Invitation sent to French agency for technical cooperation in development of Serbia’s nuclear program

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic spoke with the Deputy Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) for Europe, Anne Roos-Weil, about cooperation with the agency in the field of energy transition, technical support to Serbia on that path, especially in the development of the application of nuclear energy in Serbia.

Djedovic Handanovic emphasized that France and Serbia had high-quality cooperation in several areas in the energy sector, the Ministry announced.

– France is Serbia’s strategic partner in the energy sector, with which we signed, during President Macron’s visit to Belgrade, important agreements in the field of nuclear energy and critical mineral raw materials. Given that Serbia needs new sources of baseload energy, due to the growth of electricity consumption and the need for decarbonization, we have sent a request to AFD for support in the first phase of the nuclear program we are in, which includes support in the development of professional staff and assessment of the impact of nuclear power plants on the transmission network. With the technical support of AFD, we will also work on long-term planning of the energy transition, in accordance with the goals we have set until 2050 – said the minister.

She reminded that the Government of Serbia had signed a cooperation agreement with the French electrical energy company EDF in the field of nuclear energy, which had completed a preliminary technical study on the peacetime use of nuclear energy in Serbia.

– Given that France is recognized as a country with extensive experience in nuclear energy, their experience is very useful for Serbia. We are discussing the continuation of cooperation with EDF in the implementation of the first phase of the development of the nuclear program, which includes training personnel and informing public opinion about the use of nuclear energy in Serbia – said Djedovic Handanovic.

The next steps in the development of a special study of AFD support in the development of nuclear energy in Serbia, with AFD’s interest in cooperation in the field of energy efficiency as well, were agreed at the meeting.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

AFD

French Development Agency

Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia

electrical energy company of France

EDF

Anne Roos Weil

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

nuclear energy

professional staff

technical support

energy strategy