Belgrade gets greener with €5.2 billion investment

The Serbian capital Belgrade is aiming to invest a total of 5.2 billion euros by 2030 together with private stakeholders to reduce CO2 emissions and improve air quality. In doing so, the metropolis is also focusing on the electrification of the transport sector.

The city of Belgrade, with a population of 1.4 million, plans to address energy efficiency, renewable energy, wastewater, reforestation, sustainable mobility and pollution. In this context, drafts of a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) and a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) have now been presented. Both roadmaps are aligned and pursue complementary goals.

In the transportation sector, GCAP plans call for 40 per cent of buses in the city to be powered by electricity by 2030, as well as 80 per cent of cabs, 100 per cent of municipal vehicles, 80 per cent of commercial vehicles and 20 per cent of private vehicles. Among other things, Belgrade plans to spend 950 million euros on the purchase of electric buses and their infrastructure by then, and 6.45 million euros on 1,000 electric bicycles and 150 rental stations to be integrated into the public transport system.

The city does not intend to raise the necessary investment sum of an estimated 5.2 billion euros on its own. In the context of the draft action plan, it is proposed that the city take on just under two-thirds (64 per cent) of the investment, or a good 3.3 billion euros. The remaining 36 per cent is to be covered by private investment.

The drafts are currently open for public inspection and will remain so until 17 March. In drawing up the plans, the city worked together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under its ‘Green Cities’ program.

balkangreenenergynews.com, beograd.rs (PDF, GCAP, in Serbian)