Serbia has announced its draft economic reform programme for the years 2022-2024, which includes state-funded projects to build wind farms totaling a capacity of 3,000 MW and solar power plants totaling a capacity of 8,300 MW. As a candidate country for EU membership, Serbia develops an economic reforms programme every year in order to prepare for EU economic and budgetary monitoring. The Ministry of Finance is in charge of drafting the document.
A new investment plan has been developed, comprising energy and mining projects worth approximately €17 billion, of which approximately €12 billion has been allocated to wind farms, solar power plants, and hydropower plants. According to the draft, if all of the projects in the investment plan are implemented, carbon dioxide emissions will be decreased by nearly 23 million tonnes. Apart from the 66 MW Kostolac wind farm, which is already under construction by state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), state wind projects could be built near Zabela and Kovin-Dubovac. A public-private collaboration with Fintel Energija for the development of the Maestrale Ring wind farm is possible, according to the document.
According to the proposal, state wind farms could have a combined installed capacity of 3,000 MW and a total investment of €3 billion. Solar power plant projects proposed by the government would be built on 200,000 hectares of state land with poor economic value. According to the draft, solar power facilities with a capacity of 2,000 MW could be installed. A collaboration agreement was signed between the Ministry of Mining and Energy and UGT Renewables LLC as part of the plan.
REGlobal’s Views: As Serbia moves forward in its journey to set up the massive project capacity, the country’s grid systems will have to be augmented and modernised so as to cater to the large volumes of renewables.