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Energy development serves as a key indicator of economic progress for every country. In Serbia, the energy sector is of critical importance for economic growth, particularly in the industrial sector. The most vital aspects of Serbia’s energy sector include ensuring a safe and reliable energy supply, transitioning towards a sustainable energy system that employs environmentally acceptable technologies, increasing energy efficiency (EE) and expanding the share of renewable energy sources (RES). Furthermore, the focus is on developing the energy market and reinforcing the already strong investment policies.
Serbia is a member of the Energy Community, an international organisation whose goal is to create a regulatory framework in line with EU regulations in the field of energy in South East Europe as well as to integrate the electricity and natural gas market with the EU market. Serbia plays a prominent role in the organisation’s work.
During its EU accession process, specifically under Chapter 15 – Energy, Serbia has been aligning its energy policies with EU legislation and implementing adopted regulations. This includes adapting its energy system, nuclear safety and ionising radiation protection measures to EU standards. Key areas of focus involve enhancing competition and state aid policies, liberalising electricity and natural gas markets, increasing the share of renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, managing energy crises and establishing mandatory reserves of oil and oil derivatives, as well as ensuring nuclear safety and ionising radiation protection.
As non-renewable energy sources diminish, their continued use will become significantly more expensive. The consequences of irrational usage have been devastating for the environment. These consequences have not spared Serbia either. Serbia is a signatory of the Paris Agreement, a global pact to combat climate change. By ratifying the Agreement in its National Assembly in 2017, Serbia committed to contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. Transitioning to cleaner technologies and increasing the use of renewable energy sources will play an important role in this regard.
During the reporting period, which refers to the year 2020, Serbia maintained steady growth in the construction of new capacities for the production of electricity from RES. By 31 December 2020, within the system of incentive measures, a total of 266 power plants using RES with a total installed capacity of 514.603 MW were built, and by the end of May 2022, this number increased to 284 power plants using RES with a total installed capacity of 537.775 MW. The share of RES in gross final energy consumption in 2020 stood at 26.30%, compared to the planned target of 27%, marking a 4.86 percentage point increase from 2019.
In the previous period, the Republic of Serbia drafted a series of by-laws in the field of renewable energy sources, significantly improving the business environment for project development in this sector. Recognising the need to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework in order to kick-start more dynamic growth of renewable energy, legislative reforms were undertaken, culminating in the adoption of the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources. These reforms were driven by the need for Serbia to harmonise its policies with the European Union's new regulations and ambitious goals in the field of renewable energy as part of its European integration process.
Since the Strategy on Energy Development identifies energy efficiency as a “new domestic source of energy”. As such, considerable attention is devoted to implementing energy efficiency measures aimed at reducing energy consumption. Educational campaigns targeting the general population and businesses aim to raise awareness about the importance of energy efficiency and its application. This approach is expected to yield multiple benefits, including reduced energy consumption for heating and enhanced competitiveness of domestic industries. By consuming less energy, Serbian producers will strengthen their position in both domestic and demanding European and global markets.
The five-year Scaling-Up Residential Clean Energy Project of the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the World Bank provides subsidies for households to implement energy efficiency measures.
In recent years, Serbia’s energy sector has undergone a robust investment cycle, providing the sector with much-needed momentum. This strategic progress promises to secure energy supply for citizens and businesses, reduce import dependency, improve energy efficiency and promote greater utilisation of renewable energy sources.