The Republic of Kosovo stands at a crossroads: as a small, landlocked country in the heart of South East Europe, it has tremendous potential to transform its energy system toward a lower carbon paradigm. The bulk of Kosovo’s electricity demand is currently met by two large coal-fired power plants. And yet, after years of inaction on renewable energy, momentum is finally picking up in Kosovo for the development of renewable energy projects, with several hundred MW of new projects in the pipeline. If all projects proposed as of December 2021 were to be realized, they would bring a total of 666MW of wind power and 799MW of solar power online, substantially exceeding the country’s current installed coal-fired capacity.
However, a number of risks and barriers to investment persist. This report provides an overview of the current renewable energy landscape in Kosovo and examines the cost savings that the government can unlock by improving its policy and regulatory landscape, introducing targeted de-risking measures, and by enhancing power system flexibility.