Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic announced the preparation of a special Law on renewable energy sources, considering Serbia’s great potential in that field. Minister Mihajlovic explained that the new legislation is needed because the regulations on renewable energy is completely different field, currently regulated by the Energy Law. She added that Serbia has great potential when it comes to biomass, geothermal sources and solar energy, but it has obviously not used it so far. The new law aims to create an environment in which renewable energy sources will be used much more. She said that the current model of feed-in tariffs would be abolished and that auction-based model would be implemented, adding that special attention would be paid to cogeneration, a simultaneous production of electricity and thermal energy, because it is very efficient. Additionally, Serbia will establish a large fund for energy efficiency, and the plan for the fund is to be minimally filled with state budget money and much more from all other international funds. Minister Mihajlovic said that the aim of the forming of such fund would be to reduce energy consumption and added that the focus would be primarily on households and not just public, large buildings, where certainly a lot can be done to increase energy efficiency. According to her, about 40 % of electricity and thermal energy is wasted due to a lack of good insulation in households.
