August 13, 2025
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Bulgaria to add batteries of up to 10,000 MWh in capacity within months – ESO

Bulgaria’s Electricity System Operator has received applications for the connection of batteries with 12 GW in total capability, according to the transmission system operator’s Executive Director Angelin Tsachev.

Bulgaria currently has 500 MW in battery energy storage systems (BESS), with a capacity of 1,300 MWh. The facilities are in private ownership.

Angelin Tsachev told Bulgarian National Radio that the Electricity System Operator (ESO) received applications for about 12,000 MW, with a capacity of 35,000 MWh.

The TSO’s technical council has considered each grid connection request. The operator issued its opinions on the possibilities for enabling network access to the batteries when the conditions are met, Tsachev pointed out.

BESS can now cover about 1.5% of the country’s daily consumption

BESS can now cover about 1.5% of the country’s daily consumption, he revealed. However, in the coming months, batteries with a combined capacity of 7,000 MWh to 10,000 MWh are expected to be installed, the official added. They would be a serious factor, Tsachev stressed.

No state-owned or private conventional power plants are currently equipped with energy storage systems, he asserted.

After the balancing methodology was changed, commercial developers of projects for intermittent power plants became more disciplined, and now there are no concerns about the balancing of the system, Tsachev said. Electricity exports in the first seven months of this year were higher than in the same period of 2024. Net exports reached almost 230,000 MWh, Tsachev noted.

Good investment opportunity

According to an earlier analysis by Rystad Energy, the best potential profits in battery storage in Europe in 2013 were in Greece and Bulgaria. The country’s city of Lovech, northeast of Sofia, hosts the strongest BESS in the Balkans.

The Ministry of Energy of Bulgaria is reportedly working on a public call for EUR 120 million in state aid for investments in battery energy storage systems of 1.5 GWh overall. In April, it granted EUR 587 million to 82 battery storage projects.

The pace of large photovoltaic projects in Bulgaria indicates that total capacity can reach 6 GW by the middle of next year.

However, the Association for Production, Storage and Trading of Electricity (APSTE) warned that the government’s disproportionately high fees for solar panels and energy storage batteries are preventing the possibility of having permanently low electricity prices in Bulgaria.

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August 11, 2025
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North Macedonia raising capacity threshold for prosumers, speeding up permitting

North Macedonia has prepared legislative changes to increase the capacity threshold for prosumers and speed up rooftop solar permitting and grid connection.

Under the proposed amendments to the Law on Energy Efficiency, the capacity threshold for rooftop solar installations would be increased to 10 kilowatts (kW) for households and 70 kW for legal entities, according to a statement from the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources. The current threshold is 6 kW for households and 40 kW for firms.

The threshold should go up to 10 kW for homes and 70 kW for businesses

The amendments should also introduce a one-month deadline for the permitting procedure for installing solar equipment with a capacity of up to 100 kW. This includes prosumers and energy communities, according to a draft law on renewable energy use.

According to the North Macedonian office of law firm CMS, the country’s parliament has already introduced amendments to the rulebook on renewable energy sources, increasing the capacity thresholds for both household and business prosumers, among other things.

One-month deadlines are proposed for rooftop solar permitting and grid connection

The ministry noted that a legal deadline for issuing permits for rooftop photovoltaics for prosumers is being introduced for the first time.

The same deadline is being proposed for grid connection: the distribution system operator would be required to connect the installation to the grid within one month of officially confirming that the submitted documentation is complete.

According to the proposed amendments, if connection to the requested location is not possible, the operator is obliged, within 15 days from the date of submission of the connection request, to notify the applicant in writing and propose an alternative connection point.

Installing solar collectors for hot water in new public buildings will become mandatory

The proposed legislative changes will also make the installation of solar collectors for hot water mandatory in new public buildings, or in cases of significant reconstruction of existing ones, if technically and economically feasible.

Renewable energy sources account for more than half of North Macedonia’s total generation capacity, with over 616 MW of new renewables capacity installed in the past two years, DW reported, citing data from the country’s Energy, Water Services and Municipal Waste Management Services Regulatory Commission (ERC or RKE).

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May 11, 2025
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Serbia’s TSO EMS signs grid connection contracts for 11 renewable power plants

Serbia’s transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije signed grid connection contracts today for 11 renewable power plants.

TSO Elektromreža Srbije (EMS) noted that the contracts were signed after the second interval for the preparation of studies for the connection of power plants to the transmission grid. The total capacity of the facilities within the new deals is 2,052 MW, the company added.

They include four self-balancing solar power plants that state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) is developing with the consortium Hyundai Engineering – UGT Renewables under a strategic partnership. The contracts were signed by EMS CEO Jelena Matejić and EPS CEO Dušan Živković.

The grid connection contracts were signed for Salaš and Sikole (490 MW in combined capacity), Jablanica (421.5 MW), Bački Gračac (65.9 MW) and Srpska Kuća (27 MW). Their total approved connection capacity is 1,004.4 MW.

Two projects with grid connection contracts are for hybrid power plants

Five other projects on the list are also for photovoltaic plants: East One (49.5 MW), South Two (44 MW), Erdevik (74 MW), Solar Knjaževac (136 MW) and Palić (110 MW). Two are for energy parks – hybrid power plants combining wind and solar energy – Vida Power with 150 MW and Equinox with 277 MW.

Projects East One and South Two are developed by Hive Energy, Erdevik by Fortis and Solar Knjaževac by Central Europe Energy Company, owned by China’s GCL. CWP Europe is in charge for two hybrid power plants.

Of note, in October 2024, the Government of Serbia launched the strategic partnership with the consortium Hyundai Engineering – UGT Renewables, which was selected at a tender for the investment. It envisages solar power plants with a total connected power of 1,000 MW, or 1,200 MW in nominal terms, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) of 200 MW in overall capability and 400 MWh in capacity.

UGT Renewables CEO Adam Cortese told Balkan Green Energy News that the consortium’s strategic partnership with Serbia for the six photovoltaic facilities is worth EUR 1.6 billion.

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović said in January that the first works on the project are expected by early 2026.

EMS has two intervals per year for the preparation of grid connection studies

Every year EMS organizes two intervals for grid connection studies: from March 1 to June 30 and from September 1 to December 31. After the contract for the grid connection study is signed and the study is completed, investors must submit bank guarantees to sign the grid connection contract.

The grid connection contract that has been signed now is part of the interval initiated on September 1, 2024.  The contracts for the grid connection studies have been signed for 22 projects, and grid connection contracts have been signed for 11.

In the next interval that started on March 1, 2025, EMS has received eight applications, including two for batteries, the first such projects in Serbia.

In July of last year, EMS announced that September 1 would mark the start of the new interval for the preparation of studies for the connection of power plants and other facilities to the transmission grid.

In the previous interval, bank guarantees for solar, wind and hydropower projects and substations, within the transmission system in Serbia, were provided for 28 facilities with an overall capacity of 4,000 MW, according to EMS.

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April 30, 2025
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Investors in BiH developing 3,800 MW of wind, 12,500 MW of solar

Wind farms with a capacity of 3,800 MW and solar power plants with a capacity of 12,500 MW are currently in various stages of development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the indicative plan for the development of production  2026-2035, published by the Independent System Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The goal of the ten-year plan is to provide information on projects initiated for the construction of new production capacities to be connected to the transmission system, according to the transmission system operator (TSO), Independent System Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina (NOSBiH).

The plan is supposed to prioritize covering domestic consumption and capacity needs with domestic resources.

NOSBiH said investors continued in 2024 to apply with their renewable energy projects. The interest in grid connections wasn’t affected by the significant reduction in electricity purchase prices, especially for the hours when solar power plants typically produce, it added in the plan

A lack of transmission capacities could become an obstacle to the export of electricity

According to the register of the applications for grid connections, which Elektroprenos BiH manages, there are about 3,800 MW of proposed wind farms and 12,500 MW of photovoltaic facilities in various stages of development, NOSBiH underlined.

Results of an adequacy assessment showed that increasing production makes it possible to increase exports. BiH’s TSO warned that in such a scenario, the currently planned transmission capacity expansion wouldn’t be sufficient.

Another 100 MW of solar is seen coming online in BiH by the end of 2025

With the current production development plans, the system could be left without sufficient balancing capacities. NOSBiH therefore called for developing balancing capacities in parallel.

The document shows that four solar power plants of 206 MW in total were added last year to the transmission network in BiH: FNE Zvizdan (28.5 MW), SE Bileća (55 MW), FNE Hodovo (92.47 MW), and FNE Deling invest 1 (29.75 MW), together with one wind farm, VE Ivovik, of 84 MW. In February of this year, the Ivan Sedlo wind farm (25 MW) was also put online.

By the end of 2025, the start of trial operation of another five PV plants is expected, the plan showed. They would have 100 MW altogether: FNE Hodovo F1-F4 (11.96 MW), FNE Brotnjo (9.98 MW), FNE Polog 1-8 (7.99 MW), FNE Plavo Sunce 1-2 (40 MW) and FNE Livno 1-6 (27.6 MW).

Batteries can bridge the period until the transmission grid capacity becomes adequate

The plan anticipates a similar tempo of grid connections for 2026, too.

In that case, along with the integration of renewables into the distribution network and similar power plants coming online in neighboring countries, a congestion can appear in the transmission network, together with complications in operating the country’s transmission system from a regulatory point of view, NOSBiH said.

Battery energy storage systems can solve both potential issues in the medium term, until investments get the transmission grid to an adequate level, it suggested.

BiH needs battery capability of 225 MW and 450 MWh in total capacity

The company recalled that a year ago it produced a study, together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), provisionally called Operational Models for Battery Energy Storage Systems in the Balancing Market of NOS BiH.

They estimated the need for additional balancing based on hour-by-hour production profiles for facilities of 1,500 MW in total photovoltaic capacity and 1,000 MW of wind. The authors said a combined 225 MW in battery operating power is required and an overall capacity of 450 MWh.

The study also explored revenue generation opportunities for BESS, particularly through participation in the ancillary services market.

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April 6, 2025
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Qair signs grid connection agreement for solar project in Montenegro

Montenegro’s transmission system operator CGES and Qair Montenegro signed a contract for the connection of a 50 MW solar power plant.

An agreement on the construction of infrastructure for the Rudine photovoltaic project was signed by Ivan Asanović, CEO of CGES, and Stefan Klikovac, a representative of Qair Montenegro.

The EUR 40 million Rudine solar power plant will significantly contribute to the increase of the clean energy production and reduce harmful emissions, CGES said.

CGES has so far signed six contracts for the connection of solar and wind projects.

It is expected the project to be online until the end of 2028

Back in September 2024, France-based Qair and Montenegrin state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance the pace of renewable energy project development in Montenegro.

Right after signing a cooperation agreement with Montenegro’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), Qair requested from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is necessary for its Rudine facility.

CGES now said the solar power plant is expected to become operational by the end of 2028, when it would be connected to the transmission system. The connection point is the Vilusi substation.

Qair operates power plants with a capacity of 1,000 MW

Qair Montenegro is part of the Qair company, which has production capacities with an installed capacity of 1,000 MW. The French company has a portfolio with a total planned capacity of 34 GW across 20 countries in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, according to CGES.

On the occasion of the MoU signing with EPCG, CEO of Qair Louis Blanchard said the company is pleased to establish a partnership with EPCG, stressing it is a significant event for Qair in the Montenegrin market.

The signing of the contract with CGES was attended by Aleksa Knežević, head of the CGES CEO office, and investor representatives Magdalena Kolanowska, Krzysztof Wajtysiak and Miloš Jovanović.

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April 6, 2025
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Montenegro’s EPCG to install 200 MW of solar power plants

Power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore plans to install solar power plants with a total capacity of 200 MW over the next three years, CEO Ivan Bulatović announced.

State-owned power company Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) intends to start production at the Gvozd wind farm by the end of the year and connect photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of 200 MW to the grid over the next three years.

With small rooftop solar systems of an overall 70 MW already online, Montenegro is a leader in the region in the development of the prosumer concept, Bulatović claimed and added that by the end of the year the capacity would reach 100 MW.

He also pointed to the importance of the Kruševo hydropower project, which is being developed in cooperation with French partners. In December last year, EPCG signed a contract for project design. The company’s partner in the endeavor is EDF.

Montenegro’s grid is relatively well developed thanks to the investments made in former Yugoslavia

Bulatović underlined that the problem of insufficient development of the transmission system is not a case only in Montenegro, but in the entire region and Europe. Simply, the grid wasn’t prepared for the sudden introduction of renewable energy, according to him.

The utility’s chief recalled that investors in Montenegro have the opportunity in the country’s legal framework to build a grid connection themselves.

The Montenegrin network, as he emphasized, is relatively well developed thanks to investments from former Yugoslavia, Bulatović noted.

Everything is ready for the installation of the second line of the submarine electricity interconnection to Italy

Turning to the undersea interconnection with Italy, he said the second cable is expected to be laid as the required infrastructure has been built on both sides. The first link has 600 MW.

Another cable to Italy and the planned new interconnections are creating transmission capacities enabling Montenegro and the entire region a better connection with the European electricity market, according to Bulatović.

The construction of the Trans-Balkan Corridor is underway and interconnectors with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are in the pipeline, he stressed at the Trebinje Energy Summit.

The development of the transmission system will continue in line with the needs of investors and for electricity production, Bulatović asserted.

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