Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic said that the country expects to have 600 MW of installed capacity in renewable energy sources (RES) by the end of 2020.
In a press release published by the Serbian Government, Minister Antic said that the launch of an auction-based model for incentives for the development of renewable energy projects, instead of the currently used feed-in tariff, is currently being considered.
Currently, Serbia has about 150 MW installed capacity in RES, which should rise to 200 MW by the end of this year. In early September, Belgian company Elicio NV has successfully completed the project for the construction of Alibunar wind farm. The wind farm has installed capacity of 42 MW and will generate enough electricity to cover the demand of some 38,000 households. Elicio NV invested some 80 million euros in the project. The project is beneficial in several ways for Serbia considering it will contribute greatly to Serbia meeting the defined national targets of 27% of renewable energy resources until 2020 and will reduce the CO2 emission by 88,000 tons per year.
Another wind farm, Cibuk 1 developed by UAEbased company Masdar, is expected to be commissioned in early 2019. It will consist of 57 wind turbines with total installed capacity of 158 MW (105 MW in the first phase), it will produce up to 457 GWh of electricity per year. In October 2017, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that, along with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it has signed a loan agreement worth 215 million euros for the construction of Cibuk 1 wind farm.
Earlier in 2018, Minister Antic said that large investments in the energy sector in Serbia have been launched and the country will have new 1,000 MW in installed capacity by the end of 2020. He reminded that the last major energy facility in Serbia was commissioned over 30 years ago, adding that due to aggressive investment policy in the energy sector, over 3 billion euros will be invested in this investment cycle. According to him, out of 1,000 MW currently being built, over 500 MW is in renewable sources, mostly in wind energy – 450 MW. 250 MW of installed capacity in wind energy is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year: 48 MW in Alibunar wind farm, 105 MW in Kovacica wind farm and 105 MW in Cibuk wind farm, while additional 250 MW in wind power will be commissioned in 2019. By 2020, the new coalfired 350 MW unit at thermal power plant Kostolac B should be commissioned as well.
