Elektroprivreda Srbije closed 2025 with a significantly improved financial result, continuing its recovery from the deep operational and financial crisis that shook the company after the 2021 collapse at the TENT thermal power complex. According to financial reporting reviewed by Serbian media, EPS generated net profit of between RSD 38.7 billion and RSD 42.3 billion (roughly EUR 330–360 million), substantially above the previous year’s result of around RSD 24–26 billion, although still far below the extraordinary profitability recorded in 2023, when favorable hydrology and elevated regional electricity prices pushed earnings close to EUR 1 billion.
The latest results confirm that EPS has largely stabilized operationally after years of emergency coal imports, forced electricity purchases and politically sensitive restructuring. However, the structure of the company’s production portfolio shows that Serbia’s electricity system remains overwhelmingly dependent on lignite generation. Coal-fired thermal plants accounted for approximately 71.4% of total electricity generation in 2025, while hydropower and renewable assets contributed roughly 27.3%, with gas-fired generation remaining marginal.
That production mix became increasingly important during another weak hydrological year. EPS reported that hydroelectric output dropped by around 20% year-on-year, with hydropower generation falling to approximately 8.3 TWh, compared with more than 10 TWh in 2024 and roughly 12.6 TWh in 2023. The decline forced the system to rely more heavily on thermal generation from lignite plants, particularly the TENT complex and other coal assets connected to the Kolubara mining basin.
Coal production itself improved during the year. EPS produced approximately 32.8 million tonnes of coal in 2025, above both 2024 and 2023 levels, reflecting continued efforts to stabilize the Kolubara mining system after years of underinvestment, operational disruptions and imported coal dependency. The company also managed to reduce external coal procurement costs compared with previous years, which supported profitability.
Yet the recovery still reflects a defensive rather than transformational strategy. Electricity exports reportedly fell sharply during 2025, almost halving according to Serbian reporting, indicating that EPS had less surplus generation available for regional trading. This matters because the record profitability of 2023 was strongly supported by export opportunities during periods of elevated regional prices. Reduced export capacity in 2025 signals that EPS increasingly operated in system-balancing mode rather than as a major regional merchant exporter.
At the same time, EPS continued spending heavily on market purchases of electricity and balancing costs. Procurement expenses for electricity and system access reportedly rose to around RSD 185 billion, compared with RSD 167 billion a year earlier, illustrating that Serbia’s power system still remains exposed to regional market volatility despite improved domestic coal production.
The investment side of the story also reveals structural tensions inside Serbia’s energy transition. Total investments during 2025 reportedly reached only around RSD 52.7 billion, materially below planned levels and below 2024 execution. The main reason was the postponement of the strategic 1 GW solar plus battery storage platform, one of the largest renewable energy initiatives in Southeast Europe. EPS delayed the start of implementation until 2026 due to the complexity of preparatory activities.
That delay is strategically significant because the Hyundai Engineering–UGT Renewables project is intended to become the backbone of Serbia’s utility-scale renewable expansion and long-term flexibility strategy. Without faster deployment of large-scale solar and battery systems, Serbia remains heavily dependent on aging coal infrastructure, especially during hydrologically weak years.
Financially, EPS still carries a major debt burden. Long-term liabilities reportedly stood at around RSD 151.3 billion, or nearly EUR 1.3 billion, linked to financing from international lenders including the EBRD, Japan and Chinese institutions. Despite improved profitability, the company continues balancing multiple pressures simultaneously: maintaining thermal fleet reliability, financing transition investments, stabilizing mining operations and managing politically sensitive electricity tariffs.
Operational restructuring also continued through workforce reduction. EPS ended 2025 with fewer than 19,000 employees, after more than 1,400 workers left the company, many through early retirement schemes.
For Serbia’s wider energy market, the EPS results underline a broader regional reality across Southeast Europe: coal remains financially and operationally central even as renewable investments accelerate. The Serbian system generated stronger profits in 2025, but those profits still depended heavily on lignite stability, improved coal mining output and controlled operational costs rather than on structural decarbonization.
The contradiction is becoming increasingly visible. Serbia is simultaneously positioning itself as a future regional hub for solar, battery storage and grid modernization while relying on coal for more than two-thirds of electricity production and postponing parts of its flagship renewable buildout. EPS therefore enters 2026 in a materially stronger financial position than during the crisis years, but still facing the difficult transition from emergency stabilization toward long-term portfolio transformation.
