Eurostat: 26.3% of Energy in Serbia Comes from Renewable Sources

According to the data of Eurostat for 2020, the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the total energy production in Serbia amounted to 26.3%, which is very close to the set goal of 27% for last year. The share of RES in the consumption of electricity was nearly one third – 30.7%, whereas that share in 2019 amounted to 28.7%.

Of the countries in the environment for which data are available, electricity exclusively from renewable sources in 2020 was spent by Albania (100%), Montenegro spent 61.5%, Croatia spent more than a half (53.8%), and Romania spent 43.4%. In Slovenia, the share of RES in the consumption of electricity amounted to 35.1%, in Bulgaria it was 23.6%, and in Hungary it was 11.9%.

Serbia got the most electricity from renewable sources from hydro power plants – 859.8 kilotons of oil equivalent (ktoe), followed by wind – 82.9 ktoe. A total of 1.7 ktoe was produced from solid biofuels, whereas 1.1 ktoe was produced from solar energy.

From all other renewable sources, which include the production of electrical energy from gas and liquid biofuels, municipal waste, geothermal energy and others, 14.9 ktoe was spent.

The biggest growth, by nearly 20 ktoe, in 2020, compared to a year before in Serbia, was recorded by wind farms.

The share of RES in transport in Serbia amounted to 1.2% in 2020. Of the countries in the region, the biggest share was recorded by Hungary (11.6%), followed by Slovenia (10.9%), Romania (8.5%) and Croatia (6.6%), whereas the share in Montenegro and Albania is lower than 1%.

Let us remind that the Ministry of Mining and Energy recently told eKapija that, although there were no official data for 2020 as of that date, the share of RES in the consumption of electricity was expected to be around 25%.

– The data for 2020 will be published in February 2022 and they are expected to show a considerable change based on the detailed research carried out as per order of the Energy Community. The research has shown that the consumption of biomass in Serbia is far greater than expected, so the share of RES in the gross final consumption of energy is realistically higher too and it is expected to be around 25%, that is, to be far closer to the previously set goal of 27% in 2020 – the ministry said.

Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said in April 2021 that the vision of Serbia was to have at least 40% of energy produced from renewable sources by 2040.

Let us also remind that the Government of Serbia recently adopted two decrees regulating the field of renewable energy sources. These are the Decree on Market Premium and the Decree on the Market Premium Agreement Model.

Recently, the Management Board of the RES Serbia association expressed a concern for the future of renewable energy sources of Serbia after the setting of the maximum purchase price for auctions for electrical energy from wind farms, which, due to the model of two-way premiums, could make investors decide not to take part in auctions, whereas finance institutions and banks could decide not to finance projects.

The entire Eurostat report can be viewed in the PDF file.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Eurostat

Zorana Mihajlović

energy from wind farms

energy from biomass

RES

renewable energy sources

electricity

electricity consumption