Serbia has reached a new milestone in battery storage development, with grid-connection agreements covering about 2 GW of battery energy storage. Transmission system operator EMS said the contracts mark progress for the country’s emerging storage sector. The development is occurring while around 11 GW of wind and solar capacity remains in the transmission connection process.
EMS said it has signed grid-connection agreements for approximately 2 GW of battery energy storage in Serbia. The agreements indicate that projects moving through the pipeline have secured access to the transmission network at a more advanced stage than preliminary planning. EMS did not provide additional details on project timing or expected commissioning in the statement cited.
The battery pipeline advance is described as a shift toward contracted grid access, rather than an early-stage development list. The figure points to a larger share of previously announced battery projects progressing beyond initial steps. At the same time, Serbia’s renewable build-out continues, with around 11 GW of wind and solar capacity still working through transmission connection procedures.
Negative-price periods and shifting trading needs
EPS trading executive Davor Pupovac said the Serbian utility bought substantial volumes of electricity at negative prices during April and May. He linked the pattern to rising renewable generation creating periods when supply exceeds immediate demand. Pupovac said CBAM-related changes and regional electricity surpluses are also affecting market liquidity and reducing some traditional cross-border arbitrage opportunities.
In this market setting, batteries can be used for time-shifting between low-price and higher-demand periods. Storage systems can charge when prices are very low or negative and discharge when demand increases and prices recover. This enables time arbitrage based on differences between surplus and scarcity hours.
Pupovac said conventional electricity traders face additional constraints as regional generation expands across multiple countries. Serbia is adding solar and wind capacity, while Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece are also developing renewables. As generation profiles become more similar across markets, very low or negative price periods can occur simultaneously in several countries.
When surplus electricity appears across a wider region, moving power between countries may provide less value than shifting consumption across time. Cross-border transmission capacity remains important, but time arbitrage is becoming more prominent alongside geographic arbitrage. Batteries can respond quickly to changing market conditions compared with slower grid resources.
The same storage systems can also support balancing needs while helping renewable generators manage curtailment periods and weak capture prices during high solar and wind output. These roles connect storage operation to both wholesale price patterns and system-level requirements as renewable penetration increases across the region.
Connection agreements versus operational capacity
The roughly 2 GW covered by connection agreements should not be treated as guaranteed operational battery capacity. Developers still need to secure financing, procure equipment, satisfy market-access requirements and reach final investment decisions. Some projects may be delayed, resized or cancelled before reaching operation.
Even so, the connection agreements are presented as a milestone showing clearer routes to grid access and eventual construction for Serbia’s battery projects. The progress is taking place alongside the larger renewable pipeline still moving through transmission connection processes. With more intermittent generation entering the system, flexibility requirements are expected to increase.
The first phase of Serbia’s renewable development focused on adding generation capacity, while the next phase depends on how the system handles large volumes arriving at the same time. Battery storage is positioned within this transition as infrastructure that can shift electricity across time and support balancing as oversupply periods emerge in the market.