Jelena Matejić, and Dušan Živković (photo: EMS)
Serbia’s transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije signed grid connection contracts today for 11 renewable energy 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 are signed for Salaš and Sikole (490 MW), 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 contract are hybrid power plants
Another five projects on the list are also photovoltaic plants: East One (49.5 MW), South Two (44 MW), Erdevik (74 MW), Solar Knjaževac (136 MW) and Palić (110 MW). Among the projects with contracts for grid connection are two energy parks or hybrid power plants that combine wind and solar energy – Vida Power with 150 MW and Equinox with 277 MW.
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
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. After the grid connection study has been completed, investors must submit bank guarantees to sign the grid connection contract.
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.
Every year EMS organizes two intervals for grid connection studies: from March 1 to June 30 and from September 1 to December 31.
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