Serbia proposes regulations for its second round of wind, solar auctions

The Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia issued, for public consultation, three draft decrees setting the stage for the second round of wind and solar power auctions for market premiums. The call is planned for November.

The public consultation concerns decrees on the market premium and feed-in tariff, the quota for wind farms, and the quota for solar power plants. The ministry is receiving suggestions and comments until October 28.

The proposed quota for wind farms is 300 MW and for photovoltaic plants it amounts to 124.8 MW. The biggest novelty is an additional criterion for bid valuation. Namely, in addition to the electricity price, the participants would get points for the capacity that they have offered for supplying end consumers in Serbia.

Participants can offer it to the universal supplier, in this case the state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), or sign a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with an end consumer. The option was introduced last year within the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources.

The government intends to motivate investors to offer part of the capacity for supplying end consumers in Serbia

The draft regulation on market premium notes that the law envisaged that the Government of Serbia could add the capacity offered for supplying end consumers in Serbia as a criterion for bid valuation.

As the reason for using the said option, the ministry highlighted the increasing importance of the security of supply to end consumers, in an environment of a permanent energy crisis and wars in Europe and the world.

The idea is to motivate auction participants to offer part of the capacity for supplying end consumers in Serbia. It would also ensure that the electricity produced within an incentive scheme is directed to end consumers that are funding the incentives by paying a feed-in tariff surcharge fee for privileged power producers, the draft decree reads.

The nearly 25 MW remaining from the first auction would be added to the PV quota in the second round

The proposed changes would speed up permitting and reduce costs for investors.

The draft decree on the wind farm quota stipulates that projects of at least 3 MW in capacity can participate in the bidding.

The quotas are in line with the three-year incentives plan for renewables for the period 2023-2025. The schedule envisages 100 MW for photovoltaic plants in the second round, however it was increased by the unallocated 24.8 MW from the first round.

Serbia initiated its first auctions in June last year. It awarded the entire 400 MW quota for wind farms and half of the available 50 MW for photovoltaic plants.