Serbia's EPS to invest 5.4 bln euro in renewables by 2030

Out of the total, 3.5 billion euro will be used to create new wind and solar capacities, while the remainder will be invested in new hydropower plants, Zivkovic said in an interview published earlier this week by the Association of Renewable Energy Sources of Serbia (RES Serbia).

According to current estimates, the share of RES in EPS' total energy production could reach some 45% by 2030, Zivkovic noted, adding that the amount of 5.4 billion euro accounts for half of EPS' total planned investments for the period.

He noted that the construction of the 66 MW Kostolac wind park and the adjacent 10 MW Petka solar plant is in the final stage.

Other significant solar power projects include the long-planned construction of self-balanced solar power plants with a capacity of 1 GW along with 200 MW battery systems for storing electricity, Zivkovic said, adding that the locations of EPS' thermal power plants TE Kolubara A, TE Morava, TE Kolubara B, among others, have also been under consideration for the construction of solar plants.

As far as hydropower energy is concerned, Zivkovic pointed out that the construction of the 628 MW Bistrica reversible hydro power plant (RHPP), valued at some 1 billion euro, is of major importance since it will add new energy storage capacities to the power grid, thus allowing the addition of some 1,500 MW of wind and solar energy.

Serbia projects that RHPP Bistrica could be built by 2031.

EPS has installed generation capacities of 7,855 MW. Its thermal power plans typically produce 70% of total output, with the remaining 30% coming from 16 hydropower plants.

RES Serbia is a business association founded in 2021 to help improve Serbia's business environment in the field of renewable energy sources. It was established with the technical and financial support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a major investor in the country's renewable energy development.

($ = 0.921 euro)