Aleksandar Jakovljevic, EPS - Thermal power plants remain a pillar, we plan HPPs on Morava as well as two reversible HPPs

Elektroprivreda Srbije sees the transition to RES as realistic and sustainable, and this will reflect in the plans and transformation of the production portfolio, said the director for strategy of PE EPS Aleksandar Jakovljevic during the conference RES Serbia 2021.

He believes that coal will be the basis for Serbia's energy security in the coming period:

- The production we have now, around 70%, cannot be replaced quickly and in a realistic fashion. Increase of RES is necessary in order to create a balance and a process that could be sustainable for all. Once we see the strategic documents, we will be able to talk about EPS's plans.

He added that thermal power plants, synchronized with the environmental protection measures, will be the basis for supply security, for the integration of RES, which, as he says, is a precondition for successful development of projects, something that investors are thinking about.

- Our experiences are related to hydro potential. In addition to the existing hydroelectric power plants, we are developing the system on Velika Morava and Ibar rivers. We are also active in the region. A company in charge of projects on the upper course of the Drina River has been established in Republika Srpska. We are developing documentation with Elektroprivreda Crne Gore for Komarnica river. We are also developing projects on old landfills, on mining land, on ash dumps - stated Jakovljevic.

He pointed out the wind farm in Kostolac and the Petka solar power plant at the external mining landfills, as well as the Central Kostolac Island (Srednje kostolacko ostrvo) solar power plant, planned to be located at an ash dump.

- We will take into consideration all other facilities and land owned by EPS and attempt to realize such projects. One of the options currently being considered is biomass - added Aleksandar Jakovljevic.

EPS, as a guaranteed supplier, has the obligation to balance, and bear the costs of balancing, for all RES electricity producers, as per the new Law on RES. According to Jakovljevic, the existing electric power system and the existing coal plants contribute to the current conditions and with this capacity building, that balancing and system operation will be stable.

- The process of reducing thermal energy capacities in the future may lead to a lack of balancing capacity. This may become especially evident given the big plans. In the ten-year development plan, EMS mentions 3,000 MW of newly installed capacities until 2030, and the proposal of the integrated national energy climate plan mentions 6,000 MW of wind and 4,000 MW of solar as the upper limit - stated Jakovljevic.

EPS will have the obligation to balance until the establishment of a fluent intra-day electricity market.

- Building additional capacity for RES requires building additional balancing capacity. Here we recognize reversible hydro-power plants as important. Analyzes are being done for Bistrica and Djerdap 3. The results show that, specifically for Bistrica, in the period after 2030, such a facility will be necessary, because it will enable the integration of an additional large amount of RES - says Aleksandar Jakovljevic.

He also believes that batteries and hydrogen have yet to be sufficiently developed, and that these are technologies of the future, whose dramatic breakthrough in development could replace reversible hydro-power plants.

- We should also take gas into consideration, which does increase import dependence, but we must follow the process and see how the development of RES projects goes - stated Jakovljevic.

The RES Serbia 2021 conference was held in Belgrade on September 15, and was organized by the Renewable Energy Sources Association of Serbia (RES Serbia), in cooperation with the general partner, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Business portal eKapija was one of the media sponsors of the conference.

Aleksandra Kekic

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

Obnovljivi izvori energije Srbije

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

EPS

EPCG

Renewable Energy Sources Association of Serbia

RES Serbia

Aleksandar Jakovljevic

RES Serbia 2021

reversible hydro power plants

Bistrica

Djerdap 3

Velika Morava

Ibar

Drina

Komarnica

ash dump

mining landfills

Kostolac windpark

Petka solar power plant

Central Kostolac Island

biomass

balancing

Law on RES