EMS can accept 2,000 MW of energy from wind farms - Wind generators in Serbia in two years?

The energy transfer network in Serbia can accept 2,000 MW of energy from wind farms without additional investments. This is the main conclusion of the study Integration of Wind Generators into the Transfer System of Serbia, which was presented today at the public company Elektromreze Srbije (EMS).

- Investments in the system of EMS are not required, but what is necessary for the energy transfer is to build Bosilegrad-Vardenik long-distance power line and the transfer station Vrsac 3. The rules that must be obeyed by wind farms in order to be connected to the system have not been defined yet so that this study will provide guidelines for developing these rules – Djordje Dobrijevic, a project manager from Elektroenergetski Koordinacioni Centar Beograd (the Belgrade Electric Energy Coordination Center), the company that has designed the study in association with the company Vattenfal PowerConsult from Germany, told eKapija.

He said that 16 projects envisaging the construction of wind farms of the total power of 2,600 MW had been submitted to the Ministry of Energy and Mining and that 5 permits had been issued so far for 1,135 MW wind farms. Over 75% of wind farms should be built in Vojvodina.

- The Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS) would have no problem to accept 900 MW of electric power from wind, without balancing it with the power from other sources, that is, without turning off steam power plants and with the maximum engagement of Bajina Basta hydroelectric power plant - said Dragana Orlic, the author of the study.

State Secretary for Energy Dusan Mrakic said today that the analysis occasioned by the promulgation of the Regulation on feed-in tariffs for the privileged purchase prices of electricity from renewable sources showed that the Electric Power Company of Serbia had the capacities to accept 450 MW of electricity produced by wind, that is, that 450 MW of such electricity would be accepted under privileged conditions.

Maja Turkovic, spokesperson of the Serbian Wind Energy Association (SEWEA) told eKapija that she expected four companies within that association to be the first to join the quota of 450 MW subsidized by the state.

- We have projects of nearly 1,000 MW because every company is developing several projects. A total of 400 MW should be connected to the network in the first phase. Location permits for these projects should be issued soon, energy licenses have already been granted, we have already measured the speed of wind, resolved the property relations, completed feasibility studies, built access roads, prepared the planning documentation, etc. – said Ms. Turkovic.

Companies MK Fintel Wind, Continental Wind Partners, Vetropark Indjija Kelag and Energowind will be building wind farms in Indjija, Vrsac, Plandiste and Kovin. Members of the Serbian Wind Energy Association plan to invest the total of about EUR 1.5 billion in the construction of about 1,000 MW wind farms, which would enable the annual production of about 2.5 billion kWh of electric energy.

When asked when the first wind generators would be built in Serbia, Ms. Turkovic replied:

- If the Energy Law is adopted in June, we will be able to obtain energy permits in one year. Then the construction should take between a year and half and two years, meaning that wind generators will be put in operation as early as in 2013 or 2014 when we expect few hundreds of megawatts of electric energy to be produced by wind generators in Serbia.