Serbia

Research outfit Rethink Energy says the green hydrogen market could reach $850 billion in value by 2050.

The Serbian government is seeking a strategic partner to develop at least five PV plants with a cumulative capacity of 1 GW/1.2 GWh and at least 200 MW/400 MWh of battery energy storage. State power company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) will own and operate the assets.

The 9.9 MW DeLasol PV project is located in the municipality of Lapovo, central 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.