Although it was almost certain that 450 MW coal-fired thermal power plant Stavalj will be built near Sjenica, the realization of this, decades old, project is still in question.
Mayor of Sjenica Hazbo Mujovic said that Czech companies were the most interested in the project and were prepared to invest 700 million euros in the TPP, but there was also interest from Chinese and Turkish companies. However, the Czech were requesting state subsidies for electricity produced by the future plant, while Chinese wanted to build three large-scale TPPs at the site, which was unacceptable for Serbian Government. He expressed hope that Stavlaj coalmine would be modernized soon, since current production is just 70,000 tons per year.
TPP Stavalj would be built near the Stavalj coalmine, which would be also expanded and modernized in the process. The idea for the construction of TPP Stavlja is not new. Previously, Serbian Government was in talks with Czech companies Alta and VDO. The cost of the construction of 350 MW coal-fired power plant was estimated at some 700 million euros in 2014. According to the studies made by Czech companies, lignite re-serves in Stavalj stand at 70 million tons, while domestic studies show lignite reserves at around 200 million tons. Annual production could reach 2.3 million tons at least, thus enabling 50 years of TPP Stavalj operation.
