Serbia has amended the decree on the conditions of electricity transmission and supply, modifying the procedure for connecting new power plants to the transmission and distribution grid, including solar and wind farms.
The new rules will affect more than 100 existing solar and wind projects.
The regulation provides for the need to sign a contract with a developer to prepare a study for access to a transmission or distribution network.
There are 105 pending grid-connection requests and no access study contracts have been signed
The changes, adopted by the Serbian government on September 28, are expected to be published in the official Gazette soon and take effect eight days later.
Elektromre?, Operator of the Serbian transmission system a Srbije (EMS) has so far officially received 142 access requests for wind and solar projects, of which four are operational, 33 access study contracts have been signed and 105 facilities are pending.
Excluding in-service power plants, the total installed capacity is 22,000 MW. EMS recently said that without additional investments, the Serbian power system can only retain a total of 5,800 megawatts of solar and wind farms.
The application deadline for the Connection Study contract is December 1
According to the decree, after the contract is signed, EMS prepares a study on the connection with the transmission system at the request of the investor.
The request should be submitted on the first day of the EMS ready connection study cycle. The new rules stipulate that the TSO will have two study cycles per year - March 1 to June 30 and September 1 to December 31.
Strategic partners are not exempt. It is worth noting that Serbia is in the process of selecting its first strategic partner in this field.
The transitional provisions envisage the first cycle starting on December 20, 2023 and ending on April 20, 2024. The deadline for submitting requests is December 1. After April 20, 2024, regular intervals and deadlines will apply.
Developers must deposit a minimum of €50,000 for each project
Applicants for connection research contracts must pay a deposit of €50,000 per project. This Serbia issues new regulations for connecting solar and wind energy projects to the grid
From 51 megawatts to 100 megawatts, each additional megawatt increases the amount by 400 euros; From 101 MW to 250 MW, an increase of 300 euros per MW; More than 250 MW, an increase of 200 euros per MW.
A connection study is no longer valid if:
* The investor does not submit a bank guarantee within 60 days from the date of receipt of the research report;
* The access agreement has not been signed within 60 days from the date the investor submitted the bank guarantee;
* Within three years from the date of signing the grid connection contract, the investor has not obtained the grid connection approval;
* Access approval expired.
If the access study is invalid, the connection contract terminates. The networking approval is valid for three years, but can be extended at the request of the investor, but the extension period cannot exceed two years.
Bank guarantee of €25,000 per megawatt
The investor is obliged to submit a bank guarantee in favour of EMS within 60 days of receipt of the connection study. According to the decree, the amount per megawatt capacity defined in the access study is €25,000.
The bank guarantee is valid for 37 months and must be issued by a commercial bank registered and operating in accordance with Serbian law.
The purpose of introducing the guarantee is to ensure that the developer will:
* The connection contract is signed within 60 days from the date of submission of the bank guarantee;
* Obtain grid connection approval within three years from the date of signing the grid connection contract;
* Construction of facilities within the validity period approved by the network.
