RES Serbia 2025: Wind Farm Cibuk 2 to start operating next month, renewable energy projects slowed down

The first turbine of the Cibuk 2 wind farm should start operating in early October, it was announced at the RES SERBIA 2025 conference that started yesterday in Vrdnik. The conference, whose media sponsor is the eKapija portal, brings together all “stakeholders” in the field of renewable energy sources for the fifth time in a row: decision-makers, representatives of companies, investors, banks, the academic community...

The participants in one of the introductory panels, which brought together wind farm investors and wind turbine manufacturers, said that “the times are exciting and complex for wind in Serbia,” and that Serbia was facing a slowdown when it came to RES projects.

The panelists discussed the challenges facing the wind industry in Serbia and the world today, the obstacles that slow down the development of RES projects, and corporate PPA agreements that need to be developed in Serbia and the region.

Taking the state out of the equation

Kai Rintala, Managing Director of Taaleri Energia, praised the implementation of market premium auctions in Serbia, but also stressed that we should not rely only on state auctions if we want to implement the energy transition, because they alone could not meet the volume of projects that needed to be built.

– In the north, we have always had a fully liberalized electricity market, where everyone enters into commercial contracts with other market partners. Although we are expecting the third auction in Serbia, the focus should be on making the market such that industrial consumers in the country can reach renewable energy producers. Once the state is removed from the equation, Serbia’s energy transition will be significantly improved and electricity will be cheaper – Rintala emphasizes.

He noted that the company was present in 13 countries, and that the fastest licensing process was in Texas.

– The district judge there sends you a letter and says that no license is needed, but in general, it is not easy anywhere. In Norway, we had the biggest political risk, retroactive taxes appeared and destroyed the investment, that’s why we diversified our portfolio in 13 countries. The solution is to continue working with the authorities, associations, so that all the problems are solved – notes Rintala.

Bruce Johnson, Director of Corporate Finance and Treasury at Masdar, noted that in Serbia there was more capacity in preparation than what the state’s goal was - 3.5 GW by 2030.

– We have a fantastic relationship with the government. It would be nice, but not necessary, if there was harmonization of regulations with the EU. That consistency would make the availability of investments in Serbia more direct – he noted.

The potential of the Serbian market

The Balkan market is very important for Nordex, a wind turbine manufacturer that has installed more than 57 GW worldwide in 40 years, said Anne-Catherine de Tourtier, the company’s Vice President for the Mediterranean region.

– In the Balkan market, we started with Croatia, we are the leaders there, then we arrived in Serbia, we will soon arrive in Montenegro, and probably in 2026 we will equip the first wind farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia is facing a slowdown, like many other countries, but the obstacles are there to be overcome. Europe still has a solid regulatory framework. It is important for Serbia to get closer to the EU and create stability for investors. When the time between obtaining a building permit and the implementation of a project is too long, it creates instability. In Serbia, it is important to have that stability – said De Tourtier and concluded:

– We are here to stay, we believe in the Serbian market and the potential of the Balkan countries.

Milos Colic, CEO of New Energy Solutions, which, according to him, is “involved in more than 80% of all wind projects currently being prepared in Serbia,” points out that the development of these projects is a very complex process.

– Some investors understand this, but some do not recognize how complex these projects are, so we have a big gap between reality and what is planned – Colic points out.

Obnovljivi izvori energije Srbije

Nordex Energy d.o.o. Beograd

New Energy Solutions d.o.o. Beograd

Masdar Renewable Power Services d.o.o. Beograd

RES Serbia Association

RES Serbia 2025 Conference

RES Serbia

Taaleri Energia

Masdar

Nordex

New Energy Solution

Kai Rintala

Miloš Colić

Anne Catherine de Trourtier

Bruce Johnson