Source: ekapija.rs
Author: M. Dedić
Photo: RTNVP
Germany wants to invest even more in Serbia, but Serbia will have to offer investors green energy; the energy transition is inevitable, but it must be fair; 15,000 jobs are directly threatened by the decarbonization process, and 40,000 indirectly – these are the messages of the “Dialogue on Green Energy Transition” conference, organized by the Serbian-German Climate Partnership and the German-Serbian Initiative for Sustainable Growth and Employment.
Jovanka Atanacković, the state secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Energy reminded that 70% of the electricity Serbia uses comes from thermal power plants that are very old and near the end of their working life.
– Serbia paid almost EUR 2 billion for the import of electricity, which is a huge amount of money for us. For that money, at least one phase of Đerdap 3 could have been completed, with a power of 2.4 GW, and through which we could achieve the balancing of electricity not only for Serbia, but also for the region. We need to build more RES projects, to have 5 GW by 2030, and now we have 400 MW – emphasized Atanacković.
However, she emphasized that it is very important to have a just transition.
– 15,000 jobs are directly threatened by the decarbonization process, 40,000 indirectly, and it is important to take this into account as well – Atancković emphasized.
Serbia can count on Germany’s support
German Ambassador to Serbia Anke Konrad said that Serbia can count on Germany’s support in the energy transition.
– Our bank provided a loan for the reconstruction of the VMA, which will improve energy efficiency. We are interested in building biomass heating plants, and we still want to invest in Serbia. We are witnessing high energy prices in both Germany and Serbia, which is a consequence of the current political situation. This issue does not stop at borders and we must approach it globally, we are looking for a way to increase the share of RES – the ambassador emphasized.
Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for the Economy and Climate Protection of Germany, Franziska Brantner, said that Europe is facing a difficult winter, but that there is a way out in RES that will bring security, jobs and climate protection.
– RES are Germany’s national priority, but we can achieve the energy transition only together, as Europe. Investments in RES are paying off, companies that invested in solar energy or wind energy a few years ago are now using that energy for production. German companies want to be carbon neutral, that’s why they always ask if there is green energy in the countries where they want to invest, and Serbia needs to know that if it wants to attract them – said Brantner.
Serbian businessmen uninformed
However, businessmen in Serbia are not sufficiently informed about the fact that the CO2 tax will reduce their competitiveness, according to research by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. As the secretary of the association for energy and energy mining PKS Ljubinko Savić pointed out, in a few years it will be a problem to market products obtained with dirty technologies.
– The industries that will be affected consume almost 40% of energy in Serbia. These are primarily the cement industry, the chemical industry, and the steel and iron industry. There are also good examples, such as the Lafarge cement factory from Beocin and the company Elixir Prahovo, which wants to build a plant for the incineration of industrial waste, which is one of the major problems of Serbian industry. We will probably have to get EU approval for this plant because it is located on the border with Romania – said Savić and added that Serbia can learn a lot from Germany, Japan and South Korea in the process of energy transition.
Dialogue is necessary
The co-founder and program director of RES Foundation, Aleksandar Macura, pointed out that the energy transformation should be preceded by the transformation of society. As he explained, the energy transition must be discussed in the broadest public because there are many ways to achieve it.
– The first step in the energy transition is to abandon lignite, but we must have an exact exit date. The development of consumers is also very important, and I hope that companies will also deal with it. But we need a dialogue on the energy transition because there are many ways to achieve it. We can reach the net zero goal and destroy everything else along the way. There are many aspects that we need to take into account, because we are talking about a large area that will be affected by decarbonization. People need to be prepared, dialogue and trust are necessary, and we have a trust deficit – said Macura.
The deputy director of the Secretariat of the Energy Community, Dirk Buschle, said in a video that the energy transition is inevitable and that it will come faster than we thought.
– It is important to solve the issue at the regional level, rather than at the national level. Carbon emissions are 9 times higher in the Western Balkans than in the EU. Of all the proposed measures to reduce electricity consumption, the most important is to reduce demand. Prosumers are also very important – said Buschle and said that the Serbian Law on RES can be an inspiration even to countries in the EU.
