Another port on the Danube - TE-KO Kostolac starts construction of EUR 21 million dock in 2013

(TE-KO Kostolac)

TE-KO Kostolac`s new investment cycle that starts in April includes the construction of a dock on a canal on the Danube, which will serve the needs of the company`s steam power plant as well as commercial purposes. The first phase of modernization of this power plant, which will be financed from a Chinese loan, kicks off April 2012, whereas the work on the dock is expected to commence in 2013.

Construction of a EUR 21 million dock will be carried out in two phases. People at TE-KO (Steam Power Plants and Mines) Kostolac expect an invitation for bids from potential contractors to be announced in late 2012, as soon as technical documentation and preparation works are completed.

- The first phase should include the construction of an industrial dock for the needs of TE-KO Kostolac, which is expected to be finished until 2014. Investments in that phase will amount to EUR 13 million. The second phase will see the construction of a public- commercial dock, which will cost additional EUR 8 million - MA Nebojsa Misic, director of the Production Improvement Directorate at TE-KO Kostolac, says to eKapija.

Based on a Preliminary Feasibility Study and a General Design (2012), the future dock will be built in a location on a cooling water canal used by TE-KO A, on the opposite side from the power plant, where some sort of pier existed earlier. The General Design for the dock and the Preliminary Feasibility Study have been designed by Ehting and the Traffic Institute CIP.

- The canal on which the dock is going to be built was earlier used to supply water to the steam power plant Kostolac A. The dock will be primarily used by the steam power plant to receive equipment and dispatch plaster, ash and other materials. Since there is enough room for later expansion in that location, the project envisages construction of facilities for commercial purposes until 2020 - Dragomir Jevtic, an architect of Belgrade-based Ehting, explains to eKapija.

Jevtic stresses that there is a need for water transport in the surroundings of the steam power plant, primarily for the transport of agricultural products, so that the second phase of construction will be carried out through a public-private partnership.

Although it was earlier mentioned that the dock could also be adapted to serve tourists visiting Viminacium, Jevtic says that the dock in Kostolac will not be placed at the disposal of visitors to neighboring destinations.

- The dock cannot be used by the steam power plant and tourists at the same time, primarily for safety reasons. It is possible to build a pier for tourists at the entrance to the canal, but it would have to be built in an appropriate distance from the dock - Dragomir Jevtic points out.

As people at TE-KO Kostolac told us, after the first phase of construction, which should be completed in 2014, the dock`s annual reloading capacity should amount to about 300,000 tonnes of various materials, and it is expected to rise to 500,000 tonnes after 2020.

Modernization of TE-KO Kostolac

A total of USD 345 million will be invested in the revitalization of the steam power plant Kostolac B, USD 293 millon of which are provided from a loan granted by China`s Exim Bank, whereas USD 52 million are contributed by EPS.

Suzana Obradovic