Prof. Dr. Nikola Rajakovic, president of the Association of Power Engineers of Serbia, says that coal has been used for a century and a half, and that before that people met their energy needs with the help of biomass and the sun.
We have to return to natural things, Serbia has good conditions in terms of solar energy, wind and water, and we have a chance to have our own megawatt-hour, which is based on domestic resources, says Professor Rajakovic.
Combustion of fossil fuels for the production of electricity and heat is the leading source of carbon dioxide emissions and leads to global warming. In the last few years, there has been a reversal and mobilization of states in order to fight climate change. At the moment, the largest countries (including the United States, China, and the countries of the European Union aim to reach zero carbon dioxide emissions by the middle of the 21st century.
How can Serbia decarbonise its electricity system? Can electricity be produced without coal in Serbia?
Prof. Dr. Nikola Rajakovic said that the only visit to Belgrade by Nikola Tesla in June 1892 was very inspiring for everyone around electrical engineering in Serbia.
“Tesla’s discovery of the induction motor worked in three directions in Serbia – the first direction was the Thermal Power Plant in Dorcol according to the work of Djordje Stanojevic, which started working on this day, October 6, 1893. The second fantastic thing is that Tesla’s lectures were followed by physics professor Stevan Markovic and he, inspired by Tesla’s work, are moving intensively in the field of electrical engineering,” says Professor Rajakovic.
According to him, Djordje Stanojevic is a pioneer of energy plants in Serbia: “We started with hydropower and thermal energy, so nuclear energy and gas arrived and we came to the conclusion that megaenergy mega endangers the environment.”
Serbia produces two thirds of its electricity from fossil fuels
Rajakovic said that Serbia produces two thirds of electricity on the basis of fossil fuels, which means on the basis of lignite and coal, while in the world these relations are different, our country is more dependent on those fuels.
“Decarbonization does not refer only to coal, but also to oil and gas. Complete decarbonization means that you do not have carbon dioxide emissions through combustion, or that it is stored for other needs, which are very expensive technologies,” said Professor Rajakovic.
He says that there were thoughts five years ago on how to start the energy transition, but today the profession and science have no dilemmas, we must go to complete decarbonisation, but that cannot happen overnight.
“China has committed itself to be decarbonised in 2060, to be coal-free, oil-free and gas-free,” he said, adding that coal had been used for a century and a half, and that man had previously met his energy needs with biomass and the sun.
He points out that we will have to return to natural things – the sun, wind, water, biomass, geothermal and energy from waste.
“For Serbia, the sun, wind, biomass and hydro potential that we have are important. Of course, not in three years, but in the coming years we must establish key elements in order to do that. That is primarily legislation, a lot has been done on that issue at the beginning of the year. I hope that solar power plants will start,” said the president of the Association of Power Engineers of Serbia.
Thousands of small producers mean a lot
He made the assumption that in the next period, households will produce up to 25 percent of the total energy needs.
“I mean nothing in the whole complex, but thousands of small producers mean a lot. We have big technological advances in the field of solar energy, wind energy and energy storage. The price of solar has dropped dramatically, wind farms are significantly cheaper and energy storage is getting cheaper,” says Rajakovic.
In addition, he notes that the development of smart grids is very important, which will enable this system to be managed in a perfect way.
“Serbia has good conditions in terms of solar energy, excellent conditions in southern Banat in terms of wind, it also has relatively good conditions in terms of water. We have a chance to have our own megawatt hour which is based on domestic resources, not on imported gas point,” pointed out Professor Rajakovic.
He notes that Europe is a leader in the fight against climate change, and Serbia should synchronize with it.
“There is also a nuclear option, if we can’t do otherwise, then we will work that way, but I think that technologies and the profession will be able to do it differently. Capital is cheap at the moment and that should be used,” he said.
Stock market prices in Europe are never higher. Records are breaking the prices of gas, but also coal – they are the most expensive in the last 13 years. A megawatt of electricity increased in price from 60 euros, which it cost at the beginning of the summer, and is sold for 160-200 euros. A decade or more ago, when it came to the open electricity market, electricity was expected to be cheaper. However, this is not the case in Europe.
Rajakovic explains that this phenomenon belongs to the zone of imperfect market, idealists believe that everything will be regulated by the market, but it can’t be like that, since “the price of gas has gone dramatically, CO2 has risen, then we have a postcovid phenomenon, industry has started and demand is began to grow,” transport has become more expensive and everyone is looking for energy.
“Renewable sources are not to blame, they will be a source of stability in the future,” Rajakovic concluded, Kamatica reports.
