Serbia

Land scarcity and renewables prices have been long considered significant hurdles for renewable developments in the hilly Balkans. Still, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sees solid opportunities in floating PV on public dams, PV modules on rooftops, and renewables projects in landfills and disused coal mines.

The private-sector arm of the World Bank, which claims to leverage $3 of its own capital and $8 from third parties for every dollar invested in its blended finance funds, has attempted to quantify what devoting Covid recovery funds to green investment would mean for emerging economies.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is helping the Serbian government to define its new procurement plan. The international lender is currently seeking consultants to implement the scheme.

Differing finance costs across the continent are likely to see wind-rich, high electricity demand nations such as Germany, France, Austria and Belgium forge ahead with renewables at the expense of countries with plenty of sun but where borrowing is expensive, according to a German study.

Italian industrial group Maccaferri, the parent company of the insolvent EPC contractor, has also filed for insolvency for another three units of its energy business.

The EBRD has released a brief urging Western Balkan countries to both replace their aging lignite coal generation capacity with renewables, and to rethink their 18 GW plans for new coal capacity. While the region offers favorable conditions for various types of renewable generation, it has been slow on the uptake to date.

With its feed-in tariff program set to expire at the end of the year, Serbia will be looking to introduce new mechanisms to support renewables in the form of feed-in premiums and auctions. The country’s PV uptake is still in its nascent stage however, with abundant regulatory obstacles still in place

Serbia needs to adopt a set of amendments to the current Energy Law, which envisages support for renewable energy, in order to harmonize its legal framework with the European Union’s acquis, says EU energy watchdog.