Djedovic Handanovic meets with French development agency's deputy director

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic met with the French Development Agency (AFD) deputy director for Europe, Anne Ross-Weil, to discuss cooperation with the AFD in energy transition, technical support to Serbia on that path, especially in development of nuclear energy applications in Serbia.

Djedovic Handanovic noted that Serbia and France maintained good cooperation in several areas of the energy sector, an official statement said.

"In the energy sector, France is Serbia's strategic partner with which, during President Macron's visit to Belgrade, we signed important agreements in the field of nuclear energy and critical mineral resources. Given that Serbia needs new base energy sources due to rising power consumption and a need for decarbonisation, we have sent to the AFD a request for support in the first stage of the nuclear programme, which we are in and which implies support in development of expert staff and an assessment of the impact of nuclear power plants on the transmission grid," the minister said.

She added that, with technical support from the AFD, work would be underway on long-term planning for the energy transition in line with goals set until 2050.

Djedovic Handanovic noted that the Serbian government had signed an agreement on cooperation with the French power company EDF in the nuclear energy sector, and that EDF had completed a preliminary technical study on peaceful use of nuclear power in Serbia.

"We are discussing a continuation of the cooperation with EDF on implementing the first stage of nuclear programme development, which includes staff training and informing the public of nuclear energy applications in Serbia," Djedovic Handanovic said.

The next steps in preparing a special study on AFD support in development of nuclear energy in Serbia were agreed at the meeting, and the AFD also expressed interest in cooperation in energy efficiency.