On the final day of the SET Trebinje 2025 summit, a panel discussion was held on the challenges of investing in renewable energy sources (RES) and administrative barriers. Panelists revealed the main obstacles hampering the development of green projects in this part of Europe and discussed how they could be overcome.
At the very beginning, Jovanka Atanacković, Country Director for Serbia at CWP Europe, emphasized that perhaps the more important question is whether we truly want an energy transition, rather than focusing on individual issues.
“I believe every problem can be solved, and there is enough funding for investments. That’s why it may be more important to determine whether we genuinely want the energy transition and whether we’re ready to replace conventional power plants with new capacities,” said Atanacković.
Immature Projects Hamper the Energy Transition
The panelists agreed that administrative overload is caused by immature and unserious projects, while the competent institutions lack sufficient staff who can quickly identify which projects have true potential.
“When it comes to financing RES projects, the first step we need to take is to eliminate all immature projects. Public sector employees are still not adequately trained for this type of work. There are indeed many speculators, and I hope we’ll find a way to address this problem soon,” said Arnesa Borčak, Project Manager at UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).
Nikola Bitrak, Director at Colenco S. Macedonia, agreed that unserious investors are slowing down the energy transition, noting that the issue is far more pronounced in the solar sector than in the wind sector.
“Although the realization process for wind projects is still long—it takes around eight years from the start of planning to commissioning—this is actually a good thing in some ways, as only serious projects survive in the end,” said Bitrak.
More:
- Global Battery Market: China Leads, Europe Seeks Solutions
- Untapped Potential – Croatia Explores Geothermal Well in Zagreb County
- Turkish RES Auctions: Large Projects Face Challenges, but the Solution Lies in Reforms
Second Round of Auctions for Solar and Wind Power in Serbia
The panel participants also reflected on the recently closed second round of auctions organized by the Ministry of Mining and Energy for solar and wind power plants. The offered quota of 424.8 MW for solar and wind plants was significantly exceeded. The total capacity of power plants that received incentives amounted to 645 MW, with planned investments reaching 782 million euros.
Miloš Kostić, Director of MT-KOMEX, a company that has built a total of 150 MW of solar power plants—30 MW of which are owned by the company—said they participated in the auctions with two solar plants, but only one received a market premium: the Kobra solar power plant, with a capacity of 9.99 MW, although the offered capacity in the auction was 7.5 MW.
Kostić noted that this year’s auctions resulted in much lower electricity prices for solar power compared to the previous auctions, which could discourage potential investors.
“This year, the lowest bid for solar was €50.9 per megawatt-hour (MWh), whereas in 2023, it was €88.65/MWh. For wind energy, the lowest bid this year was €53.59/MWh, compared to €64.48/MWh in 2023. We’ve tested various incentive models in Serbia, from feed-in tariffs to market premiums, but it seems we’ve yet to find the right model to accelerate the development of RES projects,” said Kostić.
He added that investors often cannot access basic information, such as which parcels are available for building RES plants, how long it typically takes to obtain permits and complete a project, and so on. A unified platform providing such information could be a solution, he suggested.
Regulatory Misalignment Within and Between Countries
The panelists further pointed out that the root of many administrative and financial barriers lies in regulatory misalignment—either between countries in the region or even within a single country.
Miroslav Nikolić, Head of Development for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the Electric Utility of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia (EPHZHB), said this issue is particularly evident in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where regulations vary from canton to canton. Therefore, he is not overly optimistic about the expansion of RES projects in the region in the coming years, as it will be difficult to mobilize enough funding and quickly create a favorable investment climate that attracts investors.
On the other hand, Nada Milovčević, Head of the Department for Concessions and Renewable Energy Sources at the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska, stated that the outlook is more promising—at least in Republika Srpska—highlighting that all RES projects approved in 2022 are now operational. Republika Srpska’s plan is to have 800 MW of renewable energy sources connected to the grid by 2030, and Milovčević is confident that this goal will be achieved.
To recap, the SET Trebinje Summit was held from March 19 to 21 in Trebinje. This year as well, the summit attracted numerous speakers and visitors from the region and around the world, who had the opportunity to explore energy sector trends, regulations, plans for RES development in the Balkans, and technological innovations.
