Energy Transition in Europe | www.energy-cities.eu

Minister Zorana Mihajlović signed an agreement with GIZ on the Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Serbia.

Big solar thermal projects are the right solution for district heating decarbonization in Serbia because solar collectors on the ground are easy and inexpensive to install, but also because Serbia has high insolation per square meter, according to a panel on solar thermal as an element of sustainable urban energy systems in the process of the energy transition, held as part of the First Big Conference on Solar Energy in Serbia.

Serbia is the first country in the Western Balkans to produce the Roadmap for Circular Economy. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said its purpose is dialogue between decision makers and the representatives of the industry, the academic community and civil society. Circular economy is the idea of a comprehensive transition to activities which both contribute to the environment and strengthen competitiveness.

Almost 1500 public officials across 129 municipalities in Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia increased their capacity to devise new energy renovation strategies thanks to the work of the EmBuild project. These officers can now analyse their local building stocks, use new templates to draft public-sector building renovation strategies, and improve the investment climate at local level. The EmBuild Navigator gives practical help for local authorities, including a catalogue of low-cost measures, and guidance on assessing the non-energy benefits of renovation.

The authorities did not consider the possible environmental impact when they lightly issued construction permits for small hydropower plants (SHPPs) and approved incentives for privileged electricity producers. And then the adept investors saw the opportunity to make profits – they lobbied to adjust regulations and, coupled with poor inspection work on the ground, the situation is what it is today: a widespread devastation of small watercourses and the environment is taking place in Serbia, Ratko Ristić, Dean of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Forestry, tells Balkan Green Energy News.

Over the past few years, Novi Sad Heating Plant has implemented some of the strategic projects in the process of system transformation, whose ultimate goal was to shift the savings benefits to consumers. Since May 2016, the prices of heat in Novi Sad have been lowered four times, which hasn’t been the case in other cities. The latest price reduction was on February 1 this year, and it showed on bills in early March.

Serbia’s decision to halt the construction of thermal power plant Kolubara B is the country’s first serious step in the energy transition. The move, however, does not mean that coal-fired power plants and mines will be closed down overnight, but rather marks the beginning of a process that will take decades. If the transition is prepared and carried out prudently, it will result in a cleaner environment and cheaper energy. However, if this is not done in a timely manner, the transition will be painful, first and foremost for those employed in the coal sector, but also for all citizens and the economy as a whole.

The Secretariat of a new initiative to help coal regions in the Western Balkans and Ukraine transition away from coal towards a carbon-neutral economy has been launched by the European Commission. Mirroring the successful EU Initiative for coal regions in transition, the newly established secretariat will deliver support to coal regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo[1], Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. 17 regions with significant coal mining activities and coal-based energy production will be the key beneficiaries. The initiative’s secretariat will provide direct support for its implementation and ensure collaboration across the diversity of institutions and actors that the initiative will engage.

Citizens of Šabac have founded the first energy cooperative in Serbia, called Sunny Roofs. The cooperative will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign for its first project, the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant on the roofs of public heating utility Toplana-Šabac.
Energy cooperatives have become an increasingly common model for citizens’ involvement in energy transition in Europe over the last few years, while the most active one in the region is the Green Energy Cooperative or ZEZ (Zelena energetska zadruga).

Eight civil society organisations last week submitted proposals for a revamp of Serbia’s renewables support scheme to the Ministry of Energy and Mining.

The City of Belgrade will offer around 100 public building to investors to improve energy efficiency under ESCO projects, city representatives announced on World Energy Efficiency Day, adding that at the end of 2019 or at the beginning of 2020, the EUR 16 million Thermal Rehabilitation of Public Buildings project will be launched.

I believe that the use of public-private partnership, or the ESCO mechanism, is the right way to increase energy efficiency in the public sector. Therefore, I recommend it to municipalities, but also the entire public sector," said Aleksandar Antić, Minister of Mining and Energy.