ÖKB – Marktstudie zur Energieeffizienz und Erneuerbaren Energiequellen in der Vojvodina – Serbien

Energy Efficiency Potential in Vojvodina / Serbia and Montenegro Market Analysis

Against the background of energy price increases and commencing restructuring of the energy sector, energy efficiency becomes more and more important in Serbia. European regulations and directives as well as national strategies pave the way for implementing new and energy saving technology and accompanying measures in several sectors.

In Serbia, energy prices have increased significantly in the last years. Due to the lack of modernisation and maintenance, the energy consumption is still high: This is the result of energy losses in the net as well as missing distributing regulators. Rapid improvements in energy efficiency are required to increase the capabilities of the energy sector.

The Serbian government already launched several strategies on energy issues; 1st of September 2002 the Serbian Energy Efficiency Agency started operations:

The aim of this market study is to provide information to investors, who want to enter the Serbian energy efficiency market.

The following topics are covered:

• energy efficiency in public lighting
• district heating
• use of renewable energy sources from agriculture
• energy efficiency in buildings
• energy efficiency in industry

The study comprises the following issues:

• analysing the legal and financial framework of energy efficiency projects in Serbia
• identification of energy efficiency projects in Vojvodina
• technical aspects (technical variants, quality standards, estimates on project capacities)
• socio-economic aspects (willingness and ability to pay, tariff structure….)
• environmental aspects of identified projects
• contact management and organisation of communication events between potential investors and Serbian project stakeholders

One of the main assets of the study is an outlook on the preparedness of Serbian municipalities and industrial clients to understand and accept contracting models as are already frequently used and highly appreciated by Austrian municipalities and industry.

Responding to the needs in the country to not only save energy but also secure the existing energy systems, together with the need for new investments in the energy sector, the study aims at identifying potentials and tangible projects to help municipalities and the private sector to improve energy supply. It is important to help the local stakeholders with creative funding mechanisms, such as contracting models.