Energy is where the geopolitical lens usually dominates, but the underlying economics are straightforward. Serbia is part of the wider European power and gas system whether anyone likes it or not: it is physically interconnected, exposed to EU rules on cross-border trade, influenced by European carbon pricing and indirectly hit by CBAM, green taxonomies and […]
South-East Europe is accelerating its renewable transition. Solar fields rise across Greece and Bulgaria, wind projects return to Romania’s agenda, battery pipelines begin appearing in policy documents, and Western Balkan governments increasingly wrap their industrial and geopolitical narratives in the language of decarbonisation. Looked at from a distance, the region appears to be moving decisively
For most of the past decade, discussion around South-East Europe’s energy transition framed Serbia as one of many actors in a broader regional story. That framing no longer reflects reality. Today, Serbia has moved into a decisive strategic position: it is the central platform through which regional power flows, market integration, price formation and system risk
Serbia has maintained a high position in the Energy Community Secretariat’s Annual Implementation Report 2025, following last year’s second-place finish, thanks to significant progress in decarbonization and electricity market reforms. Moldova once again topped the ranking, securing first place for the second consecutive year with an overall implementation score of 74%. During the reporting period,
For most of Serbia’s industrial history, on-site power generation and storage occupied a marginal role. Diesel generators existed for emergencies, gas engines for niche applications, and electrical storage was largely absent. These assets were treated as insurance policies—rarely used, reluctantly maintained, and economically justified only by the risk of blackouts. That framing no longer reflects
Industrial self-generation and storage: Evolving from backup to strategic core Read More »
Power purchase agreements have become one of the most discussed instruments in Serbia’s industrial energy transition. For manufacturers under pressure to decarbonise, stabilise costs and demonstrate long-term energy security, PPAs appear to offer a clean solution. A renewable generator supplies electricity at a fixed or indexed price over many years, emissions are reduced, and exposure
Industrial PPAs in Serbia: The hidden costs of underperformance without storage Read More »
For most Serbian industrial consumers, power hedging has historically meant one thing: securing a fixed price. The logic was simple and rational in a system dominated by coal and hydropower. Electricity prices moved slowly, volatility was limited, and the main risk to manage was gradual upward drift. Fixing a price over one or two years
Industrial power strategies in Serbia: From fixed pricing to managing shape risk Read More »
For most of the last two decades Serbia’s industrial competitiveness was framed around familiar variables: labour cost, tax stability, logistics access to the EU, and a reasonably priced electricity system anchored in domestic lignite and hydropower. Energy was important, but it was largely treated as a predictable input—cheap enough, stable enough, and rarely decisive on
Rising energy costs: Serbia’s emerging industrial bottleneck Read More »
Europe’s hydrogen transition will not be decided by how many gigawatts of electrolysers are announced, nor by how ambitious national strategies appear on paper. It will be decided by corridors. Hydrogen, unlike electricity, does not flow freely across borders without friction. It requires physical continuity, pressure management, storage, regulation, and—most importantly—industrial offtake dense enough to
Europe’s decarbonisation agenda is accelerating faster in steel and metallurgy than in almost any other heavy industry. The European Green Deal, CBAM implementation, rising carbon costs, corporate ESG commitments, and trade-policy alignment with global decarbonisation frameworks have fundamentally changed the economics of metal production. Steel, aluminium, copper and high-alloy materials are all moving toward electrification,
Hydrogen metallurgy: Europe’s industrial future and Serbia’s strategic opportunity Read More »
