EPS once more suspends tender for supervision of construction of state-owned solar power plants worth EUR 5.5 million – Strategically important project on hold for more than a year

Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has suspended for the second time the tender for professional supervision and consulting services for the construction of self-balancing solar power plants, whose value is estimated at 650 million dinars (about EUR 5.5 million), after both submitted bids were deemed unacceptable.

The tender was submitted by two consortiums: a group gathered around the company New Energy Solutions and a group of bidders led by Energoprojekt Entel.

As stated in the EPS decision, the procedure was suspended because “none of the bids met all the conditions stipulated in the tender documentation.”

The consortium gathered around the company New Energy Solutions submitted a bid worth 593.1 million dinars excluding VAT, but during the repeated expert assessment it was concluded that the bidder had not proven the fulfillment of the criteria related to experience in developing technical documentation for energy facilities with a capacity exceeding 100 MW.

The dispute related to the reference for the Cibuk 2 wind farm project, i.e. the question of which legal entities actually developed the technical documentation for that project. The Republic Commission for the Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures previously adopted the request for protection of rights and ordered EPS to re-conduct the expert assessment of the bids and obtain additional clarifications and evidence.

Although the reference contracting authority Cibuk 2 Wind Energy confirmed that the contract was signed exclusively with the company New Energy Solutions, EPS states that no additional evidence was submitted that would unequivocally confirm that it was this company that developed the technical documentation in question. Therefore, the bid was assessed as unacceptable.

The second bid, submitted by a consortium led by Energoprojekt Entel, was worth around 648.8 million dinars excluding VAT. During the repeated procedure, the references of the consortium members for solar power plant projects in Qatar and Republika Srpska were checked.

EPS ultimately concluded that the consortium met the professional competence criteria, but its bid was still rejected because no security for the seriousness of the bid was submitted in accordance with the requirements of the documentation. Specifically, the submitted bank guarantee had a shorter validity period than prescribed.

Since both bids were assessed as unacceptable, there were no conditions for ranking and selection of the most favorable bidder, so the public procurement procedure was suspended.

Suspension and delay

EPS suspended this tender, which was announced in March last year, in July 2025 after the commission, after a detailed analysis of the submitted bids, concluded that none of the bidders met all the conditions prescribed by the tender documentation.

Incidentally, the Government of Serbia and EPS signed a contract with a strategic partner, a consortium of companies Hyundai Engineering and UGT Renewables, on the construction of large-capacity self-balancing solar power plants with battery systems for storing electricity.

It was announced that the works would begin in 2025, while the completion of construction was announced for 2028.

The solar power plants will be built in the territories of the municipalities of Negotin, Zajecar, Lebane, Leskovac, Bujanovac and Odzaci, and the total power of the plant will be 1,200 MW DC/1,000 MW AC. In addition, battery storages with a total installed power of 200 MW, with a capacity of 400 MWh, are also planned.

In early 2025, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic stated that the planning and technical documentation for the project to build self-balanced solar power plants with a capacity of one gigawatt across Serbia was being worked on, and that it was expected that construction work would begin by the end of 2025 or early 2026. She added that negotiations on financial terms were ongoing.

In September 2024, the Government adopted a decision to develop a Spatial Plan for a Special Purpose Area for the strategic project to build self-balanced large-capacity solar power plants with a battery system for electricity storage. In October of last year, a Conclusion on the project to build self-balanced large-capacity solar power plants with battery systems for electricity storage in Serbia without management and maintenance was adopted, as a project of importance for Serbia.

As announced, the project will be developed, built and handed over to EPS on a turnkey basis. This means that strategic partners, in addition to building solar power plants and battery systems, will be required to build all other infrastructure.

I. Z.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

New Energy Solutions d.o.o. Beograd

Energoprojekt Entel a.d. Beograd

Hyundai Engineering Co., LTD Ogranak Beograd

Čibuk 2 Wind energy doo Beograd

Government of Serbia

Elektroprivreda Srbije

EPS

New Energy Solutions

Energoprojekt Entel

Hyundai Engineering

UGT Renewables

Čibuk 2 Wind Energy

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

state solar power plants

construction of state solar power plants

strategic partner for construction of solar power plants

solar power plants of high capacity

battery systems