RES SERBIA 2024: Region (not) threatened by new energy collapse, Pljevlja-Lastva power line by June, investments in transmission systems necessary

Is region looking at an energy collapse like the one in June when nearly the entire Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Croatia were without electricity; when will the Pljevlja-Lastva power line be finished; how are the transmission systems of Serbia and Montenegro coping with the numerous requests by investors for the connection of solar power plants and wind farms; will EPS be decarbonized by 2030? – are some of the topics discussed at the panel dedicated to the challenges of the integration of RES in the electrical energy system at the RES SERBIA 2024 Conference held in Vrdnik.

EMS: Requests for connection now more realistic

Answering the question how EMS managed to resolve the numerous requests for connection, the director of the Development Directorate of Elektromreza Srbije (EMS), Nebojsa Vucinic, pointed out that the foundations of the new system had been set up by the Decree on the Terms of Delivery and Supply of Electrical Energy, which had come into effect in October 2023. Let us remind that, before the decree was adopted, the transmission system operator EMS had requests for more than 20 GW in wind farms and solar power plants in the processes of being connected.

With the adoption of the new decree, in the first interval, EMS received 51 connection requests, of which 42 were solar power plants and wind farms, while the rest were hydro power plants, revealed Vucinic.

– In the past 10 years, we have prepared slightly more than 30 connection studies, and in four months alone, we managed to process 51 studies. Banking guarantees were submitted by 28 facilities with a power of 4000 MW, which is over 1500 MWh. We expected fewer of them, and we’ll see how many of the projects will be built – notes Vucinic.

He reveals that, in the second round of the filing of requests for connection studies, which began in September, 14 RES facilities with a power of 1300 MW applied. The deadline for resolving these requests is December 31, 2024.

– On average, the requests are lower than 100 MW and they seem more realistic. In the previous round, we had requests for 200, 300, and even 700 MW – points out Vucinic.

In Montenegro, connection requests go up to 500 MW

Ivan Asanovic, the CEO of Crnogorski Elektroprenosni Sistem (CGES), reminds that Montenegro gets 60% of its electricity from hydro power plants and that the TPP Pljevlja still has a significant role in the energy mix which also features two wind farms: Krnovo and Mozura.

Unlike Serbia, where connection requests are now mostly lower than 100 MW, there are few such requests in Montenegro.

– Montenegro has plenty of connection requests, around 30, and they are pretty big, we have requests for 200, 300 MW, but also 400, 500 MW, there are only a few below 100 MW. Banking guarantees are not yet implemented, we didn’t require investors to secure storage batteries, but what we were able to influence is the connection fee, which is pretty high, EUR 1000 per MW on the 400-kV transmission network and EUR 6000 per megawatt on the 110-kV network. That way, we tried to filter through the serious projects – emphasized Asanovic.

Pljevlja-Lastva power line to be built by June

Talking about the June malfunction when nearly all of Montenegro was left without electricity, and following that, other parts of the region as well, he emphasized that a couple of things had preceded the regional disturbance.

– Plenty of powerlines in the region had been switched off, so the grid was quite weakened. The system collapsed. The importance of the infrastructure is shown by our estimate that the malfunction would not have happened if we had had a finished Pljevlja-Lastva power line. That is why the completion of this power line is the ultimate priority. There is one kilometer left and we hope that it will happen by June next year. No big company will connect to the system before the power line is built – pointed out Asanovic.

He said that the inspection of ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity), of which Montenegro is a full member, would show which concrete methods needed to be introduced, but added that it was already clear that regional cooperation had to be at a higher level than at that moment and that such incidents would then not occur.

– In the five-year plan, we have set aside EUR 200 million for the development of the network, primarily for RES, but also for other needs. We are supported by international financial institutions, but when you have a good grid project, you will find somebody to finance it. Without transmission, there’s no transition, as the motto of ENTSO-E says – reminds Asanovic.

Why there was no energy collapse in Serbia

Vucinic reminded that the security in Serbia had not been jeopardized, that the devices for automatic protection from overloading had reacted and that Serbia had sent voltage toward Bosnia and Herzegovina and provided support to the neighbors. Still, he notes that ENTSO-E has published a report which shows that, in the coming period, the number of situations which would lead to the separation of interconnections might increase.

– That’s not good, because the islands created that way could experience problems with frequency stability, which means that blackouts could happen there. That is why investments in the transmission system are necessary, as are the measures to protect ourselves – pointed out Vucinic.

EPS: 80% of hydro power plants to be reconstructed by end-2026

The CEO of Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), Dusan Zivkovic, agreed that good cooperation, along with planning, was important to the survival of the whole system. He announced that, by the end of 2026, 80% of the hydro power plants would be reconstructed, and that, in the next several years, through a strategic partnership, EPS would have 1 GW of self-balancing solar power plants in its portfolio, with 200 MW the battery system for the storage of electrical energy.

– With all the projects that we have, we see 2030 as a year in which EPS will be considerably decarbonized and in which it will have an increased share of RES – he said.

As he pointed out, in addition to the construction of the first wind farm Kostolac and the solar power plant Petka, the locations for new RES projects are also being analyzed, primarily on the land belonging to EPS and where expropriation is not required, which are mostly ash disposal sites at thermal power plants.

He said that the project of the construction of the Reversible Hydro Power Plant Bistirca was going as planned and that the environmental impact study would be completed not long after.

Grid development biggest challenge in EU

Eleni Charpantidou, a member of the board of ENTSO-E, which has 40 members from 36 countries, pointed to the importance of regional cooperation.

– Its role is to ensure the coordination of the power grid, which connects nearly 600 million citizens with over 400 interconnectors. The malfunction in Montenegro, when the supply of electrical energy was cut, has shown how important regional cooperation is – she pointed out.

She said that the biggest challenge in the EU was the development of the grid and cross-border interconnections.

– To implement the action plan for the power grid, the European Union needs investments of over EUR 500 billion – she concluded.

The panel “Challenges of Integration of RES in the Electrical Energy System – Serbia and the Region” was held on the first day of the RES SERBIA 2024 conference. The moderator was Danijela Isailovic, the manager of RES Serbia, and at the beginning, the attendees were addressed by Nemanja Erceg, the provincial secretary for urban planning and environmental protection.

The eKapija portal is a media sponsor of the RES SERBIA 2024 conference, which is held for the fourth year in a row. It is organized by the Renewable Energy Sources of Serbia Association.

M. Dedic

Obnovljivi izvori energije Srbije

EMS ad Beograd

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem ad Podgorica

ENTSO E

Dušan Živković

Eleni Charpantidou

Danijela Isailović

Nemanja Erceg

Nebojša Vučinić

Ivan Asanović

RES SERBIA 2024

power collapse

Pljevlja Lastva power line

transmission systems