BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.31
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan have expressed readiness to sign the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Energy and Mining between the two governments, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of Mining and Energy, prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic told Trend.
“The signing of the agreement will give a new impetus to further improve friendly and economic relations between the two countries, especially in the field of mining and energy. We expect that the Agreement will be signed during the visit of the delegation of the Republic of Serbia to Azerbaijan, when we will attend the 8th meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor,” she said.
Speaking of the renewable energy sector (RES), the deputy PM said she believes that the accelerated development of the RES sector will open new opportunities for the development of cooperation between Serbian and Azerbaijani companies, potential new investments and the implementation of joint projects.
Mihajlovic pointed out that for the first time, Serbia passed an independent Law on the Use of RES, in order to accelerate investments in this sector and enable greater participation of RES in the energy mix.
“This law creates conditions for increasing investments in the use of RES, for active participation of citizens in the energy transition, and the use of new technologies that are important for energy transition and decarbonization, such as green hydrogen, whose commercial use is at the very beginning. We have also started drafting the most important strategic documents in the field of energy: the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan of RS for the period until 2030 with projections until 2050 and the Strategy for Energy Development of RS for the period until 2040 with projections until 2050. In the field of RES, we will set a goal that by 2040 the share of renewable sources will be at least 40 percent, i.e. 50 percent by 2050,” added the Serbian deputy PM.
She added that investments in renewable energy sources, primarily in the construction of new hydro, wind and solar power plants, take an important place in the new investment plan in the field of energy and mining that have been prepared, which contains projects worth about 28 billion euros.
“Our international partners, international financial institutions and investors already recognize everything that Serbia has done to improve the legislative framework,” noted Mihajlovic.
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