Serbia to introduce ancillary services market by end of next year

Serbia is planning to liberalize the ancillary services market for electricity by the end of next year. The move would create the conditions for energy storage operators and active buyers to offer their services on the market, according to the representatives of the Ministry of Mining and Energy and transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije (EMS).

The liberalization of the ancillary services market, introduction of the active buyer status and licensing energy storage operations are some of the novelties from the draft amendments to the Law on Energy.

According to Nenad Šijaković, advisor to EMS’s general manager responsible for international and regulatory affairs, the bill would obligate the country’s TSO to harmonize its regulations concerning the operation of the transmission system and the market within six months.

If the draft law is adopted by the end of the year, EMS could establish a regulatory framework for the liberalization of the ancillary services market by mid-2025, Šijaković said at the conference Businesses on the Road to Green Transition, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (AmCham).

Šijaković: EMS already prepared the logistics and software

He stressed that EMS already prepared the logistics and software solutions. It means Serbia could have an operational auxiliary services market in the second half of 2025, Šijaković added.

The TSO procures such services from market participants to fulfill its system services including voltage and frequency regulation (primary, secondary, and tertiary regulation), he explained.

Mrdak: Liberalization is a prerequisite for the entry of energy storage operators and active buyers into the market

Rade Mrdak, renewables advisor from the ministry, noted that the draft law liberalizes the market for auxiliary services, meaning prices will no longer be regulated. It doesn’t concern balancing energy but the lease of balancing capacities, he added.

Liberalization of the auxiliary services market is, in his words, a prerequisite for energy storage operators and active buyers to offer their services.

According to Šijaković, Serbia is going to open the market by the end of 2025 for two out of six services: the reserve capacities for secondary and tertiary regulation (balancing).