The number of buyers-producers of electricity is constantly increasing

The concept of buyer-producer is recognized by citizens as a way to provide affordable and cheaper energy, said the Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović and added that this is also shown by the constant increase in the number of buyer-producers, which has so far exceeded 1,300.

At the opening of the conference “Consumers – a year later”, the minister pointed out that in the consumer-producer sector the results are immediately visible, in contrast to large investments, both in production capacities and network development, which take several years to realize.

As she specified, the installed power of power plants belonging to customer-producers reached 15.7 MW, and only in the period after the formation of the new government, the number of customer-producers increased about three times, and the installed power increased by 2.5 times.

The minister added that the largest number of buyers-producers are households, about a thousand, that there are approximately 300 industrial buyers, and one residential community with this status is also registered.

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According to her, the previous period was also used for additional improvement of regulations in this area, which will continue to be worked on.

The amendments to the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources define limits for households and other end customers in a way that will reconcile the interests of the stability of the electric power system and the interests of customers-producers, stated Minister Đedović.

She emphasized that the new regulations, among other things, should contribute to the optimization of household investments in accordance with real annual consumption and encourage buyers-producers not to use electricity for heating in periods when it is the most expensive.

The concept of buyer-producer is oriented, above all, towards households and small businesses, while large industrial consumers will have the opportunity to achieve self-supply through the concept of an active buyer, which will be regulated by amendments to the Law on Energy, which should be adopted this year, she explained. minister.

Previously, through amendments to the Law on VAT, it was made possible that from the beginning of the year, VAT is not calculated on all the energy that buyers-producers take from EPS, but only on the energy used, said the minister and explained that this gave buyers-producers a more favorable tax calculation and lower bills.

According to her, the installation of solar panels in households is also supported through the subsidy program for increasing energy efficiency for family homes and residential buildings, which the Ministry implements together with local self-governments.

Minister Đedović said that at the time of the energy crisis, the buyer-producer is one of the answers to the questions of how to produce more energy, to make that energy green and to better harmonize energy production and consumption.

She reiterated that the concept of energy independence through the use of solar energy is useful for households and the economy, but also for the state, because it represents one of the tools to involve a large number of citizens in the energy transition in the future.

According to her, in order to enable the integration of larger capacities from RES, the distribution network must also be developed in order to be able to support an increasing number of consumers.

“All the capacities that will be built from RES, whether it is large wind power plants, solar power plants or power plants installed by customer-producers, should contribute to the achievement of our strategic goals, which are secure energy supply at the lowest price, greater energy independence and a healthier environment,” the minister concluded.

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