44 MW in Kosovo, 27 MW in Serbia: solar district heating projects gain momentum
The realization of two huge solar district heating projects in the Balkans is progressing. The pre-qualification tender for a 44 MW collector field with seasonal storage in Pristina, Kosovo, ended on 11 April 2025. The second site is Novi Sad – a town in Serbia, where a 27 MW collector field is planned together with a seasonal storage. Here the Government of Serbia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a loan agreement for an amount of up to EUR 105 million in December 2024. The tendering process for the implementation consultant for the Big Solar Novi Sad project is under development. Photo: TVP Solar
“We are currently qualifying consortia that will be invited to submit a bid for the installation of the entire solar thermal system including collector field, seasonal storage tank, technical centre and heat pumps”, reported Felix Eckert. He is the Project Manager at the Austrian company CES – Clean Energy Solutions – the implementation consultant for the Big Solar Pristina project. “We deliberately want to source everything from a single source for our customer, the local energy supplier Termokos in Pristina, so that the interfaces between the various subsections of the solar district heating plant work as smoothly as possible during construction.”
CES teamed up with the Austrian iC group in a consortium and included subcontracts with PlanEnergi from Denmark, SOLID Solar Energy Systems from Austria and Gjeokonsult from Albania to submit a bid to become the implementation consultant for the Pristina plant in August 2022. The tendering process was two-stage and lasted a year and a half. The consortium iC-CES signed the contract as the implementation partner for Termokos in January 2024.
“As implementation consultant we are responsible to support the client throughout the implementation of the project, from tendering to construction supervision, commissioning and handover”, said Eckert. The division of competences within the consortium is clear: iC-CES is coordinating the project and responsible for all overarching aspects. PlanEnergi is primarily responsible for the seasonal storage system, SOLID provides expertise for collector arrays and Gjeokonsult is in charge of the local construction supervision, as the team is based not so far from the construction site.
Tender with flexible technology requirements encourages innovation
iC-CES created a technology-open call for proposals to leave room for optimized and innovative solutions. A reference design with a flat-plate collector field and pit heat storage was provided together with the tender documents. However, suppliers could also offer other technologies if they fulfilled the required performance data such as temperature level and amount of supplied heat. Less than a hand full of consortia submitted applications within the pre-qualification phase by 11 April 2025.
iC-CES is planning a second tender procedure, which will then comprise the following measures: Expansion of the local heating network and the installation of heating substations for 38,000 inhabitants of Pristina as well as the construction of kilometres of connecting pipelines between the existing heat transmission pipe, the solar heating plant and the district heating network.
Scheme for the solar district heating plant in Pristina, Kosovo, which will be connected via a 4.2 km pipeline (rosa line) with the city of Pristina. A branch line of 1.6 km (blue line) will connect the seasonal storage with the CHP transmission pipe. Graphic: CES
Big Solar Pristina project moves toward tender phase
CES has been working in Kosovo as a consultant for heating technology since 2012. They have been supporting Termokos with its modernisation, decarbonisation and expansion, mainly financed by the German Financial Cooperation. During the modernization projects the idea of solar thermal district heating came up and was developed by CES step by step in different studies.
According to the current timetable, the tendering process for the solar part should start as early as June 2025 if the pre-qualification phase runs smoothly. Ideally, construction could then start in mid-2026. However, Eckert points out that there are many external influences, for example due to the very complex authorization procedure that can lead to future delays in such major projects.
| Site | Pristina, Kosovo | Novi Sad, Serbia |
| Planned size of collector field | 44.1 MW (63,000 m2) | 27 MW (38,600 m2) |
| Planned size of seasonal storage | 380,000 m3 | 850,000 m3 |
| Planned capacity of heat pumps | Absorption heat pump(s) totalling 20 MW | Heat pump with 17 MW, e-boiler with 60 MW |
| Available land | North-west of Pristina, outside the city with a approx. 4 km pipeline to the city’s district heating grid | City’s sanitary water supply protection area |
| Investor | Termokos | Novosadska Toplana Novi Sad |
| Author of the pre-feasibility study | CES – Clean Energy Solutions, Austria | Pre-feasibility study developed by SOLID Solar Energy Systems, Austria.
Full feasibility study developed by Aalborg CSP, Denmark |
| Implementation consultant | Consortium with iC group + CES clean energy solutions, both from Austria | Tendering procedure for implementation consultant in preparation |
| Total CAPEX for solar district heating plant | EUR 80 million | EUR 105 million |
| Provision of CAPEX | EUR 31.6 million grant from the German government via KfW Development Bank, EUR 21.5 million grant from EU via Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) EUR 23.5 million from EBRD (all three signed) and national contributions |
EUR 21 million grant by European Union within the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) expected to be signed in second Quarter 2025,
EUR 84 million loan by EBRD signed in December 2024 |
| Financing for implementation and supervision | Included in the CAPEX | EUR 3.1 million provided by EU grant |
| Status of planning progress | Pre-qualification tender for solar district heating plant closed on 11 April 2025 | Pre-feasibility study completed since August 2024,
Tendering for implementation partner under preparation |
Key data for the two big solar district heating plants in Kosovo and Serbia Source: EBRD / CES
Websites of organizations mentioned in this news article:
iC consulenten: https://ic-group.org/
CES clean energy solutions: https://ic-ces.at/
Termokos: https://termokos.org/v2/
Novosadska Toplana Novi Sad: https://nstoplana.rs/
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): https://www.ebrd.com/
Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF): https://wbif.eu/
KFW Banking Group: https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Entwicklungsbank/
PlanEnergi: https://planenergi.eu/
SOLID Solar Energy Systems: https://www.solid.at/
Gjeokonsult: https://gjeokonsult.com/en/
Big Solar Pristina Project: https://solar4kosovo2.org/en/
Aalborg CSP A/S: https://www.aalborgcsp.com/
