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July 30, 2025
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Turkish renewables firm to drill for geothermal lithium

Margün Energy intends to search for lithium in geothermal waters in Seferihisar in western Turkey, where it took over a 12 MW geothermal power plant. It also launched a project to add a photovoltaic unit of 5.4 MW to the existing facility and create a hybrid power plant.

Turkey, the fourth in the world in geothermal power capacity, also has significant potential for lithium extraction. The production of the mineral used in batteries can increase the cost-effectiveness of geothermal energy projects. Margün Energy, listed at the Istanbul Stock Exchange since 2021, said it would conduct exploration works on 3,125 hectares in Izmir province.

The company recently bought a geothermal power plant in the area for USD 16 million from RSC Elektrik. The 12 MW facility is in Kavakdere in Seferihisar district. Margün Energy denied speculation that it would mine lithium.

If it finds a valuable amount of the mineral in geothermal water, it will build an extraction plant, according to the update. Margün Energy issued the statement after local residents expressed concern over potential environmental damage from lithium mining.

“We have not obtained any mining permits. Furthermore, Margün Energy is not a mining company… Mining lithium, which is used in battery production, and extracting lithium from geothermal fluid by separating it are very different things,” the announcement reads.

Margün Energy to look for precious metals as well

The company said it would continue its investments in geothermal energy such as electricity production and greenhouse farming, arguing it would create jobs for locals. It suggested it could extract carbon dioxide for commercial use as well.

Margün Energy added it would explore the presence of precious metals in geothermal fluids.

Planned PV unit to generate 10 GWh per year

In addition, it submitted a proposal to the country’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA or EPDK) for the installation of a photovoltaic unit with 5.4 MW in peak capacity. It would be added to the existing facility, creating a hybrid power plant. The solar power system would generate 10 GWh per year and increase revenue by USD 1.05 million, the company estimated.

The PV plant would lift Margün Energy’s total capacity to 135.4 MW. The company mostly operates solar power plants and works as a contractor for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance.

Notably, it owns the largest stake in Enda Energy Holding. The affiliate operates four hydropower plants, five wind power plants, one geothermal power plant and three solar power plants of 200 MW altogether.

Margün Energy rallied 109% since the beginning of the year.

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July 30, 2025
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Slovenia tops EU list for most smart power meters, Croatia among laggards

Slovenia is very close to equipping all electricity consumers with smart meters, while Croatia is within reach of achieving it in the non-home segment, but far behind in the household category, according to the latest data from the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

At the top of the list of European Union member states with the highest share of smart meters, three countries are fully equipped with modern smart meters, Naš stik reported.

All consumers in Sweden, Denmark, and Italy have such devices installed. They are followed by Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Spain, and Portugal, all with 99% of households and 100% of non-household consumers equipped.

Germany is at the bottom of the table, with a rollout of just 2%

Next is Slovenia, with 97% overall. France reached 94% among households and 95% in the other category, while Malta is at 93% and 87%, respectively. Slovenia is expected to complete the process by the end of the year, the article added.

The laggards are Lithuania (51%, 95%), Belgium (46%, 79%), Poland (36%, 65%), Croatia (34%, 95%), Romania (27%, 45%), and Greece (12% altogether). Germany is at the bottom of the list, with a combined total of only 2%, according to ACER’s data.

Smart meters are one of the main components of the distribution grid upgrade

Croatia’s state-owned power utility Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP) launched a tender last August worth EUR 86.5 million, for the purchase of smart meters. The company said at the time that it planned to install them at all metering points in the country by the end of 2029.

Smart meters are a crucial factor for modernizing distribution networks. It is necessary for the future power system, where consumers will play a very different role, generating electricity for self-consumption and through demand response and flexibility services.

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July 30, 2025
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Over 20,000 prosumer units connected in Greece in last 18 months

Greece’s distribution system operator HEDNO added more than 20,000 prosumers in the past year and a half, although the new net billing program faces delays.

Last year the government in Athens formally ended the net metering scheme and enacted net billing, aligning with the European Union’s regulations. Any aspiring prosumer with an existing application can switch to the new mechanism for free. The connection charge is EUR 370 per unit.

In the net billing mechanism, the compensation for the prosumer for the electricity delivered to the grid is based on the hourly wholesale price of electricity, instead of a fixed tariff. Projects are limited to a maximum 10.8 kW for households and 100 kW for businesses and energy communities. Virtual billing is also allowed, meaning that production and consumption can be in different locations.

Total capacity almost at 1 GW

According to data from the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO or DEDDIE), more than 20,000 individual prosumer units have been connected to the grid over the last 18 months, with the majority being connected under net metering.

It brought the overall number of prosumer installations to 35,312, with a total capacity of 995 MW, according to the update.

HEDNO also said 705 applications were in the final stages of the licensing process.

Limited interest from suppliers and aggregators

Despite high interest, progress in adding units within the net billing scheme has been slow. Only two electricity suppliers currently provide such contracts to prosumers and just one of them includes businesses, Energypress reported.

There is limited interest among aggregators to represent corporate net billing installations in the market. As for household units, the Renewable Energy Sources Operator and Guarantees of Origin (DAPEEP) provides the service free of charge.

Market participants are urging improvements in the relevant ministerial decree on net billing, for things to move forward. One of them would be to simplify contracts.

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July 30, 2025
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Government of Serbia interested in taking over Plandište wind project

The Government of Serbia is interested in taking over the Plandište wind farm project from oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbije and renewable energy firm MET Renewables. They have been jointly developing the project for over ten years.

The Plandište project, with a capacity of 102 MW, was a topic at the latest meeting of the Board of Directors of Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), attended by Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović and Chairman of Gazprom Neft’s Executive Board Alexander Dyukov.

Gazprom Neft holds a 44.85% share in NIS, while its parent company Gazprom has another 11.3%.

Alexey Urusov was elected as the new chairman of the NIS Board of Directors, while Dragutin Matanović was appointed vice chairman.

Serbia aims to increase its renewable energy capacity

During the meeting it was noted that there is interest by the state of Serbia in taking over the construction of the Plandište wind park together with Hungarian company MET, thereby increasing the capacities from renewable sources in line with the strategic energy transition goals, the ministry said.

It revealed no further details. The current owners of the project are NIS and Switzerland-based MET Renewables.

The Plandište wind farm was one of the projects that obtained feed-in tariffs from the ministry under the first quota of 500 MW for wind power plants in Serbia. All other projects, totaling 397 MW, have long been completed –  Čibuk 1, Kovačica, Košava 1, Alibunar, Kula, Malibunar, and La Piccolina.

The wind farm was initially scheduled for completion in 2014, then postponed to 2019

The project was originally owned by Energowind, a company founded in 2005 by private investors. In late 2012, NIS bought a 50% share, and the firm was renamed NIS Energowind. Energowind’s CEO Goran Novaković, who was earlier Serbia’s energy minister, has signed the contract with NIS’s then-CEO Kirill Kravchenko.

At the time, the wind farm was scheduled to be completed in 2014, and construction formally began in September 2013. However, there was no progress until March 2019, when MET Renewables, owned by Hungarian private investors, purchased the other 50% stake from the initial owners. The joint firm was named NIS MET Energowind.

The building permit was amended in 2023

Shortly afterward, it was announced that the wind farm would be completed by 2021.

Project firm Wind Park Plandište received the status of privileged renewable energy producer in 2015. It is a right to feed-in premiums, a fixed price for electricity, over a 12-year period. The status has been extended multiple times, most recently in 2018 until 2020, according to the registry of privileged producers on the ministry’s website.

The project firm said that the building permit, amended in 2023, envisages the construction of 17 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 6 MW. The detailed regulation plan, revised in 2022, enables the construction of up to 20 wind turbines with a capacity of up to 7 MW each, according to the firm’s website.

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July 30, 2025
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Project underway for 81 MW solar park on coal mine in Montenegro

The Government of Montenegro adopted urban planning and technical conditions for a solar power plant of 81.1 MW in peak capacity in Pljevlja. The site for the facility is part of a coal mining complex.

Greece is the most successful by far in the Balkans in transforming coal land into clean energy and advanced technology hubs. The projects in the region are mostly for solar power plants. Neighboring North Macedonia is next when it comes to implementation, while Romania and Bulgaria as well as Serbia and Slovenia have made their first steps. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo* are still in the planning phase, and now Montenegro is joining them with a photovoltaic project.

The government in Podgorica adopted the urban planning and technical conditions for a solar power plant of 81.1 MW in peak capacity in Pljevlja. The facility in the country’s north called Rudnik uglja would be in the Ilino Brdo I cadastral unit, on the site of the Potrlica open cast coal mine.

According to a study submitted with the application, the connection capacity would be 62.5 MW. The coal mine’s operator and PV project developer, Rudnik uglja Pljevlja, said the location spans 62.6 hectares.

The government plans to close the Pljevlja coal plant in 2041

The firm is a subsidiary of state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), which runs the Pljevlja power plant in the same complex. It is the only coal-fired facility in Montenegro. The government plans to close the thermal power plant, currently under reconstruction, in 2041.

Rudnik uglja Pljevlja presented a just transition plan in March. It aims to establish 12 businesses to transform the region and spin them off. They include construction, transportation and the installation of a small hydropower plant called Durutovići and a photovoltaic facility.

The previous government initiated the development of a plan two years ago for an industrial complex in Pljevlja. There are several separate renewable energy projects in the area as well.

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* This designation is without prejudice to positions onstatus and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
July 30, 2025
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RP Global gets EUR 12.2 million loan for Novalja solar project

RP Global has secured a EUR 12.2 million loan to build its Novalja solar power plant in Croatia.

In late April, Austrian company RP Global began the construction of the Novalja photovoltaic plant at the Zaglava site on the island of Pag.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it approved a senior non-recourse project finance loan of up to EUR 12.2 million to RP Global Novalja d.o.o., owned by RP Global Energy GmbH, for the development and construction of the 21 MW Novalja PV plant in Croatia.

The project has been approved under the EBRD InvestEU Framework for Sustainable Transition.

The loan is divided into two tranches

The loan is split into two tranches: one amounting to a maximum of EUR 7.2 million, and the second of up to EUR 5 million, benefiting from a 20% first loss coverage under the EBRD InvestEU Framework for Sustainable Transition, the bank’s decision reads.

The total project cost is estimated at EUR 16.3 million.

The endeavor includes the installation of 35,776 photovoltaic panels. The expected annual electricity production is around 31,000 MWh, enough to supply about 12,000 households.

According to the EBRD, the project supports innovative offtake arrangements. It will combine a national renewables support with a merchant exposure in later years.

RP Global won premiums for its project at auctions

Last July, the Croatian Energy Market Operator (HROTE) awarded premiums for solar and hydropower plants with a total capacity of 420 MW. RP Global’s Novalja was among them, with 15 MW.

Back in 2022, the company said it intended to build wind farms and solar parks of 500 MW overall in Croatia over the next five years.

RP Global has completed two renewable energy projects in Croatia: the Danilo wind farm near Šibenik and the Rudine wind park near Dubrovnik.

Of note, the island town of Novalja could become one of the first in Croatia to begin the production of green hydrogen, and a rare example in the region. A project was launched in May.

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