Serbia Evokes Chinese Interest For Renewable Energy

• Serbia has received interest from Chinese companies to build a GW-scale hybrid renewable energy plant 
• Zijin Mining plans to procure all the power from the 1.5 GW wind and solar power plant to energize its local copper mining operations in the city of Bor 
• Excess power produced will be used for green hydrogen production with 30,000 tons annual capacity 

Chinese companies Shanghai Fengling Renewables and Zijin Mining Group have expressed interest in developing a hybrid solar and wind energy project with 1,500 MW installed capacity in Serbia. Zijin will procure this clean energy for its copper mining operations at Bor city in the country. 

While Zijin plans to offtake the entire output of the hybrid plant, excess clean energy produced is proposed to be used for green hydrogen production with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons. Zijin expects to reduce its costs with these plans. 

In September 2023, Zijin signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Serbia to build a 300 MW solar power plant worth €200 million to meet its electricity needs and lowering the use of fossil fuels. 

The Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović added, "Investments of around €2 billion are planned in the development and construction of wind power plants and solar farms, energy storage for hydrogen production and hydrogen fuel energy production technology." She shared, "Also, investments of €10 million are planned for the construction of an industrial park for the production of wind towers." 

The hybrid project can reach an installed capacity of 2 GW if the wind energy potential of the region is explored further, added Handanović. 

In its meeting with the minister, Shanghai Fengling said it has registered a company to mark its local presence in Serbia and is starting recruitment for the development and implementation of the project. 

Serbia's 2030 goal is to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix to 45%. It targets to explore green hydrogen production to become a potential exporter to other European nations that plan to import this renewable energy-generated fuel. 

Under its draft green Hydrogen Strategy of 2022, Serbia is reportedly planning to produce 5.1 kt of green hydrogen by 2035 and scaling it up to 20.6 kt by 2050. This should boost further investment in renewable energy in Serbia that commissioned a 9.9 MW solar PV project in April 2023 as its largest operational solar power plant (see Serbia's Largest Solar Power Plant Online). 

Since then, the country has announced renewable energy auctions, also awarding Hyundai Engineering and UGT Renewables the rights to develop 1 GW solar capacity by 2028 (see Serbia Picks Winners of 1 GW Solar Power Auction).