Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic talked with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Trade David de Falco about cooperation between the two countries in the energy and mining sectors, with special reference to the green economy and renewable energy sources (RES).
Mihajlovic pointed out that the energy sector is extremely important for the development of Serbia, including the plan to start new projects in RES this year, the Ministry of Mining and Energy announced.
“There is a lot of room to work together, both in renewables and energy efficiency. We are now in an energy transition, 75% of energy comes from lignite and thermal power plants and that is a big challenge for all of us. We are now making a plan on how to keep thermal power plants and to produce electricity in a more sustainable way, but also to develop new capacities in other energy sources. We want a green Serbia and to produce 40 percent of energy from RES by 2040,” said the Minister.
She stated that investments in mining and energy are worth 16 billion euros.
According to her, Serbia has passed new laws and now has a base for further development and investment, with the aim of attracting new companies to build hydro, wind and solar power plants.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce pointed out that the energy sector is very important for the United States, not only in terms of the economy, but also in terms of climate change and environmental protection as a pledge for future generations, the statement said.
“The issue of climate and green economy are important topics for us, they concern sustainable economy and green transition. There is a lot of interest of our companies to work together, there are many opportunities for joint projects. You have made great changes in laws, especially in RES as leaders in the region in the field of energy,” said David de Falco.
“We want to hear your priorities and where we can get involved, to identify specific projects that we can start working on quickly. It is also important to ensure that the projects we implement have long-term value and that the infrastructure we build is for the next 100 years,” said David de Falco.
The meeting was also attended by the US Ambassador to Serbia, Anthony Godfrey, Dnevnik reports.
