Renewable Energy
Serbia has significant RES. According to the Energy Program, the estimated value of renewable energy sources to Serbia could be somewhere in the region of 4.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent “toe” annually. Available renewable energy sources of Serbia include:
Biomass fuels: around 2.7 million toe annually, out of which 1.0 million toe are wood and more than 1.7 million toe are attributable to agricultural biomass.
Unused potential of hydro-energy: around 0.6 million toe annually (estimated on the basis of the Cadastre of the Small HPP’s from 1987, including 856 locations for the construction of the small HPPs, out of which 90% of the locations have a technical potential of power below 1 MW).
Geothermal sources: around 0.2 million toe annually, located in the territory of Vojvodina, Posavina, Mačva, Podunavlje and the wider area of Central Serbia as well as in existing Serbian spas.
Wind energy: around 0.2 million toe annually.
Solar energy: around 0.6 million toe annually.
The utilization of the available sources of renewable energy is very high on the list of priorities of the Energy Strategy. This is primarily for the satisfaction of Serbia’s energy needs on the local level, the reduction of energy imports and the improvement of the environmental aspects of the production of energy. Furthermore, as a signatory state of the Energy Community Treaty, Serbia assumed an obligation to implement the Directive on the Promotion of Electricity Produced from Renewable Energy Sources in the Internal Electricity Market and the EU Directive on the Promotion of the Use of Biofuels or Other Renewable Fuels for Transport4. This relates to the promotion of the production of biodiesel and other fuels from RES in the traffic sector.
While there is great interest by both Serbian and foreign investors in the exploitation of RES, at this point, except for the hydro-potential, the majority of which has been already used, in other sectors of renewable energy, the number of constructed facilities for the production of renewable energy is extremely low. Capital invested for these purposes is insignificant and mostly local. The technical and technological level of the equipment installed in the existing facilities falls below the standards applicable in the EU. The low level of investment in this sector of energy is due mostly to the inadequacy of the existing regulatory framework, complicated administrative procedures, and the long absence of a system of subsidies to promote investment in renewable energy. Other factors include the absence of licensed producers of the equipment needed for the production of renewable energy, and the absence of reliable information about the renewable energy capacities in certain locations, which prevent the inclusion of these locations in urban and spatial plans.
Source Serbia-energy.com