Serbia
Serbia relies on dirty coal, with phase out in the distant future
In Serbia the main sources for power generation have stayed roughly level for years, with coal at 67% and hydro at 24% in 2022.
With only nominal policies in place to support renewables at limited capacity, there has been little incentive to invest in wind and solar. Hence wind accounted for 4.6% of total power generation in 2022 while solar power share is still negligible. This has shown signs of changing: the government has moved to improve the renewables policy framework, and the draft update of Serbia’s National Energy and Climate plan sets a target for producing 49.1% of electricity from renewables in 2030.
Serbia recently signalled that coal power phase out will take place by 2050, but this is far behind a pathway that is compliant with keeping global heating to 1.5C. This is particularly concerning because most Serbian coal is lignite, the most carbon intensive form of coal. The country also hosts some of the most polluting coal power plants in Europe and has failed to meet the national ceilings for air pollution. The country still has plans to expand coal power capacity, a 350-MW lignite power plant is expected to come online in 2023.
Last updated: May 2023
Progress towards 1.5C power sector benchmarks
Serbia
2000–2040
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