Industry adaptation brings 25 times bigger benefits

Designated manufacturing industrial facilities with combustion in Serbia need up to EUR 711 million to be adjusted in accordance with European regulation, but the benefits will be 25 times bigger, Janez Kopač, director of the Energy Community Secretariat, said in an interview for EurActiv’s Serbian newsroom. General public should be motivated to participate, as improvements of health and the environment concerns it, he added and suggested for external expenses to be included in the price of electricity, or to introduce an environmental levy or another financial instrument.

The country is exceptional in introducing Energy Community’s legislation, but there are problems in implementation, he said. Alongside Moldova, Serbia has the weakest results in meeting the target share of energy from renewable sources and it will have to review its measures, Kopač stated. In his words, one of the reasons for dropping under the starting position was the hydrological situation.

The Directive on Energy Efficiency, adopted by the organization’s Ministerial Council on October 16 in Tirana, comes into effect in 2017 and is adopted for member states, the Energy Community Secretariat’s chief said. „It comes with a mandatory goal of 20% for energy efficiency improvement, calculated by a complicated formula, in comparison to trends from 2006. A mandatory goal is established for 1% in renovation of buildings owned and used by central government, a mechanism of obligations for energy efficiency of 0.7% for energy distributors and suppliers, for the improvement of energy management and other items,“ Kopač said and added there is a separate chapter on the promotion of energy efficiency in supply and cogeneration.