Pancevo Hands Out 210 Subsidies for Solar Panels, Facades

The City of Pancevo and the Ministry of Mining and Energy handed out contracts on September 24 for subsidies covering energy retrofits of family homes and apartments: 210 in total, 62 of them for solar power installations. Pancevo Mayor Aleksandar Stevanovic and caretaker Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic presented the contracts. At the ceremony in Pancevo, 100 of the 210 contracts were handed over in person.

Of the 210 contracts awarded, 199 go to regular households and 11 to socially vulnerable families. Under the program’s rules, that second category can have up to 90% of its investment covered. The City of Pancevo set aside 33.5 million dinars from its budget for this year’s co-financing.

Solar power plants account for nearly a third of this year’s allocation: 62 of the 210 subsidies, or about 30%. The minister pointed to growing interest among residents in producing their own electricity.

“Pancevo has been part of the program to boost household energy efficiency from the very start. The Ministry and the City of Pancevo have together invested more than 120 million dinars to help residents cut their consumption and bills while making their homes more comfortable. With 210 contracts awarded in the latest public call, around 650 households in Pancevo will have used subsidies from the Ministry and the local government. Today we also awarded 62 subsidies for solar power plants, almost 30 percent of the total. Residents recognize how useful it is to produce their own electricity and how much they can save by doing so. Thank you to the local government for regularly taking part in these public calls, and thank you to the residents who apply, because they set an example for their neighbors, friends and relatives to recognize the value that investing in energy efficiency brings,” Djedovic Handanovic said.

The program has run in Pancevo since 2023, through cooperation between the city and the ministry. More than 120 million dinars have been invested since it began, and with the latest call, around 650 households in the city are now using subsidies from the Ministry and the local government. It covers window and door replacement, better thermal insulation, upgraded heating systems, gas connections and solar panel installation.

Mayor Stevanovic also pointed to the wider effect of the investment, from renewable electricity production to lower household consumption.

“These projects, which cover electricity production from renewable sources, gas connections, and lower electricity use through new facade insulation and window and door replacement, will go a long way toward reducing the country’s overall electricity production and consumption, and with it the emissions from thermal power plants. By making greater use of renewable energy sources, we will ease the pressure on our country’s power system,” Stevanovic said.

Djedovic Handanovic announced that the state will keep investing in household energy efficiency, and that support for energy-vulnerable families will remain part of the program in future public calls.