Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Serbia plans to increase incentives
for electricity produced in small hydroelectric plants and cut
feed-in tariffs for wind farms and solar parks to boost power
generation from renewable sources.
Hydro plants of up to 30 megawatts will be eligible for the
support, up from 10 megawatts now, while the subsidized rates
for the facilities will be increased by about a third to between
7.4 euro cents ($0.0975) and 13.7 euro cents per kilowatt hour,
depending on size, Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic told
reporters in Belgrade yesterday. The changes may take effect
Jan. 1.
The tariff for wind farms will be reduced to 9.2 euro cents
from 9.5 euro cents per kilowatt hour, while the subsidized
price for solar parks bigger than 0.5 megawatts will be cut 30
percent to 16.25 euro cents, she said. The solar parks need less
support after the cost of equipment for them has fallen more
than 40 percent since 2008, she said.
“The changes reflect our strategy and our priorities as we
work to increase the use of renewables to 27 percent” by 2020
from 21.2 percent, under a European Union-backed regional
agreement, Mihajlovic said.
Cutting the tariff for wind farms and curbing the capacity
that can be subsidized to 250 megawatts until the end of 2015,
from 450 megawatts, may delay or cancel most projects, the
Serbian wind Energy Association said in an e-mailed statement.
The limit is to increase to 500 megawatts as of 2016.
The changes are “bad policy” and risk missing the 2020
target for bigger use of renewables, the Belgrade-based
association said. “Without large wind farms, the goal cannot be
achieved,” said the group, whose members include Continental
Wind Partners, Energowind and Vetropark Indjija/Kelag.
The duration of electricity purchases at the subsidized
rates will remain at 12 years, which should help cover the cost
of initial investment, while any profit would be derived from
purchases at going rates after that period, Mihajlovic said.
Serbia has only 19 megawatts in facilities eligible for the
support, mostly small hydro facilities and a few solar and wind
farms. The new incentives will replace the old ones in place
since early 2010, the minister said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Misha Savic in Belgrade at
msavic2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James M. Gomez at
jagomez@bloomberg.net
