In late December, Serbian state-owned power utility EPS and electricity transmission system operator EMS have sent a letter to the Ministry of Mining and Energy asking for the amendments to the Law on Renewable Energy in order to not allow introduction of premium-based subsidies for production of electricity from renewable sources.
In the letter, EPS and EMS claim that the introduction of a large number of renewable energy facilities to Serbian electricity network could threaten its stability with increased risk of blackouts, and would cause increased costs that will be ultimately borne by end-users.
They claim that the number of requests for the connection of new RES facilities (mainly wind and solar) to the transmission network by 2027 will exceed the capacity of the network. Also, with the integration of these renewable capacity, the need for new balancing capacity would increase by additional 500 to 800 MW, compared to current 380 MW, which would increase balancing costs to between 150 and 340 million euros a year, compared to current 48 million euros. The increase in costs will be borne by Serbian citizens.
Therefore, the two companies ask that the balancing responsibility should be transferred from EPS to the owners of wind farms and that priority access to transmission system should not be granted for these facilities.
In a response, the Ministry of Mining and Energy said that these claims are nothing but a push against decarbonization and transition to green energy, adding that both EPS and EMS have participated in the drafting of the Law on Renewable Energy, but now are against its implementation.
