First cooperative solar power plants in Serbia start production

The first cooperative solar power plants in Serbia, installed in the villages of Dojkinci and Temska on the Stara planina mountain, have been connected to the distribution network and are set to produce green electricity, energy cooperative Elektropionir announced. An entire year was needed to obtain the necessary permits since the installation was completed.

The pioneering initiative called Solarna Stara was completed by Elektropionir, with the help of the local communities from Temska and Dojkinci, the City of Pirot and citizens, organizations and companies who donated money, equipment and work.

The annual income from the sale of electricity will be used for projects proposed by the local communities of the villages on the Stara planina mountain, the energy cooperative stressed.

According to Ana Džokić from Elektropionir, the Solarna Stara initiative was driven by two goals. The first was to demonstrate that small run-of-river hydropower plants aren’t the right choice for the Stara planina mountain. Renewable energy that benefits the community and nature is what’s necessary, she pointed out.

Another motive was to demonstrate that united citizens can plan and implement such projects, turning the energy that gathered them against something into a positive direction.

Džokić: Complicated procedures took a lot of time and energy

She noted that during the implementation of Solarna Stara, complicated procedures took a lot of time and energy. Their simplification would facilitate and democratize energy production, and speed up climate action and lower pollution.

Džokić noted that exactly two years ago, in July 2022, the crowdfunding campaign ended. Elektropionir and 229 donors collected money for the construction of two solar power plants with a capacity of 5 kW. The successful campaign was followed by paperwork development, the procurement of the equipment and signing of a contract with the City of Pirot.

The installation of the photovoltaic systems on the buildings of the cultural center in Dojkinci and the local community in Temska was finished in July 2023.

A year passed from the installation of the solar panels to the start of production

Elektropionir said it needed one whole year to secure various permits and certificates to be able to start production, after they finished the installation. In the end, it signed the first contract for the purchase of electricity from cooperative solar power plants in Serbia, and the long process ended a few days ago with the signing of an agreement on access to the power distribution system.

Cooperative energy is spreading

“We believe that the procedures for connecting small solar power plants to the grid, such as the case with Solarna Stara initiative, for which the procedure lasted almost a year and a half, should be changed. Projects with public interest must be connected much faster and easier, and with lower fees. Otherwise they are meaningless,” Saša Petrović from Elektropionir stressed.

Elektropionir continues to prepare citizen energy demonstrations.

After the first agrisolar power plant, Solar Harvest, installed in February at the organic farm Organela near Valjevo, the group’s next project is Solar Dragon – a cooperative solar power plant on the roof of an elementary school in Ruma, west of Belgrade. The endeavor will include the school and the wider community.

“Cooperative energy is expanding!,” Elektropionir said.