The Ministry of Mining and Energy has published a draft of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Energy (the “Law”). A public debate is currently underway, taking place from 21 August to 10 September, after which the Ministry is expected to analyze all objections, proposals and suggestions of the participants in the public debate and prepare an official report on the results of the public debate.

The main goal of the Law is primarily the transposition of European regulations and the implementation of European acquis communautaire in the field of energy. This would create the conditions for a safe, high-quality and reliable supply of electricity, balanced development of the energy sector with the aim of providing the energy necessary to meet the needs of its consumers, encouraging market competition, introducing modern technologies, creating attractive and stable conditions for investments in the construction, reconstruction and modernization of energy facilities. Some of the expected effects of the Law are, above all, the harmonization of the domestic regulatory framework with the regulatory framework of the European Union, the establishment of cooperation with countries from the region for electricity crisis prevention and management, the introduction of rules for the distribution of transmission capacity between trading zones on long-term markets, the introduction of balancing energy rules, the introduction of new participants in the market, new energy activities, the right to conclude variable price contracts, the protection of all categories of customers, as well as the return of nuclear energy to the Serbian energy sector.

In terms of energy activities, the changes introduce new activities in the energy sector – aggregation, as a market activity, and the production and trade of non-conventional fuels. The license requirement shall also apply to the electricity storage as an energy activity; as of 31 December 2028, in addition to the license required for wholesale supply, a foreign legal entity may be issued an electricity supply license after meeting the conditions prescribed by the Law and subordinate legislation. Aggregation provides an opportunity for end-consumers to act as active buyers and participate equally in the respective electricity markets and not be exposed to disproportionate or discriminatory technical requirements, administrative requirements, procedures and fees, as well as system access fees that do not reflect actual costs.

Once the Law comes into force, the Law Prohibiting the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants in the FRY will be abolished, also abolishing Article 267 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits construction of nuclear facilities. The Law defines the phases of the Development of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy Program, including examination of the justification of the approach to the development of nuclear energy, the development of the Program itself, which ends with the adoption of the Strategy for the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy by the National Assembly at the proposal of the Government, as well as the direct implementation of the Program; formation of the Directorate for the Development of the Nuclear Energy Program as an administrative body within the Ministry has also been planned.

Further changes are related to the end-consumer who have installed an advanced meter at the metering point, who, after the adoption of the changes, can enter into electricity contracts with variable prices with a supplier that supplies electricity to more than 200,000 end-consumers. Under the current law, end-consumers can change their electricity supplier, free of charge, but under the Law, a fee can be charged after 1 January 2026; such a change must be effected within 21 days of the consumer’s request. The supplier’s duties have also been expanded with the obligation to offer end-consumers fair and transparent general conditions, which in every sense afford the consumer rights protection, as well as to inform them of an intention to make contractual conditions changes, price changes, as well as the reasons and scope of any such change. Net calculation and net metering, now regulated by the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources (“Official Gazette of the RS”, no. 40/2021 and 35/2023) are also to be abolished, and active consumers are allowed to independently measure and calculate electricity supplied to or taken from the network. Both calculations are used by “prosumers” a/k/a self-consumers, that is, persons in the status of consumer/producer. The Law also prescribes that access to the application, comparing suppliers and offers for variable electricity price contracts, is free for households and small consumers.

The duties of the transmission system operator have been intensified so that the operator is required to publish relevant data on the total forecasted and realized consumption, balancing energy, balancing capacity and available flexibility. Also, during the preparation of the ten-year plan for the development of the transmission network, the duty to prepare a national adequacy analysis is established, taking into account the EU Network of Electricity Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E). Also, the concept of a capacity mechanism is being introduced. The capacity mechanism can be either in the form of strategic reserves or in another form if strategic reserves cannot solve the problem of production and transmission system adequacy.