Serbian state utility EPS has secured approximately €107.5 million to modernise hydropower plants and develop more than 120 MW of solar capacity on land associated with former coal-fired facilities.
The financing combines a €100 million European Investment Bank loan, agreed in 2024, with about €7.46 million in grants awarded through the Western Balkans Investment Framework.
EPS is considering ash-disposal areas and coal-storage sites linked to the Morava and Kolubara A thermal power plants for solar construction after their closure. The projects remain at an early development stage.
A substantial part of the programme will finance upgrades to generating units at the Bistrica, Potpec and Djerdap II hydropower plants. Potpec is also due to receive an additional 13 MW unit.
The investment package includes rehabilitation of the 129 MW Vlasinske hydropower cascade, broadening the programme beyond upgrades at individual facilities.
Using former thermal power sites for solar generation could allow EPS to reuse existing land and grid infrastructure while reducing permitting and connection challenges. Modernising hydropower would simultaneously provide more flexible renewable capacity to balance growing solar and wind production.
The funding is material, but modest relative to the scale of EPS’s coal dependence and ageing generation fleet. Its real value will depend on execution: Serbia does not lack renewable plans, but projects that move quickly from financing agreements to operating megawatts.
