facilities are designed for field-based electricity generation using gas available at the producing sites.
Capacity, investment and expected output
The two plants have a combined installed capacity of 5 MW and require investment of approximately €17 million. Expected annual electricity production is 40.5 GWh, corresponding to a capacity factor of about 92.5%. The stated utilisation level implies planned continuous operation rather than occasional peaking.
NIS expects the annual output to be sufficient to cover electricity consumption for close to 8,000 households. The company plans to use part of the generation internally and sell the remainder to external customers. Trial operation will therefore determine how much electricity can be delivered for both internal use and sales.
Fuel sourcing and network considerations
The plants will use gas that was previously not commercially utilised. Turning field gas into electricity is intended to improve resource recovery and reduce flaring or other disposal routes. It also avoids transporting small or technically difficult gas volumes into the wider network.
With an investment cost of about €3.4 million per MW, the project cost is described as high relative to conventional large-scale gas generation. NIS’s project economics are therefore linked to the value of recovered gas, avoided disposal costs, high plant utilisation, and the ability to offset electricity purchases at NIS facilities.
Equipment, compliance and performance checks
The two units include modern monitoring and control equipment intended to meet current environmental requirements. Their small scale limits impact on Serbia’s national generation balance, while they provide dispatchable local supply. They also reduce electricity demand from upstream operations at the producing fields.
NIS began developing small-scale field generation in 2013. It has commissioned 22 power-generation and cogeneration units across Serbia, investing more than €28 million before this latest project. Electricity from the programme remains based on fossil gas, with operational efficiency linked to gradual decarbonisation.
The start of trial operation focuses on technical performance parameters including guaranteed heat rates, gas quality, emissions, availability, and synchronisation with the distribution or transmission system. These factors will determine whether the plants achieve forecast output during the trial period.
Upstream optimisation role for NIS
For NIS, the investment is positioned less as a conventional independent power project and more as an upstream optimisation measure. It converts a low-value or stranded fuel stream into electricity while strengthening energy autonomy at two producing fields.
