UPDATE 1 - Serbia's NIS plans to invest 6.0 bln dinars (53 mln euro) in renewables by end-2014

Serbian oil and gas company NIS [BEL:NIIS] plans to invest 6.0 billion dinars ($70.3 million/52.7 million euro) in renewable energy projects by the end of 2014, the company said on Wednesday.

The pipeline of renewables projects includes 3.03 billion dinars in investments in the construction of amine gas treatment plants and related activities while the remainder will be earmarked for the construction of cogeneration units, NIS said in a statement.

The investment program will enable NIS to utilise by the end of 2014 up to 90% of dissolved gas at its sites which amounts to 90 million cubic metres.

NIS also said it put into operation on Wednesday a 1.2 million euro ($1.6 million) cogeneration plant in the eastern town of Sirakovo. The new plant has an 850 kilowatt capacity and is set to produce 6.12 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.

As part of the program for the utilisation of dissolved gas, NIS plans to put on stream seven more cogeneration units with a total capacity of 7.65 megawatts (MW) in 2013 on which it plans to spend over 10 million euro. The company's cogeneration capacity is set to increase to 25 MW by the end of 2014.

NIS (www.nis.rs), majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, is one of the largest vertically integrated companies in Southeast Europe. Its main activities include the exploration, production and processing of oil and gas, as well as the production and retail of a wide range of petroleum products.

(1 euro=113.7977 Serbian dinars)

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