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7.10 Energy & Power - Serbia
Serbia has made a commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, but at the moment coal is an important part of its energy mix, accounting for around 70% of power generation.
Apart from coal, approximately 25% of Serbia's energy is generated through hydroelectric power stations, and the remaining portion is sourced from renewable energy.
In 2020, Serbia adopted its Emissions Reduction Plan (NERP) with a commitment to achieve complete decarbonisation half way through the century. However, the proportion of coal in the energy mix has seen minimal change.
Serbia has significant coal reserves, particularly at Kolubara, which produces enough coal to cover around half of the nation's electricity production.
Despite the commitment to decarbonisation, Serbia is set to launch a new unit at the Kostolac coal-fired power station in the coming months, financed by Chinese support. The opening date of the new B3 unit remains uncertain. While B3 features a desulphurisation unit, concerns persist regarding potential emissions increases.
Serbia has long been dependent on Russia for natural gas imports, securing a new deal with Gazprom on favourable terms in 2022 – at a time when other European countries were seeking to reduce their consumption of Russian gas after the invasion of Ukraine.
Still, Serbia has also been working to diversify its natural gas import sources. It took an important step towards this goal in December 2023 when a new gas interconnection with Bulgaria was formally opened.
The pipeline links the Bulgarian town of Novi Iskar and the Serbian city of Nis, giving Serbia access to gas from Azerbaijan as well as the LNG terminal in the Greek port of Alexandroupolis via Bulgaria.
The recently completed Serbian segment of the pipeline has a capacity of 1.8bn cubic metres per year, covering 60% of the country's annual gas needs.
Previously, on November 15 Serbia signed a deal with Azerbaijan, securing an agreement to purchase 400mn cubic metres of natural gas annually, starting from 2024.
155 SE Outlook 2024 www.intellinews.com