RES SERBIA 2024: Europe gets 6.4 GW of new wind capacities in first half of this year – Serbia interesting for three factors

Investors in wind farms are satisfied with the conditions for the development of their projects in Serbia. Still, in addition to auctions, in order to develop wind farms, Serbia lacks other financial instruments, such as PPAs (power purchase agreements), and clear rules when it comes to battery systems for the storage of electrical energy should be worked on too – is the conclusion of the panel held at the RES SERBIA 2024 conference in Vrdnik.

The moderator of the panel “Perspectives of Development, Construction and Financing of Wind Farms”, Viktoriya Kerelska, Director of Advocacy and Messaging at WindEurope, pointed out that, in the first half of this year, Europe had gotten 6.4 GW in new wind capacities. Still, she warned, there is still not as much construction as there should be in order for the decarbonization goals of Europe to be achieved.

Rules mustn’t change

Marko Liposcak, General Manager of Enlight EU, a company which has one wind farm built in Serbia, Kovacica, and another one under construction, Pupin, explained that Serbia was attractive to investors due to the continuous support to renewable sources at the state level.

– The environment is relatively predictable, which is very important for investors, and there are also international financial institutions which have provided technical assistance to the Government. We are now seeing the flourishing of solar power, the numbers are relatively small compared to other European countries, but the business is there, it is developing – notes Liposcak.

As he says, there are challenges in the construction of wind farms in all phases, but he highlights development as the phase with the most risks.

– It takes time to develop a project and it is important that the process is efficient and that the rules are clearly set. Now there are new challenges, how to incite investors to invest in battery systems, we don’t have clear rules there. There is one challenge which is common to the whole Europe, and it pertains to the changing rules, which is a problem for investors when they find themselves in the trap of uncoordinated activities of various institutions – emphasizes Liposcak.

He notes that, in addition to auctions, other financial mechanisms should be developed as well.

– Last year, we celebrated the success of the first auctions, the prices were good for investors, EPS and purchasers. Serbia has a good foundation for continuing with the auctions, but we need alternatives, such as long-term PPAs, as well as cross-border agreements. We don’t want to be a highly-subsidized industry. We need to develop the capital market if we want a flourishing economy, as well as the market of electrical energy if we want a further development of this field – said Liposcak.

Serbia has plenty of wind power

Andries Teerlynck, Director of Sales, HR, IT and PR at Elicio, a company which is present in Serbia with the wind farms Alibunar and Malibunar, emphasizes that Elicio plans to double the capacities by 2030 with new technologies, such as floating wind farms on the sea. Expansions are planned in Serbia too, where, he says, they have a very positive experience.

– Serbia has plenty of wind power, space and a stable investment climate. Those three elements are important for the development of projects. When there’s no wind in France and Belgium, there’s wind in Serbia. We are also very satisfied with the system of feed-in tariffs, and as for the challenges, there is still plenty of extensive documentation that has to be submitted, there are plenty of small things which can accelerate the process – he says.

Elicio did not take part in the auctions, and Teerlynck believes that corporate PPAs, which are signed directly between producers of electrical energy from renewable sources and consumers, should be developed more.

– In France, there’s an interesting system of contracts for difference. With time, we have come to the point that 20-year agreements are now standard, because wind farms have proven to be a good and solid technology which can work for 20 years if maintained well – he concludes.

Who delivers equipment for our wind farms

Christophe Billot, Head of Sales for the Mediterranean Region at Nordex Group, pointed out that the company had been present in several projects in Serbia.

– In Serbia, we started with Krivaca and completed it before the deadline, so we immediately started building Pupin, where we delivered all the components. We are doing one project after another, without a pause, Cibuk 2 is the next one – he announced and added that, for the development of wind farms, it is important for auctions to be held on a regular basis.

How banks decide who to finance

Nikola Vuletic, the chairman of the Executive Board of UniCredit Bank Serbia, pointed out that, at that moment, the bank financed 5 of the 8 wind farms in Serbia. As he explained, there are no shortcuts for banks when deciding on the financing of projects, because security matters.

– It is not easy to make a project bankable. We make decisions from case to case, we make no compromises when it comes to the company’s results, we choose those with proven successes – he explained.

He estimated that very successful auctions had taken place, but that there was a lack of PPAs.

– We hope that there will be more of them, as well as CFD agreements, we see them as complementary mechanisms, and we are also looking forward to the new outcome of the auctions – he said.

The eKapija portal is a media sponsor of the RES SERBIA 2024 conference, which is held for the fourth year in a row. It is organized by the Renewable Energy Sources of Serbia Association.

M. Dedic

Obnovljivi izvori energije Srbije

UniCredit Bank Srbija a.d. Beograd

Nordex Energy d.o.o. Beograd

Elicio Wind d.o.o. Beograd

Nordex Grupa

Elicio

WindEurope

Viktoriya Kerelska

Nikola Vuletić

Christophe Billot

Andries Teerlynck

Marko Lipošćak

RES SERBIA 2024

CFD agreements

PPAs

power purchase agreements

contracts for difference

Čibuk 2

Krivača

Pupin

Alibunar

Malibunar

Kovačica

investments in wind farms

storage of electrical energy