The Draft Law on Amendments to the Energy Law introduces several new provisions, including the regulation of the balancing market and the possibility for end consumers to become active participants and enter into contracts with variable pricing.
Nuclear energy will be used to generate electricity in Serbia and certification for installers of renewable energy facilities is also being introduced.
The Ministry of Mining and Energy has published the Draft Law on Amendments to the Energy Law and invited all interested parties to participate in the public consultation, which will last until September 10.
Introduction of waste-derived fuels
New energy activities include aggregation and the production and trade of unconventional fuels, writes Vladimir Spasić for Balkan Green Energy News. According to the amendments, aggregation is a method that enables end consumers and small businesses to participate in the electricity market.
Unconventional fuels are liquid or solid fuels produced from liquid or solid non-hazardous waste unsuitable for material recycling. These fuels are used for energy purposes in cement and lime production, coal-fired power plants, cogeneration or combined heat and power plants, and fluidized bed combustion plants.
End consumers can enter into contracts with variable pricing
The process of changing suppliers for end consumers has so far been free, but the Draft now limits this, allowing fees to be charged starting from January 1, 2026.
End consumers now have the right to enter into a contract with variable electricity pricing with a supplier that serves more than 200,000 end consumers. Such a contract reflects price changes in the organized market, at intervals that are at least as frequent as those used for price determination in the organized market or electricity exchange.
Household customers and small consumers with an expected annual consumption of less than 100,000 kWh now have the right to free access to an application for comparing supplier offers.
Net metering and net billing to be abolished
The Draft stipulates that by December 31, 2026, at the latest, net metering and net billing, which are regulated by the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources, will be abolished. These two methods are currently used by prosumers (consumers who are also producers of electricity).
The increasing number of prosumers has led to a rapid increase in the number of companies involved in the installation of solar panels. The Draft Law introduces certification for installers of facilities using renewable energy sources, in accordance with the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the practices of Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy.
The Draft defines an active customer as an end consumer or a group of end consumers acting together, who use or store electricity produced within their premises, or who independently sell it or participate in flexibility services or energy efficiency measures, provided these activities are not their primary commercial or professional activity.
Lifting the ban on nuclear power plant construction
The Draft Law stipulates that the Law on the Prohibition of Nuclear Power Plants in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will cease to be valid on the day it comes into force. This Law had prohibited the construction of nuclear power plants and was enacted three years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
The Ministry expects that the amendments will facilitate the preparation and implementation of the Peaceful Nuclear Energy Development Programme and the establishment of the Directorate for the Development of the Nuclear Energy Programme.
Source: serbianmonitor.com