China to Build Solar Park in Serbia

The Serbian government has signed an agreement with the Chinese company Trona Solar to build a modern solar park near the town of Zrenjanin in northern Serbia. The new infrastructure project Theta Solar Power Plant will be built on an area of about 280 hectares and will become a significant contribution to both Serbia’s energy security and the Balkan country’s energy transition.

For Serbia, the search for new energy sources is very important, as possible new European sanctions against Moscow could jeopardize Russian natural gas supplies. Nevertheless, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic calmed Serbian public opinion by offering guarantees that the price of electricity for Serbian citizens will not be increased during 2024. “Last year, before the legislative elections, we said, and I repeat it now, that there are no plans to increase the price of electricity for citizens,” the minister said, according to whom “there will also be a new methodology for calculating electricity tariffs” for commercial consumers, which may even be reduced later this year if the current market trend continues.”

The encouraging statements by Djedovic Handanovic followed a meeting in Belgrade with Italian Ambassador to Serbia Luca Gori, where they reviewed the current situation and prospects for cooperation between Italy and Serbia in the field of green and energy transition, in light of the growing interest of Italian companies following the opening of the headquarters of the state bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) in Belgrade on February 1, 2024, the first in a non-EU country. On the occasion, Dario Scannapieco, CEO of CDP, was received by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who was presented the activities of the new office in Belgrade and acquainted with the strategy that CDP intends to implement to support the public and private sectors in favor of sustainable and inclusive growth.

Thus, during his conversation with the Serbian Minister, Ambassador Gori demonstrated the role that the Belgrade offices of Simest, Sace, and CDP “could play in facilitating Italian investments.” A press release from the Italian diplomatic mission noted that they also discussed issues related to the implementation of some Italian projects in the “field of renewable energy and circular economy” in Serbia, as well as preparations for the “Green Forum 2024” between Italy and Serbia.