Serbia

Serbia is responding to European pressure to accelerate its energy transition to cleaner fuels by allocating €12 billion for wind, PV and hydropower facilities over the next two years. Thus far, there has been little in the way of development in the country, but some regulatory frameworks have been improved.

With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.

The rebates will cover up to 50% of the costs for installing and deploying a PV system and are intended at supporting homeowners and businesses take advantage of the recently introduced net metering regime.

The project is being planned to sell power to the Serbian South East European Power Exchange (SEEPEX) or other off-takers under a power purchase agreement.

The London-based development finance provider has made more than €50 million available for sustainable investment across three separate credit lines recently.

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.