The Government of Serbia has adopted the proposal of the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), which envisages several ways to encourage the production of “greener” energy. In addition to the existing feed-in tariffs, which provide electricity producers from RES with a higher purchase price, the new regulation obliges public companies in the field of energy to take over electricity from such sources before anyone else.
Transmission or distribution system operators are thus obliged to take electricity from RES as a priority, regardless of whether the producer is in the incentive system, except in the case when the safety of the energy system is endangered.
The bill defines a system of incentives for the production of energy from renewable sources, which will continue to be paid through market premiums and feed-in tariffs (higher purchase prices of electricity obtained from renewable sources).
“The new regulation should create legal security for investments in the electricity, heating and cooling sector and the transport sector,” the explanation of the bill states.
Among the first things that the bill defines are the types of power plants that use renewable energy sources.
These include: hydropower plants, biomass power plants, biogas, wind farms, solar power plants, geothermal power plants, biodegradable waste power plants, landfill gas power plants, gas power plants from municipal wastewater treatment plants, as well as power plants using other renewable energy sources.
One of the important provisions that was announced earlier and that this bill brings is the ban on the construction of hydroelectric power plants in protected areas.
However, as it is stated, on the proposal of the Ministry of Energy and with the previously obtained opinion of the ministry in charge of environmental protection, it is possible to make them in protected areas.
Obligation of the Distributor
In addition to the obligation to take over electricity from RES as a priority, the draft law also prescribes the availability of information on its share in thermal energy, as well as the connection of an independent producer to the thermal energy distribution system.
The use of renewable energy sources in traffic is defined, as well as incentives for the production of biofuels, and criteria for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels are announced.
The law prescribes greater use of innovative technologies and new sources of renewable energy, as well as the institute of a strategic partner of the state in the field of RES.
The possibility of public interest for expropriation when the state builds power plants with a strategic partner has also been determined, while the measures that local self-governments take in such situations will be determined later, by bylaws.
Warranty of origin of electricity
The new law stipulates that the transmission system operator issues a guarantee to the producer of renewable energy sources on its origin, ie a certificate that it has been produced using renewable resources.
The guarantee of origin is issued only once for one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity produced and cannot be longer than one year, but can be portable.
The guarantee issued in other countries is also valid in Serbia, under the conditions of reciprocity and in accordance with the confirmed international agreement.
Production of electricity for own consumption
The buyer or producer of electricity, as stated in the bill, has the right to independently produce electricity for its own consumption, to store it and to deliver its surplus to the distribution system.
In that case, incentive measures in the form of market premiums and feed-in tariffs cannot be used, nor is the right to guarantee the origin of the produced electricity valid, and the power of the power plant in that case cannot exceed the approved connection power at the end customer.
The law also stipulates that a residential community may have the rights and obligations of a buyer-producer of electricity in accordance with the prescribed provisions, provided that its power plant is built on a common part of a residential building, Nova Ekonomija reports.
