Serbia, Plandište wind park could be built through Swiss-Serbian partnership?

Published on 22. May 2023., News

At a meeting held at the end of April in Belgrade, attended by Aleksandar Djukov, General Director of Gazpromneft and Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, an agreement was reached in principle that the State of Serbia, most likely through Elektroprivreda Srbije, would enter into the construction project of the wind park „Plandište“, and so becomes a partner of Naftna industrija Srbije, a company owned by the Russian energy giant in this venture.

At the meeting, it was stated that the current partner of NIS in that project, the Swiss company MET Renewables AG, intends to withdraw from ownership in the company NIS MET Energowind, which was established for the construction of the wind park “Plandište”. Its position as a partner of NIS in the construction of this wind farm should be taken by one of the companies under the control of the Government of Serbia, and it is most likely that it will be EPS.

In December 2012, NIS signed an Agreement on the construction of the “Plandište” wind park with the owners of the joint-stock company Energowind, founded in 2005. In April of the following year, the Oil Industry of Serbia announced that it had become the owner of a 50 percent stake in the construction of that wind farm, and the remaining 50 percent of the shares, at that time, were owned by a group of investors, among them the former Minister of Energy of Serbia, Goran Novaković.

In September 2013, a ceremony was held in the municipality of Plandište on the occasion of the start of the construction of the wind farm, which was attended by the then general director of NIS, Kiril Kravchenko, as well as Aleksandar Vučić, at that time the first vice president of the Government of Serbia. On that occasion, it was said that the works would last 12 months, but that did not happen, because from the ceremonial announcement of the start of construction, it has not progressed beyond that until today.

After the Swiss company MET bought a 50 percent stake in that project from a group of investors in March 2019, it started joint work with the Oil Industry of Serbia on construction. This is how the company NIS MET Energowind was created, whose ownership structure consists of NIS Petrol and MET Renewables AG in equal shares.

As part of the project, the construction of 34 wind generators with a capacity of 102 megawatts is foreseen, in the territory of the municipality of Plandište. The total value of the project is 160 million euros, of which NIS should allocate, as planned, 23.5 million euros, and the rest will be secured from bank loans.

In the meantime, the company MET Renewables AG, owned by the Swiss MET Group, which operates in the gas, oil and electricity market, has decided to withdraw from the business, and the possible reason is the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. This indicated the need for a new partner and, according to what Danas learns, the Government of Serbia is ready for EPS to take on such a role.

Energy expert Goran Radosavljević tells Danas that, in general, EPS should participate in projects for the construction of renewable energy sources, including wind parks, and that when it comes to the specific case, the construction of the “Plandište” wind park, a feasibility study should be prepared that would show that whether it is profitable or not.

When it comes to whether the state should build renewable energy sources, the answer is no. It’s certainly not her job. Elektroprivreda Srbije, on the other hand, is an electric power company and it should certainly participate in such projects. When we talk about “Plandište”, what should be done is a feasibility study that would show whether the construction of that wind farm is justified – explains our interlocutor.

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