May 27, 2025
by in News

Clock is ticking for introducing carbon tax in Western Balkans, many ambiguities still remain

From January 1st, 2026, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be effective in the Western Balkans. While the countries are still deciding on the carbon pricing model, the energy intensive industry is advocating for introducing taxation to protect the domestic market from the flood of goods that will not be competitive on the EU market. Even though the Governments might not have been proactive enough in the previous years, the participants of the CBAM panel on BEF 2025 believe there is still time for the regional actors to come up with more proactive approach towards the EU.

Energy Community Contracting Parties are approaching critical choices on carbon pricing that will shape the pathway towards climate neutrality, electricity market integration and sustainable economic development. From January 1, 2026, producers of aluminum, fertilizers, cement, steel, and hydrogen, as well as electricity exporters, will be required to pay the tax on CO2 emissions released during the production of the goods they export to the EU.

At the Ministerial Council in December 2024, four carbon pricing models were presented to the Contracting parties: regional emissions trading system (ETS), national carbon taxes, fixed-price Emissions Trading System (ETS), and full integration with the EU ETS. Upon the request of the Contracting parties, the Energy Community Secretariat provided an impact assessment for all four scenarios. The scenarios differ in structure and scope, but all support a common goal: progressive alignment with the EU ETS and the implementation of the polluter-pays principle.

The Ministerial Council is expected to meet in July to reflect on these scenarios and decide on the preferred regional pathway. This decision will shape the revision of the Decarbonisation Roadmap and guide the implementation of carbon pricing reform up to 2030 and beyond.

Carbon pricing is also central to the region’s electricity market future. The Electricity Integration Package, adopted in 2022, outlines the path to full market coupling between the Energy Community and the EU. To avoid distortions and ensure a level playing field, timely carbon pricing implementation is essential. “The projections shows that if the region would join EU ETS after 2030, the carbon price should reach or even exceed 100 euros per ton of CO2. This would have serious consequences for energy prices, competitiveness and industrial exports. Also, delaying actions could prove to be costly. That’s why contracting parties are expecting to implement domestic ETS for electricity with the price equivalent to EU ETS”, Milica Brkić Vukovljak, from Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia, explained.

Milica Brkic Vukovljak (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

The expectations around the CBAM introduction in the region were the main topic of discussion on the BEF 2025 panel Addressing carbon pricing in the Western Balkans – Turning decarbonization challenges into opportunities through collaboration, innovation and competitiveness, moderated by Brkić Vukovljak.

The key message from the panel is that regional governments need to take a more active role, especially towards the European Union, and numerous arguments were put forward during the discussion in that direction.

As for Serbia, it is worth noting that it is the only Contracting party of the Energy Community that had transposed the Electricity Integration Package, through which transit of importance for traders takes place. Given that the market coupling is scheduled for the beginning of 2027, it would be important to try to get the European Commission to postpone the deadline from 2026 to 2027.

Introduction of CBAM should not interfere with market integration

While admitting that „it’s never a good moment politically to decide on carbon pricing“, Adam Cwetsch, Head of the European Green Deal in the Energy Community Secretariat, said he believed that the current momentum in the region, together with cumulated experiences, could allow making such a decision at this time.

Adam Cwetsch (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

He recalled that the decision on carbon pricing was partially left open with the 2021 Decarbonization Roadmap. At the same time, the Green Agenda for Western Balkans is referring to alignment with the EU ETS, as an objective that countries should aim.

„The role of Secretariat is to facilitate making those decisions, fully informed. It entails certain risks, but it is also helping the countries in their journey to join the EU eventually. Another important consideration is setting standards for monitoring emissions, which the countries are obliged to establish and make as of 2026. This is necessary for any credible carbon pricing system, regardless of the chosen model, as they all require credible data and standards“, Cwetsch said.

He insisted that the market integration and market coupling should not be disturbed with the introduction of CBAM, making it a priority to synchronize the situation within the region.

Any model to be decided has to have, as an end point, alignment with the EU ETS

“The least desirable solution would be that there is a country that progresses faster than others and is forced to implement an internal Energy Community CBAM”, Cwetsch said, advocating for a coordinated approach towards setting up the carbon emissions price.

He also noted that any model to be decided must have, as an end point, alignment with the EU ETS. „That should be taken into account when designing the pathway with selected option“, he added.

As things now stand from January 2026 CBAM will be effective, while the market coupling, that allows for exemptions, will not be yet in place. „It is important not to end up with disintegrating the market“, Cwetsch noted.

On the other hand, he believes there is a space for more proactive policy from the Western Balkans actors. „The region should reach out to the EU with more proactive climate policies, which would make clear how the region could contribute to the 2030 or 2040 targets for climate neutrality that EU is striving“, he concluded.

Without carbon pricing mechanisms, the regional markets will be flooded with imports

Branko Zečević (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

The representatives of energy intensive industry are concerned that past discussions about carbon pricing didn’t pay enough attention to the interests of the companies that are going to be directly affected by imposing tariffs on exports to the EU.

Branko Zečević, president of the Metalfer Group and one of the founders of the Association of Serbian Energy Intensive Industry, said that the introduction of CBAM from the beginning of next year will certainly affect Serbian exports, even though many companies have been preparing for this moment and investing in decarbonization. „Some companies are further down that road, some are at the beginning, and the effects can’t be quantified easily right now“, he argued.

Once you have saved the industry, you have somebody to tax. Otherways, there will be nothing to talk about

However, Zečević insisted that much bigger threat for industry in Serbia and the region, is the expected flood of goods that will not be able to enter EU market anymore and will try to find third markets.

„Markets in the region are pretty opened for that sort of import. An imperative is therefore to have our own carbon pricing system, however you may call it. We must protect our market from these consequences, otherways we will not have any industry to protect in the future“, he insisted.

In his opinion, the first step should be to copy-paste what the EU is doing, to protect the industry, and after that we can talk about the models of carbon pricing. „Once you have saved the industry, you have somebody to tax. Otherways, there will be nothing to talk about“, he warned.

Asked about the expectations of the industry from the Government, he said that financial assistance does not seem a realistic option in the Western Balkans, but there are regulatory measures that could help the companies.

„Industry is more complex than coupling the electricity market, as every industry is different. The companies in the EU received billions of euros in grants over the last 15 years, while the companies in the region were left on their own, each individual company, to make its own adjustments. What the governments in the region can do is to put in place regulatory rules to help and protect local industry and then as a next stage to see if it can implement that regionally“, he concluded.

CBAM ambiguities rising concerns for energy traders

Mark Copley (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

The ambiguities that follow the introduction of the emissions trading mechanism in the region are more likely to deter than to attract energy traders. Mark Copley, CEO of Energy Traders Europe, association representing 170 energy traders, some of them being active in the region, noted that there is confusion and concern regarding the implementation of CBAM in Western Balkans.

“Lots of questions have been raised: how is that going to work, how the price of CO2 is going to be calculated, what does this means for market integration, how the traders will actually be able to transit power through this region etc”, he said.

Energy traders are pretty good with price risks and volume risks, what we fear is political risk and regulatory risk

While noting that traders generally think that carbon pricing is a good idea, he warned that a good idea in principle could have significant unintended consequences in practice. Energy traders are pretty good with price risks and volume risks, what we fear is political risk and regulatory risk. „I’d like to think that this moment is an opportunity to sit down with all the parties involved to try to sort out the rules”, Copley said.

Copley insisted that he doesn’t have a specific view on what form of pricing is right from the region, but reminded of the experience when Great Britain created its own ETS, which proved to be more volatile, risky and difficult to operate.

„The bigger, more stable, more integrated market – the better. When you have ETS as a large and liquid system, it is fairly easy to trade and manage risks. However, it gets more difficult where you don’t know what the policies are in the short term or in the long term. While I understand the desire that the model should reflect the specifics of the market, be careful in small markets with not much liquidity, because it is hard to design good systems for them”, Copley noted.

Carbon pricing models should reflect the interests of each country in the region

Damir Miljević (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

The regional non-governmental organizations also have been raising their voice over the topic of CBAM in previous years. One of the warnings of possible negative economic and social impacts was the analysis Chaotic and fake decarbonization of power sectors in the Western Balkansin 2023.

“The problem is that the introduction of CBAM in often seen as a kind of natural disaster, something inevitable that is about to happen”, said Damir Miljević, member of the Board of Center for Sustainable Energy Transition, RESET, a think-tank that published the report mentioned.

In his opinion, Western Balkan countries did not participate actively in the process with lobbying and negotiating with the EU. „The policy makers sit in Brussels, while the Energy Community Secretariat is the directorate for the implementation of the international agreement. I don’t recall that some delegation from the Western Balkans went to talk to the EU about exemptions, even though we had at least one strong argument. Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU states that neither contracting party will introduce additional taxes, or levies on the other, which means that even if they are introduced, we would have to negotiate about it“, Miljević explained.

The advantage should be given to the model that is fastest and simplest to implement, which is direct taxation

Another argument for negotiations is even stronger – the countries that are candidates for EU accession should not have the same treatment as some very distant states on other continents, he argued. Miljević also added that the region should focus on transferring the acquis from the EU, which they are obliged to, not the policies, where the situation is completely different.

„In the present situation, the only viable solution is to introduce some form of taxation of CO2 for the industry“, he said. In his opinion, this means the advantage should be given to the model that is fastest and simplest to implement, which is direct taxation, to eliminate the influence of CBAM on the export of industrial products from the region to the EU.

„It would be difficult to consider regional schemes, due to huge differences within the region. We already lost too much time on it. Each country should do it individually considering its own interest, not the interest of the energy sector, but the interest of the citizens and the economy and the consequences for them. This way, we will get some initial, however small assets, to start solving the core issue. We should also remember that the introduction of levies on CO2 is essential for the creation of any fund for coal regions in transition”, Miljević concluded.

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May 26, 2025
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Battery storage market in SEE emerging, Western Balkans lagging behind with positive prospects

The deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) across Southeast Europe is progressing at an uneven pace. State subsidies and financing mechanisms have enabled the rapid implementation of BESS solutions in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, while markets in the Western Balkans are lagging behind. However, the outlook remains positive, as experiences from neighboring markets and best practices from other parts of the European Union can help overcome initial challenges and streamline the deployment process. This was highlighted by participants of the panel dedicated to BESS at the Belgrade Energy Forum.

Among the technologies required for the energy transition, battery energy storage systems (BESS) stand out as a key factor for integrating electricity from intermittent renewable sources – wind and solar power – into the grid. There are few such facilities in Southeastern Europe and the segment is yet to even be fully regulated in the narrower Western Balkans region. The panelists at a session called Energy storage system market in SEE: trends and forecasts, at Belgrade Energy Forum (BEF 2025), outlined the trends in the budding market.

There are more and more cases of low and negative hourly prices in the wholesale electricity market in the region, providing a clear business case for BESS investments. In addition, the grid is often overloaded on weekends and holidays when solar and wind power production is high, given the weak demand.

Managing Director of Go2Power Consulting Goran Vukojević, who moderated the discussion, warned that negative prices may jeopardize system stability as well, if operators of power plants disconnect them from the grid at the same time, to avoid costs.

He highlighted the preparations in Serbia’s transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije (EMS) for auctions for ancillary services and praised the company for transparency in regulating the competitive process. The other option for battery operators is to participate in the open market.

Managing Director of Go2Power Consulting Goran Vukojević moderated the panel discussion

Region seen with 9 GW of BESS operating power in 2030

Ioanna Barouni from Aurora Energy Research said a total of 40 GW of solar and wind power is expected to be online at the end of 2025 in the SEE region, comprising 12 countries, including Hungary. In 2030, the level is expected to reach 70 GW, which is expected to be doubled to 145 GW by mid-century. As for BESS, projections stand at 9 GW in 2030 and 25 GW in 2050.

Barouni: We miss flexibility and ancillary services for transmission and distribution system operators

The countries of the region are retiring power plants that use fossil fuels, a firm capacity, in Barouni’s words, while adding renewables. “It’s not very easy to predict how the generation profile is going to be during the day, so we miss flexibility and we miss ancillary services for TSOs and DSOs,” she said.

The gap between power prices for midday and the evening is gradually increasing. Barouni explained that batteries “create some artificial demand and absorb these low prices.” At peak demand and with less renewables, a battery can replace expensive fossil fuels, lowering the price.

Ioanna Barouni from Aurora Energy Research (pictured left) and Head of Specialized Lending at UniCredit Bank Serbia Svetlana Cerović

Serbia preparing auctions for ancillary services

Division Manager of transmission system operator (TSO) EMS Nikola Tošić acknowledged that Serbia is preparing auctions for ancillary services. He revealed that there would probably be one auction for 70% of the needed reserve in the first year. The next rounds would be more frequent, shifting toward daily auctions for balancing capacity.

In the verification process, EMS’s System Operation Department will first test the battery, Tošić added. State-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) already provides ancillary services to the TSO, so it won’t require tests, he asserted.

Serbian law defines ancillary services the same as European Union does

EMS drafted the new grid code, and it will publish the draft balancing market code for public discussion soon, according to Tošić. He said the domestic law defines ancillary services in the same way as the EU defines them in its legislation. One part is balancing services: frequency containment reserve (FCR, primary), automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR, secondary) and manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR, tertiary). The other part are non-frequency services – energy.

“We think that it would be good to incentivize the periods of the year or periods of day when the needed amount of reserve is more attractive or more in demand,” Tošić said.

Market Division Manager of EMS Nikola Tošić

Fortis Energy moving ahead with battery investments regardless of government support schemes

Fortis Energy’s Chief Executive Officer for Eastern Europe Nikola Oklobdžija considers the lack of regulation to be the biggest challenge for developers. An investor can currently only focus on charging the batteries when the prices are low and sell when they are high, he underscored.

The Turkey-based company develops photovoltaic, wind power and BESS projects in the region. The first bigger investments in renewable electricity plants with energy storage are the ones that will break the ice, in Oklobdžija’s opinion.

“Of course, it helps if you have a CfD contract, so the banks will look at it more favorably,” he stated. Oklobdžija added that companies need to be able to present revenue to the lenders and what the fees are for renting the capacity or providing different services.

Bankability depends on state support and PPA contracts, cash flow models and insurance

In the meantime, Fortis is examining the experiences in Bulgaria and Greece, which have already held auctions for standalone batteries. Financing a project is easier with a CfD – contract for difference, but the company is determined to push ahead anyway, Oklobdžija stressed.

In North Macedonia it commissioned a solar power plant in Oslomej and recently contracted a BESS to be added to the facility. Oklobdžija said it wasn’t a requirement but that Fortis opted for energy storage because of market pressure with prices and occasional curtailments, like during Easter last month.

The introduction of ancillary services would facilitate the development for standalone battery systems, he explained.

Fortis Energy’s CEO for Eastern Europe Nikola Oklobdžija

Cerović: First there will be more projects for colocated BESS units than for standalone facilities

Head of Specialized Lending at UniCredit Bank Serbia Svetlana Cerović highlighted the intensive activity in Germany and Italy, for instance, but also in neighboring Romania. UniCredit is present in those markets and is analyzing the development of the battery storage market, she pointed out, arguing that the best practices in the EU are the best way for building and financing battery storage.

Cerović said there would first be more projects in the region for BESS colocated with renewable energy plants than standalone units.

She suggested that the proposed investments that include storage should be better pondered at the next renewable energy auction in Serbia. It is in the country’s interest to enable providing flexibility and to support the projects, she said.

There may be a rationale for subsidizing prosumers to add storage in Serbia, Cerović said. Turning to small-scale projects, she expressed the belief that power purchase agreements (PPAs) are “convenient” for them. She is recommending dedicating a certain capacity for the category at the next auction in the country.

The first projects in Serbia, conditioned by energy storage requirements for a grid connection, are in the process of negotiating financing, according to Cerović.

Fire protection is especially significant for insurers

Renewable Energy Insurance Broker (REIB) has insured some 4 GWh of energy storage capacity in Bulgaria and just as much elsewhere in the world, Business Development Manager Dimitar Dimitrov said. Developers should contact insurance companies when the design is done, as well as for cargo insurance, he suggested and added it is particularly important for projects that get subsidies.

“We’re not only insurance brokers, but we’re also investors, which helps us understand a bit more about the clients’ needs, and what we can definitely do more in cases of coverage. Understanding clients’ needs helps us also prevent risks that could occur during certain stages,” Dimitrov stated.

Most insurers prefer at least a six-meter distance between containers or rows of three to four containers holding batteries, he said. It is the most important factor in fire protection, in Dimitrov’s opinion. When the distance is shorter than three meters, a firewall is required for insurance, he explained.

REIB’s Business Development Manager Dimitar Dimitrov

The next segment is construction insurance. For insurance companies, it is not a higher risk profile, Dimitrov asserted. Next, he recommended operational risk insurance including coverage for business disruption, and insurance against cyberattacks. In such events, the grid connection can be damaged, the company’s representative pointed out. “Insurance policies are definitely bankable,” he added.

Bulgaria has completed its tenders for state support to BESS combined with renewable energy plants, and for standalone units. But even before subsidies, batteries have been delivered and facilities are under construction, Dimitrov stressed. Many photovoltaic projects in Bulgaria have emerged in the past few months and most of them include BESS, he said.

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May 26, 2025
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BEF 2025: Corporates’ education, product diversification crucial to speed-up PPA uptake

Capacity building and education for corporates, together with product diversification and an upgrade of the regulatory framework, could clear the obstacles for power purchase agreements in the Western Balkans, which are lagging behind the other countries in Southeast Europe. In addition to their other benefits, such contracts could contribute to securing baseload energy from hybrid facilities, given that baseload is a key issue for the decarbonization of the region, according to the participants of a panel on power purchase agreements, held at Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 (BEF 2025).

BEF 2025 has gathered four hundred participants from more than 30 countries in the region, Europe, and beyond.

The panel PPAs as a key to renewable energy growth in SEE featured stakeholders from all segments of the PPA market: developers, corporates, utilities and consultants. The discussion comprised five segments – the global trends, main drivers, the region’s specifics, challenges and trends, and the implications of the model.

The panel’s moderator was Mislav Slade-Šilović, Energy, Utilities & Resources Consulting Leader for Southeast Europe and member of the core PPA team at the consultancy PwC.

Global trends: PPAs are hot, but the solar capture rate is becoming an issue

Mislav Slade-Šilović, Joffroy Beckers and Nikola Gazdov

According to Natalija Ljubić, Manager of PPA & BESS Transactions at Pexapark, PPAs are still hot in Europe. On a monthly basis, between 500 MW and 2,000 MW of new PPAs are signed (15 to 30 deals). She referred to long-term, fixed-price PPAs considered bankable and publicly announced. There is much more together with short-term PPAs, for two to three years.

There is an impression that everything comes down to corporate PPAs, but there are many utility PPAs that aren’t always made public, she added.

The majority are physical PPAs but Pexapark is registering more and more financial PPAs. In 2025, almost 20% of all the announced PPAs were financial, whereas a couple of years ago, they made up 5% to 10%. There are more pay-as-produced contracts than the monthly ones for baseload energy.

Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) added that 70% of PPAs in SEE are virtual or financial.

It’s quite challenging in the region to find a creditworthy counterparty on the consumer side

For developer Joffroy Beckers, Head of PPA at DRI, it’s quite challenging to find a creditworthy counterparty on the consumer side of the market in the region comprising Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. So when the firm wants to speed things up with selling its electricity, it goes to utilities or traders.

Negative prices are emerging in the region, with much more cannibalization for solar in the long term, he added.

According to Bulgaria’s Association for Production, Storage, and Trading of Electricity – APSTE, the situation in the region is different than five years ago. “There were zero PPAs in the region, but now they start to get common. Paradoxically, the conditions start getting much more and more complex,” chairman Nikola Gazdov said.

Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) pointed to the decline in the solar capture rate – the ratio of the price of solar power and wholesale price. It is spilling over to the PPA price and increasing its complexity, and solar PPAs are generally more complex than the ones for wind power, he added.

Main drivers: Different priorities ask for different PPA models

Natalija Ljubić, Ivana Đurović and Davor Pupovac

For Ivana Đurović, Category Manager Renewable Energy at Knauf Group, PPAs are a game changer in energy procurement because essentially it’s no longer just about buying energy or hedging. “Now corporate PPAs bring the long-term deal, so they even extend the tenure for those hedging, and they also allow us to achieve our sustainability targets,” she explained.

PPAs aren’t for companies with consumption below 30 GWh or 40 GWh per year, while branding and cost savings are often the reasons for companies to sign them.

Such factors determine the PPA product that the offtaker opts for, Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) stressed.

According to Nikola Gazdov (APSTE), in the region comprising Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, PPAs are usually signed by corporates that have some ESG commitments or want to show their clients and customers that they are thinking green.

The key feature of a PPA is the partnership between two companies

As examples of the various kinds of deals, he mentioned a physical PPA with an electricity-intensive consumer, virtual PPA with a telecom and a PPA with a big international company producing tires, combining the two types.

As a developer, DRI is modifying its strategy toward a mixed portfolio. Instead offering a solar asset for a PPA, it adds wind power plants and combines different technologies into a single contract. “It allows us to capture a better price, and this is also usually more beneficial for the off-taker. The second thing is that we’re trying to keep this upside in our PPA by entering a floor price instead of a fixed price,” Joffroy Beckers (DRI) revealed.

For Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) the key characteristic of a PPA is the partnership between two companies. It needs to be balanced, to ensure that both parties can fulfill throughout the tenure. If one goes bankrupt, then it doesn’t make sense for both parties, he underlined.

The specifics in the region: Corporates need to learn, PPAs should be more diverse

Nikola Gazdov, Natalija Ljubić and Ivana Đurović

Serbia’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has been signing a lot of PPAs. However, the difference from the conventional deals is that they are based on premiums. But according to Davor Pupovac, head of the company’s market analysis and risk management, it is interested in corporate PPAs that don’t include government support. There is not much interest among consumers for corporate PPAs with EPS, he revealed.

Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) said the role of EPS and big power utilities is very important in developing the PPA market. A dominant supplier in a market has a critical role, either as a sleever or as someone that will provide B2B products to off-takers and developers or producers for entering the market, he said.

Joffroy Beckers (DRI) agreed with him about the role of big utilities in facilitating PPAs and expressed the belief that in the near future, they would get a larger share as intermediaries.

Asked if corporate PPAs are coming anytime soon in Serbia, Davor Pupovac (EPS) said: “Not so soon.” However, he claimed EPS wouldn’t lose consumers regardless of the fact that it has no such product.

Corporates aren’t super ready for PPAs because they are seeking stability when it comes to the energy price

In Ivana Đurović’s (Knauf) view, there are several reasons for the slow uptake of corporate PPAs in the Western Balkans. Corporate buyers aren’t super ready for PPAs because they are seeking stability when it comes to the energy price, but the pay-as-produced PPA model is dominant in the market, which doesn’t ensure price stability. Monthly baseload deals would enable more price stability.

A bigger offtake through PPAs requires corporates to build their capacity for closing such deals and for the offer to be more diverse, she stressed.

Natalija Ljubić (Pexapark) agreed with her and suggested that companies need to understand more about the risks and accounting. Also, not many corporates are willing to enter five- to ten-year agreements as they don’t know their demand or costs that far ahead, Ljubić underlined.

Challenges, risks: Management boards are delving into energy-related topics in detail

Ivana Đurović and Davor Pupovac

Creditworthiness is one of the key challenges, Joffroy Beckers (DRI) said. As he sees it, credit insurance could be key, providing a kind of a state guarantee. Nikola Gazdov (APSTE) again stressed education. He also recalled that all European countries needed time to get along with PPAs.

“But coming to credit risk, I think that now we also see the European Commission taking note of the situation,” Gazdov noted.

As for education, Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) said it requires one to two years. Management boards of companies from different industries on the offtake side are forced to delve into energy-related topics in detail, he noted.

There are practically no obstacles for PPAs in Serbia

Slade-Šilović asked EPS’s representative whether the utility is prepared to offer B2B products, arguing that they go hand-in-hand with PPA market development.

Davor Pupovac (EPS) responded that there are practically no obstacles to PPAs in Serbia. Namely, there is an electricity exchange, EPS is willing to sign contracts with developers for sleeving or balancing, the guarantees of origin (GO) system is in place, and EPS is active on power exchanges in the region as a producer and supplier.

“EPS could also offer a route to market to the off-taker. However, currently, it cannot offer access to the spot or forward market,” he explained.

Coming from a corporate electricity consumer, Ivana Đurović (Knauf) was curious what EPS could offer to a perfect corporate off-taker asking for a physical PPA. Pupovac answered that currently it would be a pay-as-produced deal.

What does the implementation bring us: hybrid combinations open the room for innovative deals

Joffroy Beckers, Nikola Gazdov and Natalija Ljubić

Mislav-Slade Šilović (PwC) summarized the landscape. “If you look at the broader EU situation and challenges, especially with solar capture rates, negative prices, we are now already discussing technology advanced structures including batteries and other hybrid solutions on the PPA side,” he underlined.

Natalija Ljubić (Pexapark) pointed out that last month in Germany the solar capture rate was just 40%, calling it almost unbearable for photovoltaic projects. All developers or energy producers, especially in the solar power sphere, are seriously considering adding batteries, while projects for standalone battery storage facilities are appearing, in her words.

She and Nikola Gazdov (APSTE) agreed that the outcome is a lot of interesting innovative structures, room for different solutions.

BESS with solar reduces cannibalization and increases capture rates

Ljubić said it is a challenge to maximize revenues from a battery system and make it bankable. Gazdov pointed to the dilemmas of a single company owning different assets versus a big utility combining and aggregating everything, and whether the producers or optimizers manage the revenue streams.

When it comes to standalone storage units, he sees a perspective only in arbitrage and, perhaps, system services further down the road.

Joffroy Beckers (DRI) explained the main purpose of a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Romania, from the point of view of a developer and power producer. A BESS combined with solar power reduces cannibalization and increases capture rate, whereas wind lowers the balancing cost, he stressed.

“If you co-locate a battery next to solar, you will be in a position to negotiate a higher price on the off-take side,” he pointed out.

A combination of wind, solar and batteries is equivalent to a new power plant

In the future, he anticipates more PPAs with a pay-as-nominated structure rather than pay as produced, arguing that it enables more flexibility for monetizing batteries on different markets.

“With those combinations of wind, solar, and battery, basically you have a new power plant, baseload structure,” Mislav Slade-Šilović (PwC) stated.

That way PPAs fit into the broader discussion on the energy transition and decarbonization. EPS is decarbonizing its production through its role as a renewable energy offtaker.

“Hybrid combinations are partly addressing the baseload needs. So, many different technologies, including storage, can provide a part of the answer this region heavily needs, and this is the baseload substitution problem,” Slade-Šilović concluded.

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May 26, 2025
by in News

BEF 2025: Technologies for energy transition are here, getting cheaper every day

Technologies for the energy transition already exist, and their use is increasing thanks to falling costs. Investors and bankers claim they are ready to invest and that money isn’t an issue. The missing part are upgraded transmission grids, along with policies and regulations to integrate everything into a suitable environment, according to investors and lenders gathered at Belgrade Energy Forum 2025.

The third Belgrade Energy Forum, BEF 2025, welcomed four hundred participants from more than 30 countries from the region, Europe, and beyond. The two-day conference was organized by Balkan Green Energy News.

Participants in the panel Energy revolution underway – uniting efforts to deliver green, intelligent, and sustainable energy solutions were Maja Turković, Senior Vice President of CWP Europe, Aleš Prešern, Vice President and Head of Southeast Europe of Siemens Energy, and Christian Beynio, Head of Advisory of Kommunalkredit Austria AG.

According to panel moderator Mirza Kušljugić, a member of the Board of the Regional Center for Sustainable Energy Transition (RESET) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the energy transition is actually a revolution, given the technological changes.

“The region is still burdened by tradition. We know the transition is inevitable, but we aren’t fully aware that it will be disruptive,” Kušljugić stated.

Technology is here, and so is financing

Mirza Kušljugić, Aleš Prešern and Maja Turković (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

Maja Turković, Senior Vice President of CWP Europe, stressed that technology, currently undergoing a revolution, is the best card the world has in the transition. She even suggested that financing isn’t a problem and that there are more financial resources available than projects qualified to receive funding.

However, she is surprised by the rapid growth in solar power installations. Turković argued that market-based projects cannot achieve double-digit internal rates of return on equity. Part of the explanation may lie in the fact that panel prices have dropped by 60% over two years.

Battery prices have also fallen. The largest drop was last year, 40%, with a further 5% decline this year alone, according to Turković. Prices have slipped below EUR 100,000 per MWh.

Turković: Regarding CAPEX and technology, we’re ready

The latest trend is the integration of batteries with solar power plants. While transmission system operators in the region still don’t allow it, in some countries a grid connection approved for solar can also be used for batteries. “Regarding CAPEX and technology, we’re ready,” Turković underlined.

Aleš Prešern, Vice President and Head of Southeast Europe in Siemens Energy, is particularly impressed with the speed of change.

“We who are working in the energy sector are used to very slow changes. Energy was a conservative industry. In 2004, 1 GW of solar was built, but now data shows that it is how much is installed in one day. Batteries cost EUR 1 million per MWh not that long ago, and now they are ten times cheaper,” he noted.

Prešern: Transmission networks are the bottleneck of the transition

They are indeed dramatic changes, for which the existing power system wasn’t prepared. It is clear why Siemens Energy, as a technology company, considers transmission networks to be the bottleneck in the transition, Prešern said.

To illustrate the slowness of grid investments, he pointed to Austria, as one of the examples, where it took 10 years to build one important segment of the 400 kV network.

Both Turković and Prešern agree that nowadays the keyword is flexibility.

Maja Turković and Christian Beynio (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

She explained there are operating battery management systems at low voltage levels that incorporate artificial intelligence and use market signals for activation when prices are low.

Prešern added that the required stability through balancing could be provided by gas power plants. Siemens Energy has never seen such high demand for gas turbines like today, he asserted.

Beynio: Don’t forget the non-banking institutions when looking in new financing

“If you ask about availability of financing, yes, it’s there,” Christian Beynio, Head of Advisory at Kommunalkredit Austria AG, confirmed. In his view, prices or, rather, the drop in prices of equipment, is the biggest innovation. Earlier, he said, it was a completely different game, heavily subsidized, while nowadays no subsidies are required per se.

The trend that Kommunalkredit Austria AG identified is the pooling of smaller assets, and a shift from financing projects toward financing developers and companies as corporates. It is yet to come to the region, he added.

Investment in grids, in his words, has to be initiated by the government. They have two solutions – go to the sovereign debt market or engage private investors. “Don’t forget the non-banking institutions when looking for new financing. This is a trend across Europe, and it will be relevant for the Balkans,” Beynio advised.

Battery projects won’t go so smoothly

Aleš Prešern (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

Maja Turković expressed the belief that installing batteries won’t go as smoothly as solar. The main reason is the difficulty of securing a stable cash flow for batteries, unlike for production facilities. Cash flow enables financing, so batteries will likely need to be financed with internal funds, she underlined.

Turković noted that batteries are best monetized by providing system services and arbitrage, but pointed out they can also participate in capacity mechanisms, a scheme that could involve power purchase agreements (PPAs).

She said the development of the regulatory framework should be faster, to facilitate investments in batteries. Investors are ready to commit their funds to battery installation, and everyone in the market agrees that batteries are essential, Turković stressed.

Prešern: People and not technology are a guarantee that networks will exist and function properly

Amid the widespread discussions about technology and regulations, Aleš Prešern highlighted another issue. Energy, in his opinion, has always been an exciting sector, but the message hasn’t been getting through to young people in recent years. It was the case not only in the region but also in Europe, and beyond, leading to a shortage of skilled personnel.

However, he expressed the belief that things are changing and enthusiasm is returning. Prešern even suggested it could be a major advantage for the region, well known for its high-quality engineers.

Siemens Energy strives to employ as many good engineers as possible because, ultimately, people and not technology are a guarantee that networks will exist and function properly, he stressed.

The solution is also in using new technologies to better utilize existing grids

Christian Beynio (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)

The combination of rapid changes in the energy sector and slow investments in the grids threatens to put the transition to a standstill.

Better utilization of existing infrastructure could be the solution. Siemens Energy fits well there, as several years ago it established a division called Digital Grid. According to Prešern, the idea was to be quicker in data utilization, something that other sectors like automotive have long advanced, while energy has lagged.

The company recently acquired a Slovenian-Austrian firm that produces sensors installed directly on power lines, a technology called dynamic line rating. The devices provide real-time data about the conditions in power lines, potentially enabling their use beyond original design limits.

“With this technology, we believe we can increase the capacity of existing networks by an average of 30%,” Prešern revealed.

New technologies have changed bankers’ jobs as well

New technologies have changed bankers’ jobs as well, Christian Beynio admitted. He recalled that it was easy to finance wind farms in Serbia because they had feed-in tariffs from the government. The only risk element was the wind blowing or not blowing, Beynio said.

Nowadays there are merchant power producers that combine their facilities with batteries and use algorithms in electricity trading, he added. It means bankers need to sit with market consultants to identify all outcomes, he stressed.

“You won’t find singular cash flow streams. It’s going to be multi-dimensional and people simply need to adjust. It’s going to be more short term also on the lending side. It’s rather going to be corporate lending to people and companies who know what they are doing and can credibly demonstrate that with a track record. That is the digitalization impact we see”, Beynio said.

Maja Turković (photo: Balkan Green Energy News)
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May 26, 2025
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Greece’s DEPA joins forces with Clavenia to build 792 MW gas power plant

A Greek-Israeli consortium has signed an agreement to build a 792 MW gas power plant in Larissa, Greece, in an investment valued at EUR 600 million. The facility will use an advanced combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technology, enabling a net thermal efficiency of 62.6%.

The proposed gas power plant is expected to be the most efficient CCGT facility in the country. It will utilize Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ advanced technology, specifically M 701JAC, according to a statement by Greek state-controlled gas supplier and trader DEPA Commercial, one of the partners in the consortium.

The Larissa plant is expected to be the most efficient CCGT facility in Greece

The project is led by Clavenia, registered in Cyprus but with Israeli ownership. It has a 38.5% stake. The other three stakeholders are based in Greece – DEPA Commercial, with 35%, energy investment fund EUSIF Larissa, with 16.5%, and local retail electricity supplier Volton, with 10%.

A final investment decision is expected by the end of 2025, and construction would begin in early 2026. All required permits have already been secured. DEPA revealed it would be responsible for the commercial supply of natural gas for the operation of the plant.

The project could be expanded to include a data center, energy storage, and hydrogen

Clavenia plans to expand the project by developing a broader energy hub in the region, including battery storage facilities, a data center, and potentially hydrogen production and carbon capture technologies, according to Energypress.

Nissan Caspi, managing partner at Clavenia, described the Larissa project as the first phase of a broader plan, incorporating innovative Israeli technologies, such as hydrogen storage, green methanol production, and lithium ion batteries.

DEPA is already building a CCGT plant in Greece of 840 MW

DEPA, in partnership with state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC), is building an 840 MW gas power plant in Greece using CCGT technology. It is also involved in a project for a gas-fired power plant in Albania, together with Greece-based GEK Terna and Albanian firm Gener 2.

The company owns 20% of the Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal and 25% of ICGB, which operates the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) gas pipeline.

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May 26, 2025
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Representatives of Western Balkan DSOs take part in Global Outage Management Forum in Berlin

Representatives of distribution system operators (DSOs) from Albania, Kosovo*, and Montenegro, partners in the GIZ project Green Agenda – Decarbonization of the Electricity Sector in the Western Balkans, took an active part in the 10th Annual Global Outage Management Forum for DSOs, held in Berlin. The event brought together DSOs, experts, and innovators to address the pressing challenges of ensuring grid stability while navigating regulatory, technological, and environmental transformations.

The two-day event featured engaging discussions on a wide range of critical topics related to outage management and the future of electricity distribution. One key issue was the integration of electricity generated by prosumers into the low-voltage grid. Participants explored innovative methods for managing outages more efficiently and enhancing the overall resilience of the grid.

The forum also addressed the evolution of electricity distribution networks and their importance in ensuring supply security, especially given the increasing demand and the rise of distributed generation. Another significant topic was the implementation of Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS).

Discussions covered the transition toward automated fault management and the development of digital substations. Additionally, participants examined how environmental factors, such as changes in groundwater levels, can impact the reliability of medium-voltage networks.

Workshop on DSO Roadmaps

The project partners also took part in a half-day workshop focusing on the topic of DSO Roadmaps. The purpose of a DSO Roadmap is to outline the strategic direction and actions required to modernize the distribution network, integrate renewable energy sources, enhance grid reliability, and support the overall energy transition in the Western Balkans. It aims to provide a clear pathway for DSOs to adapt to changing energy landscapes, regulatory requirements, and technological advancements.

Photo: GIZ

“We used the workshop in Berlin with the DSO representatives to introduce State of the Art on DSO-Roadmapping and sound primary results for Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro, which were mainly based on a pre-assessment of items based on the ETI of the World Economic Forum, which we used as a Strategic Reference Framework”, said Dr. Marcus Merkel, Senior Strategy Manager at EWE AG.

“Furthermore, we introduced a PESTEL-Methodology to jointly identify further items, which we are now transferring together with more than 500 items identified in the reports of the Energy Community, IEA, ACER, DSO Entity (DSO Vision), EDSO for Smart Grids (Technology Radar) and results from our Questionnaire as well as other Best Practices in the final Draft of the DSO Roadmap. We will present preliminary results and an implementation proposal towards the Energy Community in June and further sound the results with DSOs by July 2025,” he added.

Photo: GIZ

Rodon Miraj, Energy Advisor at GIZ, emphasized the vital role of distribution system operators in driving the energy transition at the local level. He noted that the capillary grid managed by DSOs represents the first line of distributed decarbonization efforts, enabling end-consumers to participate through technologies like prosumption and battery storage.

Miraj highlighted the responsibility of DSOs in the Western Balkans for creating the necessary technical and administrative conditions for these innovations to take root quickly.

“GIZ’s Decarbonization Project is supporting all distributors of the region to plan and have a clear roadmap towards established and new goals for 2030 and beyond. DSO roadmaps can be the missing link that connects the high-level Vision, Mission, and Target set by DSOs to the immediate implementation and budgeting efforts,” he said.

He described the Berlin workshop and participation in the Global Forum as a valuable opportunity for Western Balkan DSOs to collaborate on roadmap development and engage directly with leading industry experts.

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May 26, 2025
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Slovenia keeps phasing out coal as key heating plant boosts natural gas share to 60%

TE-TOL, the main district heating provider in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, has taken over a newly built gas-steam unit, reducing the share of coal in heat generation to 20% and marking another step toward a complete coal phaseout in the country.

Slovenia’s official deadline for abandoning coal is 2033, although there are indications it might happen much sooner. In a step seen as the beginning of the country’s coal phaseout, the Government of Slovenia decided in December to provide EUR 403 million to save the Šoštanj coal power plant and coal mine Velenje from bankruptcy, announcing it would take over both entities from state-owned power utility Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE).

Over the weekend, Srečko Trunkelj, deputy CEO of Energetika Ljubljana, a state-controlled energy company that operates TE-TOL, explained that heat production at the plant was previously based on 65% coal, 19% natural gas, and 16% wood biomass. “This structure has changed significantly, as we now use 20% coal, 60% natural gas, and 20% wood biomass,” Trunkelj said at a conference on Sunday, the Naš stik magazine reported.

The share of coal in heat production at TE-TOL has now dropped from 65% to 20%

Last week, the Greek contractor handed over the management of the new gas-steam unit to TE-TOL. “The […] plant is now under our management, with a three-year warranty period,” Energetika Ljubljana explained.

The new unit, called PPE-TOL, comprises two gas turbines, each with a nominal electrical power of 57 MW, and one steam turbine with 42 MW of nominal power. Officially, the facilities are still in a trial operation period until the company obtains a use permit. The new gas-steam unit is expected to begin regular operation in the coming heating season.

The new unit will also boost TE-TOL’s electricity output

The new unit will also enable TE-TOL to boost its electricity generation, making it the third-largest power producer in the country. It will provide around 8% of the country’s total electricity supply, Energetika CEO Samo Lozej said earlier. Its output should be enough to supply 600,000 households.

Energetika Ljubljana operates the largest district heating network in Slovenia, supplying heat to about 60,000 homes, and is also a major player in the natural gas retail market, according to Slovenian media.

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May 26, 2025
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BEF 2025: Regional cooperation can facilitate energy transition, energy security

Montenegro, Serbia, and the Republic of Srpska don’t have a problem attracting investments in electricity production, but they do have issues when it comes to investments in transmission networks. If the introduction of CBAM is not postponed, it will greatly burden their economies. Hungary is interested in strengthening energy ties with them as well as the rest of the Western Balkans, which would bolster energy security for the whole region. Croatia could also assist it in strengthening employment in the green technologies sector, to counter the loss of jobs due to decarbonization. These are the main messages from the High-ministerial panel on SEE regional cooperation and energy transition strategies.

The ministerial panel was the first of eight at this year’s Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 (BEF 2025). The conference, organized by Balkan Green Energy News, welcomed four hundred participants from more than 30 countries from the region, Europe, and beyond.

The panel featured representatives of the governments of Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Srpska – one of the two political entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Serbia, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The moderator of the panel was Dirk Buschle, who until recently was a key figure in the Energy Community Secretariat, and now is a partner at law firm Becker Büttner Held.

He noted it is a mistake to say that the contracting parties of the Energy Community are lagging behind EU countries in the energy transition. They all face the same issues, which are energy accessibility, supply security, and sustainability, Buschle added.

Additional proof, in his words, are the similar issues faced by investors – in grid connections and permitting.

Investments in production are coming, the issues are grids, CBAM

Dirk Buschle, Petar Đokić and Admir Šahmanović

According to Minister of Energy and Mining of the Republic of Srpska Petar Đokić, the entity has made significant progress in defining a regulatory framework that aligns with the rules of the Energy Community and the European Union.

He noted that with the help of the Energy Community Secretariat, the two entities of BiH recently reached an agreement on adopting a law on the electricity regulator, transmission, and market. It is one of the cornerstones for establishing an organized electricity market.

The Republic of Srpska was successful in attracting investments in green energy in recent years, Đokić added. It established concessions and partnerships for the construction of 2,200 MW of renewable energy power plants – wind, solar, and hydropower.

However, large investments in transmission networks are also necessary, he pointed out and said he expects assistance from the European Union’s financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as the World Bank.

Đokić: CBAM to hit hard BiH’s economy

The minister called on them to set up such partnerships.

Regarding the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), he said that measures have been taken to change the domestic energy mix. Until recently, the share of fossil fuels was 62%, but it has now dropped to 54%, he recalled.

By 2028, the Republic of Srpska will have two new hydropower plants, of 159 MW and 36 MW, and new solar power plants with a total capacity of 250 MW, the minister asserted. It would additionally green the energy mix, Đokić said.

CBAM, in his words, could harm the economy of the Republic of Srpska and BiH.

If it is applied the way it is apparently envisaged, it would result in a significant increase in costs, with a severe negative impact, he underlined. Đoković expressed hope that the rollout would be separately discussed in the case of BiH.

Šahmanović: Montenegro is finishing its NECP

Montenegro also enjoys great interest from investors. It has received applications for building solar power plants and wind farms with a total capacity of 5.5 GW, said Admir Šahmanović, Minister of Energy and Mining.

The country’s current capacity is slightly over 1 GW.

It is, in his words, the result of improving the regulatory framework including the adoption of laws on renewable energy sources and energy. However, investment in the transmission grid is also necessary. The government plans to discuss with Italy the possibility of installing another subsea cable for electricity transmission, while the national energy and climate plan (NECP) will be completed by the end of next month, the minister revealed.

Montenegro is requesting a postponement of CBAM until 2030

In addition, renewable energy auctions are being prepared with the EBRD, and a memorandum on market coupling with Italy will be signed, he added.

As for CBAM, the minister stressed that Montenegro doesn’t believe the EU wants to harm its economy, but argued that the country isn’t ready for the mechanism’s implementation.

“Perhaps we are now in a situation similar to where our EU partners were 20 years ago. So, we need to invest a lot in our production capacities, grid, storage. It will take years, so if we don’t receive an exemption by 2030, I believe we won’t be able to handle this challenge,” Šahmanović stressed.

Secure supply of the national market is the highest priority

Boglárka Illés, Admir Šahmanović and Jovana Joksimović

Jovana Joksimović, Serbian assistant minister of mining and energy for international cooperation, European integration, and project management, expressed the opinion that the energy transition is a long and intensive process, technically, operationally, and financially.

Since October 2022, renewable energy in the energy mix has increased by 83%, which demonstrates the progress of the energy transition in Serbia, Joksimović asserted.

“We need to be realistic, as well as socially aware, because a fair and sustainable transition is something that should be carefully considered when changing the energy mix, where coal accounts for 60%,” she noted.

Joksimović: The priority is to ensure a sufficient supply of electricity at the most affordable prices for citizens and the economy

It is necessary, in her words, to be ambitious and dedicated to the energy transition goals, but she is convinced that there is a higher objective.

At the country level, it is to ensure enough electricity at the most affordable prices for both citizens and the economy, she underlined. “That’s what our top priority is,” Joksimović underscored.

Guided by the said goal, Serbia is also considering the use of nuclear energy and a study on possible options is currently being prepared.

Boglárka Illés, State Secretary for Bilateral Relations at Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also stressed that the government’s primary duty is to ensure not only climate neutrality and sustainable energy but also affordable energy with a stable supply for households and businesses.

She pointed out that diversifying energy imports and the energy mix plays a key role in securing energy sovereignty. It is the reason why cooperation with the Western Balkans, and especially Serbia, is important to Hungary, Illés asserted.

Illés: Europe’s energy security has been demolished

A few days before, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the EU has abandoned a successful economic strategy, based on cheap Russian gas and advanced German technology.

“And now we don’t see any other strategy within the EU,” she stated.

Due to ideologically driven sanctions against Russia, and the European Green Deal, the energy security of Europe is demolished, in Illés’s opinion. The region is located at the intersection of essential energy routes, connecting the East and the West, and also South and North, she underlined.

“We, as an EU member country, can act as a bridge between non-EU member countries and also the EU,” the state secretary stressed.

As an example of good cooperation with Serbia, she highlighted the supply of gas through the TurkStream pipeline and the Pannonian Corridor project for doubling the capacity for power exchange between the two countries.

The energy transition is an opportunity

Jovana Joksimović, Marija Pujo Tadić and Dario Liguti

In one respect, Marija Pujo Tadić, Special Envoy for Climate Action from the Government of Croatia, doesn’t share the opinion of the Hungarian official. She argued it isn’t true that Europe lacks a plan.

The EU has a clear plan and a well-defined strategy – it is the Clean Industrial Deal, she stressed.

She highlighted two important strategies relevant to the region: the Paris Agreement and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans.

As a member of the scientific advisory board for the COP 29 presidency, she recalled that this year a review of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) would be conducted. It is an assessment of how countries are meeting their plans for lowering CO2 emissions.

Pujo Tadić: Education and workforce specialization are essential

She underlined the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans also envisages reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, which is essentially the shared goal of the EU.

However, Pujo Tadić expressed the belief that policies and laws alone are not enough. Public education and workforce specialization are also necessary because the transition will create many new jobs, she added.

Croatia could be of great support to the Western Balkans, having launched such educational programs five years ago, according to Pujo Tadić.

The link between the energy transition and the creation of new jobs was also stressed by Dario Liguti, Director of Sustainable Energy at UNECE. In his view, the region has a huge opportunity to become part of the supply chains for green technologies by greening the domestic power generation and by leaning on the EU’s energy transition.

He sees the main factors for it in the region’s geographic proximity to the large European market, and the large, skilled workforce that can be educated for other tasks. Liguti drew a connection with the expected job loss from decarbonization measures and the related need for a just transition.

Liguti: There is great potential for energy efficiency in the region

Liguti praised the forthcoming investments in renewable energy production, but warned it is only one side of the story, arguing that the other one is energy efficiency. He reminded the audience that the region’s energy intensity is high, saying there is room for savings.

The installation of big solar plants and wind farms, in his words, is great because it’s very visible.

“It’s a great investment and makes a lot of sense. The harder part is making energy efficiency investments, whether in buildings or the industrial processes in large, small, or medium enterprises,” Liguti stated.

As an example, he recalled that UNECE is running a project with the EBRD in North Macedonia to support households and small and medium enterprises to lower the costs of liquid fuels and electricity.

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May 23, 2025
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Equinor resumes New York offshore wind project of 810 MW after stop-work order lifted

Norway’s Equinor is resuming construction on its Empire Wind project off the coast of New York after the federal authorities lifted a stop-work order issued in mid-April. The project’s first phase, the 810 MW Empire Wind 1, is expected to generate electricity equivalent to the needs of 500,000 homes in the US state.

The construction of Empire Wind 1, the first offshore wind project to feed directly into New York’s power grid, began on April 1. However, the United States Department of the Interior, through its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), ordered the work to stop on April 16, pending the completion of a review.

On May 20, Equinor said its subsidiary Empire Offshore Wind has been informed by BOEM that the stop-work order had been lifted, allowing construction activities to resume.

“We appreciate the fact that construction can now resume on Empire Wind, a project which underscores our commitment to deliver energy while supporting local economies and creating jobs,” stated Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor.

Commercial operation is planned for 2027

In a press release, the company majority-owned by the Government of Norway, explained that Empire Offshore Wind aims to be able to execute planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach its planned commercial operation date in 2027, adding that the project is currently more than 30% complete.

The project’s second phase is planned to have 1,260 MW in capacity.

Since the early 2000s, the company has invested about USD 60 billion in energy projects in the United States, mainly in oil and gas, and more recently in low-carbon solutions, critical minerals, and renewables, reads the press release.

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May 23, 2025
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Romania to commission offshore wind study, targeting 3 GW by 2035

The Ministry of Energy of Romania launched a public call for expressions of interest for a study identifying areas in the Black Sea for concession agreements for offshore wind farms. It encouraged consortia of international and domestic firms and research institutions to apply.

Romania is gradually developing the legal framework for the start of the first offshore wind power projects in domestic waters in the Black Sea. Qualified companies and research institutions can express interest in conducting the necessary Specialized Study for the Delimitation of Offshore Areas that Can Be Concessioned for the Exploration, Construction, and Operation of Offshore Wind Power Plants, the Ministry 0f Energy said.

The country adopted the relevant law last year, followed by a roadmap.

“The study we are preparing will form the basis of strategic decisions on the concession of offshore perimeters and will provide investors with a clear vision, scientifically substantiated and in line with international best practices,” Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja said. Interested entities can submit their expressions of interest by email by June 10.

Study to determine areas with offshore wind power potential of at least 800 MW each

The ministry said consortia of international and domestic firms are encouraged to apply. The World Bank estimated Romania’s wind power potential in the Black Sea at 76 GW.

The Energy Strategy 2025-2035 with a perspective until 2050 targets the first 3 GW by 2035, the announcement notes. Burduja said a year ago that the first facility could come online already in 2032.

Areas or perimeters will have a potential capacity of at least 800 MW each, according to the call. The study needs to establish the technical and strategic basis for the development of offshore wind farms in Romania’s Black Sea Exclusive Economic Zone.

Best practices, standardized methodology required

The task involves wind potential analysis, geotechnical and seabed studies, biodiversity and marine environment assessment and the connectivity to the national energy system. In the study, the selected contractor must include commercial navigation routes, fishing areas, existing submarine cables and pipelines, oil and gas exploration and production areas, military or national security zones and other
maritime uses and restrictions that may interfere with offshore wind development.

The work should be based on best practices and standardized methodology, the ministry pointed out. It said the offshore wind study implies collection and analysis of available metocean, geological, ecological, infrastructure and other data, use of GIS systems to overlay information layers (wind, depths, habitats and constraints), and modelling and calculations of estimated energy production.

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