The editor of the “Balkan Energy” portal, Jelica Putniković, believes that it is not bad to listen to what the Norwegians have to say regarding the development of energy in Serbia, when they are already involved, but that it is better to rely on our own experts on this matter.
“We have not yet officially heard a proposal on the development of the electric power and energy sector in general in Serbia. According to what has been reported in the media, they advise the green way, meaning renewable energy sources. Norway, however, is a country that bases its power system on hydropower plants. We we have 30 percent of hydropower plants, 70 percent of thermal capacity. Which means that they have no experience with using coal,” warns Putniković in her statement to Tanjug.
She believes that it would be best for domestic experts to decide whether Serbia will adopt the proposals of the Norwegian side.
“We have experts in the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and in the energy companies themselves. On the other hand, there are professors at all faculties who have been engaged as advisers both in the Government of Serbia and in energy companies,” noted Putniković.
She asked why all those experts and scientific capacities had not been used until now.
“We constantly have stories about our young people going abroad, and according to my information, those Norwegians are hiring some of our experts as consultants, so that the Norwegians could be consultants to Serbia. Then why aren’t those experts of ours hired by the Government of Serbia in one team which will provide a new Energy Development Strategy, which, by the way, has not been completed, but was supposed to be completed at the end of last year,” said the editor of “Energy of the Balkans”.
“I don’t know that in Germany the director of an energy company is a foreigner, or in France that the director of EDF is an American or a Norwegian. I may be wrong, but only someone who has dealt with that topic can know the essential power situation or the gas situation “Someone from the outside can’t do it. If we bring in a manager who didn’t deal with energy, how will he assemble a team that should lead the company in its transformation towards a successful public company?” Putniković asked.
She added that in the energy crisis, when all countries are primarily concerned with national energy security, Serbia still needs to have directors in the energy sector who will be “in line with our state authorities” in order to raise energy security to the highest level.
“I don’t know how a foreigner can fit into it. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be good management with a foreign general director, but I think that everything can be implemented more effectively if people who are capable of leading a such a company. The best one should be chosen from among them, who will get a chance to form his own team with whom he will work, to propose a plan and measures that should be implemented, and at the end he will be responsible if he does not fulfill it. We have not had that so far,” Putniković points out.
Energy price increases in Serbia are not significant
She assesses that the situation with the supply of electricity and gas in Serbia is good and that we can calmly wait for the rest of the winter, and that the price increases of these energy sources are not significant.
“I think the price increase is inevitable, because we import gas because we don’t have enough of it from our own sources. Electricity in Serbia was and will remain among the cheapest. Compared to price increases in the EU and in our environment, this is an acceptable price correction,” says Putniković.
She pointed out that EPS has succeeded in the past year, since accidents occurred in TENT, stabilized business and started exporting electricity.
“These are not large quantities, but according to what is heard, EPS manages the coal imported from abroad and from domestic production smartly, by mixing bad domestic coal with higher quality imported coal. Thermal power plants operate at the production minimum, in order to save coal for potentially cold weather. days in January and February and EPS nevertheless manages to export certain quantities. It has not become a large exporter of electricity, but it is a signal that there is a new climate in Elektropirvreda and that these people who have been running it for a year should be supported to persevere on that way”, concluded the editor of “Energie Balkana”.
She added that it is very good that we have gas reserves in warehouses in Banatski Dvor and in Hungary.
“There was NO big consumption, because there were no temperatures below zero, but basically I think we can calmly wait for the rest of the winter, because what we have is stored in case, say, there is an accident on the Turkish Stream. It would be enough for heating plants, citizens and for the economy that has to work in extraordinary circumstances,” Putniković said, Euronews writes.
