It is pompous. Zorana Mihajlovic In 2013 and 2014, on two occasions, she invited investors to invest in small hydropower plants across Serbia. It turned out that the invitations were accompanied by incredible irregularities - licenses and locations were obtained by companies in conflict with the law, companies with hidden offshore ownership, as well as companies whose owners were officials in a potential conflict of interest.
On top of all that, the state did not even deign to check where exactly there is water in Serbia, but issued these invitations according to a plan that is several decades old, so it turned out that it is asking investors to build - where there is no more water.
It seems that the state has now finally put an end to these ideas.
The fight for the rivers of Serbia against a privileged buyer
The fight for small hydropower plants brought the whole country to its feet because numerous locals and environmental activists managed to defend rivers, especially small riverbeds in Serbia, which are the only source of water for many villages. The most significant battles were fought on Stara planina (eg the village of Topli Do), on the Rupska River, and then on the Studenica River.
It all started when the Regulation on feed-in tariffs was passed in 2009, so companies in Serbia were given the opportunity to electricity produced from renewable sources sale at guaranteed, preferential prices.
The status of the privileged producer lasted for 12 years, and a large number of projects recently expired. As of 2022, 60 power plants will lose this status, it was stated in the report of the Association of Renewable Energy Sources (OIE) of Serbia.
Among them, the most small hydroelectric power plants (MHE). A total of 28 with a total installed power of about 23 MW.
What happens to power plants when they exit the incentive system?
Various projects found themselves in trouble - power plants owned by schools, monasteries, the Clinical Center of Serbia, and even private investors. Their individual installed power is different. The smallest is a solar power plant of only 3,2 kW, while the largest mini hydropower plants are Međuvršje and Ovčar banja in Čačak, writes Biznis.rs.
Photo: Freepik/prostoolehElectricity prices are currently very low
In addition to standard technical documentation, new permits for their construction have recently been requested. Namely, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure adopted amendments to the Rulebook on special types of buildings and special types of works for which it is not necessary to obtain an act of the competent authority, by which it prescribed that all power plants with a power greater than 10,8 kW that are built for their own needs must now have a decision on approval for the execution of works.
Until now, it was an obligation for power plants with a power of more than 50 kW.
This means that for the construction of a power plant with a power greater than 10,8 kW, it will be necessary to ensure the location conditions as if building any other residential building, which will significantly prolong the procedure and bring additional costs.
Suddenly there is no need
For power plants that use renewable energy sources and have a capacity greater than 400 kW, the issuing of new conditions for connection has been temporarily suspended.
Electricity distribution Serbia states that the number of requests for connection has currently exceeded the energy needs at the state level, so a new analysis of the adequacy of production and consumption is awaited.
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