While wind energy in Serbia and North Macedonia is being promoted as a pillar of the green transition, the development of wind farms in South Banat and the Demir Kapija region has opened up questions of transparency, ownership and the role of the state.
In the South Banat and the Demir Kapija region in North Macedonia wind farms are developing faster than local communities have the opportunity to participate in decision-making. Although wind energy is promoted in both countries as an important pillar of the energy transition, the projects are often accompanied by controversies - from issues of spatial planning and environmental impact to non-transparent ownership structures, writes Storyteller.
In Serbia wind energy used for more than a decade, but still has a relatively small share in total production electricity. Almost all wind farms are privately owned, while the state has a limited role, with the exception of the Kostolac wind farm owned by EPS. The development of the sector relies primarily on private capital and a system of state incentives. A similar pattern is noticeable in North Macedonia.
South Banat has stood out as the main center of wind energy in Serbia. The Kovačica, Pupin, Čibuk 1, Alibunar and Alibunar I wind farms are already listed on the map of South Banat. The Alibunar 1 and Alibunar 2 projects are being developed in parallel, while Samoš and Samoš 2 are in the planning phase.
In this part of Vojvodina, there are also several smaller plants, such as the Malibunar wind farm, as well as projects of limited capacity that do not have a significant impact on the overall spatial and energy picture of the region. New projects are also planned in the area of the municipality of Pančevo.
In this region, two models are present: projects that have passed from European to Chinese ownership (Alibunar 1 and 2) and projects that are formally run by domestic companies, but with insufficiently clear information about the final investors. In both models, Lazar Lazendić, an investor connected with more than 18 companies and an associate of Elektroprivreda Srbije, has an operational role.
In these projects, he does not appear as a capital owner, but as a director and operational holder of SPV companies, special project companies established for the development of individual wind farms. He is in charge of guiding companies through the various stages of development and for connecting local procedures with capital that enters projects in later stages, writes Storyteller.
The oldest and largest wind farm in Serbia, Alibunar, was built several years ago and is owned by the Belgian company Elicio, which also owns the smaller Malibunar wind farm. In 2023, the wind farm Alibunar I (9 MW), whose investor is the Slovenian company Rudis, was put into operation, which was also the first new wind farm in Serbia after Čibuk 1.
Parallel to that, the Alibunar 1 and Alibunar 2 projects were developed, with a total planned capacity of around 168 MW. These projects were created as part of the portfolio of Western European investors, within the structures associated with the Belgian company Windvision, which operated in Serbia through the company WV International.
The ownership structure changed at the end of December 2024, when the company Heavy Energy International Limited, based in Hong Kong, entered both projects, taking a majority stake. The remaining part of the ownership was retained by the Dutch branch of Windvision Group. At the beginning of 2025, Heavy Energy International was confirmed to be affiliated with the Chinese wind turbine manufacturer SANY Renewable Energy, thereby transferring the projects to Chinese ownership.
Despite the change in ownership, the operational management of projects in Serbia remains unchanged. As the director and legal representative of the project companies for Alibunar 1 and 2, Lazar Lazendić retains his role in managing the companies, communicating with institutions and coordinating local procedures on behalf of the foreign owner. Additional institutional weight is given to these projects by the role of Elektroprivreda Srbije, which has undertaken the obligation to buy all the electricity produced.
In May 2025, EPS signed contracts with the project companies Windvision Windfarm A and Windvision Windfarm B on the market premium and purchase of electricity, which formally included the Alibunar 1 and 2 projects in the system of state support for renewable energy sources.
The takeover of the Alibunar 1 and 2 projects fits into the broader pattern of the presence of Chinese actors in the sector of renewable energy sources in Serbia and North Macedonia.
Chinese companies enter projects in various roles – as technology providers, financial partners or owners – usually after key planning and regulatory risks have already been resolved.
The institutional framework of the Chinese presence in Serbia was further strengthened in January 2024, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese companies Shanghai Fengling Renewable and Zijin Mining Group, which envisages large investments in wind, solar and green hydrogen production projects.
Zijin is already a strategic partner of Serbia in the mining sector through the acquisition of a majority stake in the former state enterprise RTB Bor, which places these energy projects in the broader context of Chinese infrastructure and industrial investments within the Belt and Road initiative.
In early February, international media announced that the Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind was under investigation by the European Union, due to suspicions that it received foreign subsidies that give it an unfair market advantage in Europe.
The procedure followed after the European Commission in April 2024 launched a preliminary review of the possible distortion of market competition of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers.
Read the entire research on the portal Storyteller
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