KfW Projects in Serbia
Renewable Energy Project Kostolac – Windfarm
Donor: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Partners: Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS)
Project period: Since 2017
Challenges
- Energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product in Serbia is four times higher than in Central Europe and continues to increase.
- The domestic electricity sector is poorly diversified and dependent on older power plants with high rehabilitation needs.
- Lack of funds in the Serbian electricity sector and high public debt prevent the financing of much-needed investment, especially in the area of modern environmental technologies and renewable energies.
- Energy production which is based primarily on lignite pollutes the environment and the climate due to high pollutant emissions.
- The transformation of the energy sector from dependency on fossil fuels towards climate-friendly production and more efficient use of energy poses high challenges too.
- The enormous potential for the use of climate-friendly electricity generation based on renewable energies has hardly been exploited so far.
Approach
The project includes the installation of 20 turbines with a capacity of 66 MW.
Results
The project:
- is considered an important building block for the EU integration of Serbia,
- enables the exploitation of renewable energy resources and corresponding reduction in fossil fuels,
- stabilises Serbia’s energy supply through increased diversification in power production,
- has positive effects on Serbian investments in renewable energies with its signal character,
- improves permanently and cost-effectively Serbia’s electricity supply.