Investments in RES and solar as the leading choice – 2024 Retrospective, investments in ECOLOGY

The most read articles on our portal in the field of ecology last year could indicate a great interest among the readers in solar project, of which there were certainly many. Big and significant investments were announced, and Serbia positioned itself as a space for pioneering endeavors, but also the biggest investments in SE Europe. Also, the first project of the tokenization of a solar power plant was approved.

Investments are also planned in wind farms and biomass-related projects. As recycling is one of the pillars of sustainability, the readers also liked the story about how waste processing can be turned into a business.

We bring you an overview of the most read investment stories from last year.

1. Solar power plants near Arandjelovac

In July last year, the Municipality of Arandjelovac made public the urban project for the urban planning-architectural development of the location of the facilities for the production of electrical energy – the solar power plants Fep and Bukovik 1 in the territory of this municipality. The investor is the Arandjelovac-based company Pestan doo.

The solar power plant Fep has a power of 6.5 MW, and the installation of solar panels on the ground and on the roofs of the facilities is planned. The planned power of the Bukovik 1 power plant is 9.9 MW, and the installation of the solar panels is planned on the ground.

2. Hyundai and UGT Renewables to build state solar power plants

In October 2024, Hyundai Engineering announced the signing of the agreement on the construction of 1 GW of solar power plants with the Government of Serbia, which adopted the Decision on the Construction of Self-Balancing Solar Power Plants on October 10.

On October 16, the minister of mining and energy of Serbia, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, and the CEO of Elektroprivreda Srbije, Dusan Zivkovic, signed the Agreement on the realization of the project of the construction of self-balancing solar power plants in Serbia with the consortium of the companies Hyundai Engineering and UGT Renewables. This is the Project of the construction without management and maintenance of self-balancing solar power plants of large capacities, with a total installed power of at least 1,000 MWAC/1,200 MWDC, with battery systems for the storage of electrical energy with a total installed power of 200 MW/400 MWh at the most.

In September, the government adopted the decision on the preparation of the Spatial Plan of the Special-Purpose Area for the strategic project of construction of self-balancing solar power plants of large capacities with battery systems for the storage of electrical energy. This ambitious project will encompass parts of the territories of the cities of Zajecar and Leskovac, as well as the municipalities of Bujanovac, Lebane, Negotin and Odzaci.

The spatial plan will encompass six solar power plants with battery systems, which, as said, will make a considerable contribution to energy independence and the use of renewable energy sources.

3. Biomass might be used in TPPs Kolubara A and Morava

In December last year, Elektroprivreda Srbije opened the tender for the analysis of the availability of biomass for the needs of combustion in power plants, with an application deadline of January 13. According to the project task, a study needed to be prepared which would provide an overview of the potential of biomass in Serbia and the possibility of its use for the needs of EPS AD. It is said that the biomass resource in Serbia is estimated at 3.405 million tons of oil equivalent.

The analysis of the use of biomass pertains to the direct combustion of biomass and the production of biogas/biomethane. When it comes to the direct combustion of biomass, an analysis was sought in the sense of the biomass available for final use in the locations of the TPPs Kolubara A and Morava.

4. First agri-solar project in the Balkans

In the territory of the municipality of Kula, the plan is to build an agri-solar power plant of around 800 MW. As can be seen from the detailed regulation plan which the municipality of Kula has put up for public inspection, the company Agrosolar doo Beograd plans to build the project on over 700 ha.

The company Agrosolar is jointly owned by the companies Kula Solar and MK Green Energy Limited. The construction, as they announced, is planned to be completed by the end of 2026.

5. Business based on automotive and textile waste

With the support of the European Union within the project EU for the Green Agenda in Serbia, two companies in the vicinity of Belgrade recycle automotive and construction textile waste to create new products.

Thanks to EU co-financing, the company Steel Impex has acquired an air filtration system along with equipment that enables them to recycle 80%-90% of a single vehicle in Krnjesevci. By separating different metal fractions from automotive waste, the company will produce high-purity metal granules that can be used by local foundries. This will reduce the amount of automotive waste in the country by over 165,000 tons in the next 20 years.

ArTech Engineering from Dobanovci is developing a new material called "Retex", to be produced out of textile leftovers from the production of tents, awnings, and tarpaulins. This material is suitable for use in construction, as insulation, and in interior decoration.

6. Numerous requests for connecting solar and wind power plants to transmission network withdrawn

In March last year, the data of Elektromreza Srbije were published, according to which the number of the submitted requests for connecting solar and wind power plants to the transmission network in the country considerably dropped in the period between November 2023 and February 2024, from 21.5 GW to only 11.1 GW.

The solar sector is the most affected, with a drop of 7.9 GW, whereas the capacity of the wind farms is reduced by 2.6 GW.

The main reason for this considerable drop is in the adoption of the new regulation which requires additional guarantees from investors and regulates the problem of the hyperproduction of the requests, said Nenad Jovanovic of the Mott MacDonald company, coordinator of the Engineers’ Forum and one of the most active members of the Association RES Serbia.

7. Turkish company to build biggest solar power plant in SE Europe in Serbia

The Turkish company Fortis Energy announced in July that it had purchased a 180 MW solar project with a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia.

The company expects it to be one of the largest solar power plants and energy storage systems in Southeast Europe.

Fortis plans to install BESS with a capacity of 36 MWh. Construction is expected to commence in 2025.

8. More electricity to come from South Banat

The company AAEC Energy Consulting from Novi Sad plans to build the wind farm Samos with a maximum power of around 900 MW in the territory of the municipalities of Alibunar and Kovacica, and the Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning and Environmental Protection announced, at the beginning of the year, the early public inspection of the material for the preparation of the Spatial Plan of the Special-Purpose Area for the construction.

The area covered by the plan amounts to 174.28 km2, and in the territory of the municipality of Alibunar, it encompasses parts of the cadaster municipalities: Dobrica, Ilandza, Novi Kozjak and Seleus, whereas in the territory of the municipality of Kovacica, it encompasses parts of the cadaster municipalities: Kovacica, Padina, Samos and Uzdin.

In the first stage, the plan is to realize the wind farm Samos 1 with a planned minimum power of 420 MW, whereas in the second stage, the plan is to realize the wind farm Samos 2 with a planned minimum installed power of 468 MW.

The construction is planned in two stages.

9. AVR Solar token

After the Securities Commission approved the first project of the tokenization of a solar power plant in Serbia at the end of October, the sale of AVR Solar token, issued by AVR Solar Park, officially began in November, as announced by the first cryptocurrency exchange office in Serbia – ECD.

As announced earlier, AVR Solar Park from Belgrade received approval for the issuing of 7,250 digital tokens with an individual value of EUR 100. The collected funds, it was said at the time, will be put into the expansion of the existing solar power plant – the procurement of new panels and the accompanying equipment.

10. Grot i Oblik

In February, the City of Vranje announced the public inspection of the Draft Detailed Regulation Plan of the wind farm “Grot i Oblik”, which envisages the installation of nine wind generators with a power of close to 60 MW. The construction is planned in the area of the cadaster municipalities Tesoviste and Gumeriste. The plan is to install nine wind generators, each with a power of around 6.2 MW.


We also invite you to see which investments marked the year 2024 in the fields of AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY.

Opština Aranđelovac

Peštan doo Bukovik

Hyundai Engineering Co., LTD Ogranak Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

Agrosolar doo Beograd

Steel Impex doo Bačka Palanka

ArTech inženjering d.o.o. Beograd

EMS ad Beograd

Pokrajinski sekretarijat za urbanizam i zaštitu životne sredine Novi Sad

Fortis Energy and Construction doo Beograd

AAEC Energy Consulting doo Novi Sad

AVR Solar Park d.o.o. Beograd

ECD.rs

Grad Vranje

Windflow West d.o.o. Beograd

Hyundai Engineering

UGT Renewables

Kula solar

MK Green Energy Limited

Mott MacDonald

SunFlow Holding

Vulcanus Enerji Yatirim Anonim Sikreti

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

Dušan Živković

Nenad Jovanović

solar power plant Fep

solar power plant Bukovik 1

TPP Kolubara

TPP Morava

Dobrica

Ilandža

Novi Kozjak

Seleuš

solar power plants

construction of solar power plants

tender for analysis of availability of biomass

agrisolar projects

automotive waste

textile waste

Green Agenda

wind farms

wind farm Samoš

connecting of solar power plants to transmission network

connecting of wind farms to transmission network

energy storage battery system

AVR Solar token

sale of AVR Solar token

tokenization of solar power plant

Draft Detailed Regulation Plant of wind farm Grot i Oblik

wind generators Grot

wind generators Oblik