When we mention NIS, the first thing that comes to mind for most consumers is the production and sale of fuel. However, over the past decade, the domestic oil industry has also been involved in the energy transition.
Namely, in 2012, NIS defined a strategy of growing from an oil company into an energy holding company within which the expansion of the company’s activities in the field of electricity generation began. What did that entail? Certainly, a stronger orientation towards more environmentally friendly projects and more rational use of energy.
This already happened in 2013. when NIS started its cogeneration program – specifically, mini power plants with a total maximum power of 14 MW were built at eight locations in Serbia. In these power plants, in which the company has invested over 20 million euros, thermal energy and electricity are produced from gas, which, due to its lower quality, used to be flared:
“More efficient use of gas resources has contributed to higher energy efficiency with a significant environmental impact. The produced energy is used for the needs of the company, and a part is placed on the free market”, NIS states, noting that the realization of this project enabled the company to enter electricity trading operations, first in Serbia and then on the regional market.
In focus:
From oil to electricity
In addition to cogeneration, NIS is in the process of completion of the most important investment in the segment of electricity generation, which is the TE-TO Pančevo power plant that is being built by the company together with the Russian Gazprom Energoholding. The value of the project is about 180 million euros, while the installed capacity of the plant is up to 200 MW.
As a key player in the domestic market of petroleum products, NIS, following modern energy trends, also introduced the possibility of charging electrically powered cars at its petrol stations:
“Our petrol stations are part of the charge&Go network of electric chargers. Drivers of electric cars can charge them at some of our highway GAZPROM petrol stations – Velika Plana-right, Stari Banovci, Novi Sad 16 and Sokolići 1, which is also the first petrol station on Miloš Veliki Highway. In addition, this service will soon be provided at the latest NIS facility, Zmaj 1 in Belgrade, as well as at the Krnješevci petrol station, on the Belgrade-Zagreb highway”, it is said by NIS.
Higher quantities of cleaner gas
As early as 2016, NIS put into operation the amine gas treatment plant at Elemir, which enabled a significant improvement in the quality of domestic natural gas, as well as an increase in the volume of its production. What is more, the operation of this plant, in which NIS has invested more than EUR 30 million, has significant environmental effects, because the processing method completely prevents carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, thus reducing the “greenhouse” effect.
The Elemir plant is the first HiPACT (High Pressure Acidgas Capture Technology) plant in Europe, and this technology is considered one of the most efficient in the world among the existing methods in the gas treatment process.
Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine ELECTROMOBILITY.
