Research identifies enough low-impact solar potential to generate 10% of the country’s household energy consumption.
With Europe warming at twice the rate of the global average, governments across the continent are looking for ways to accelerate decarbonization efforts while meeting growing food and energy needs. As a contracting party to the Energy Community, Serbia needs to increase the share of renewable energy sources in its gross energy consumption to 40.7% by 2030. The country also needs to meet its commitment under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to take decisive steps to halt the loss of biodiversity, which includes putting 30% of land and waterways under effective protection.
Serbia, like many countries across the region, is under increasing pressure to identify enough suitable land for renewable energy development that does not unduly harm the nature and communities in their path.
Following the success of a pilot study in nearby Croatia, which identified enough low-impact land to meet half of Croatia’s total national 2030 target for solar and wind power, The Nature Conservancy recently conducted a similar assessment of solar potential across Serbia.
The resulting study is a map overlaying solar development potential with impact potential, as well as a selection of the 100 best sites for solar development according to both criteria, with an estimated installed capacity of 10 MW each. We estimate that 200,000—or 10%—of Serbian households could be powered from the 100 selected sites, saving one million tonnes per year in carbon emissions.
