Innovation and sustainability are at the heart of Siemens, a member of the Association RES Serbia, which is proud of its 178-year-long tradition. The importance of innovations is proven by the business of Smart Infrastructure (SI), which over the past four years, has more than doubled its revenue from digital operations to 1.7 billion EUR, and has shown how successful a well-prepared and consistently implemented transformation can be, reveals Srdan Srdanović, Head of Smart Infrastructure at Siemens Serbia, in an interview for the RES Serbia portal.
He points out that for Siemens, the energy transition and renewable energy sources are much more than a business opportunity – globally, 91% of the electricity purchased by the company for the needs of its own business facilities and factories consists of electricity from renewable sources. The company is also gradually but surely moving towards the goal of complete electrification of its fleet by 2030.
Siemens is the first company in Serbia and the region to deliver and put into operation a charging system for 10 electric buses in Novi Sad, and provides equipment for numerous wind farms and solar power plants.
Our interlocutor reveals that he expects the expansion of the construction of solar power plants in Serbia in the coming period, adding that Siemens is a reliable partner in the local market, whether it is the delivery of specialized equipment, cooperation in the design phases or the creation of smart solutions.
What results did Siemens record in 2024? What are your business ambitions for the future?
– In fiscal year 2024, which ended September 30, 2024, the Siemens Group generated revenues of 75.9 billion EUR and a net profit of 9 billion EUR, while the Smart Infrastructure (SI) business continued to grow in an extremely dynamic global market. We have set ambitious goals and we have fulfilled them. Now, in the new fiscal year, we’re raising the bar again with bigger goals to unlock the next level of value creation. We help our clients in a wide range of industries and geographies, including our local market, to increase their efficiency so that they can operate both profitably and sustainably and achieve their financial goals in a competitive environment.
“Smart Infrastructure has impressively demonstrated how successful a well-prepared and consistently implemented transformation can be“
Investing in new technologies is crucial because the energy sector is changing like everything else. Over the past few years, Smart Infrastructure has impressively demonstrated how successful a well-prepared and consistently implemented transformation can be. I’ll give you a concrete example, over the past four years, SI has more than doubled its digital business revenue to 1.7 billion EUR, a year ahead of time, exceeding the 1.5 billion EUR target it announced back in 2021. The SI business has also made a strong contribution to supporting Siemens to meet and exceed its ambitious sustainability goals. Our groundbreaking products that support electrification include the IoT-connected SENTRON ECPD, the world’s fastest electrical circuit protection device, which requires up to 90 percent less material – and the environmentally friendly F-gas-free blueGIS portfolio for medium-voltage power supply, which was launched ahead of regulations in Europe.
To conclude, innovation and sustainability are at the heart of SI’s strategy, as well as Siemens as a whole, which sets even greater ambitions for us in order to create additional value for our customers and society.
Given that the priority of the Association RES Serbia are projects related to renewable energy sources, what role do renewable energy sources play in your portfolio?
– The energy transition and renewable energy sources are much more than a business opportunity for us. It is a definition and a way of thinking and acting.
On the one hand, globally, 91% of the electricity we buy consists of electricity from renewable sources for the needs of our business facilities and factories.
At the same time, Siemens is one of the key players in this field with its unique solutions that combine innovation, quality and efficiency. Over the years, Siemens Serbia has established itself as a reliable partner in the local market through successful participation in a number of projects, whether it is the delivery of specialized equipment, cooperation in the design phases or the creation of smart solutions. Siemens is here, first of all, with its technology, as well as with its rich experience and expert team. For our partners, whether they are investors or contractors, Siemens is a reliable support from the beginning of development to the end of operational work and exploitation of a project.
Which projects would you single out?
– The project of implementation of Process bus technology at the Bor 6 substation stands out as representative in terms of our orientation towards the combination of innovation, quality and efficiency, special because it represents a pioneering application of process bus technologies at the entire substation in Serbia. Here I would like to emphasize the productive cooperation with Elektromreža Srbije (EMS), the result of which is a pilot project for the first process bus network and an optical current transformer in the Belgrade 3 substation. As another example of successful cooperation, as well as the fulfillment of customer requirements before the deadline, I would single out the Kragujevac 2 400/110 kV substation project, in which Siemens participated with the design of cabinets, the purchase of equipment, wiring and the installation of the FAT system for 47 cabinets for protection and control.
We are proud to have provided a part of the equipment within the substations (medium-voltage plants and protection and control system) for connection to the transmission system of the Čibuk 1 wind farm, as the largest operating wind farm in Serbia, then the Krivača and Crni vrh wind farms, the Kostolac wind farm built by Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) as well as both built and operational wind farms in Montenegro (Krnovo wind farm and Možura wind farm).
Siemens supplies equipment for a large number of wind farms in Serbia and the region
The construction of solar power plants in Serbia and its surroundings is also a field of active engagement of local Siemens teams. These include the 30 MW Erseka 1 power plant in Albania, as well as the recently completed project to install an automation system for the substation of the largest power plant of its kind in Pometeno Brdo. We expect the expansion of solar power plants, as well as the construction of the first solar power plants connected to the electricity transmission system. We are very interested in offering our partners reliable and smart solutions in order to increase the reliability and resilience of the distribution and transmission power grid. We are also present in the hydro sector, primarily on hydropower plant revitalization projects implemented by EPS.
Siemens has a number of software solutions in its portfolio that deal with the integration of renewable energy sources, among which the most prominent are PSS®E and PSS®E Sincal. Monitoring of low-voltage and detection of weak points of the low-voltage network can be done with the Gridscale X LV insights solution in real time. In addition, we have other real-time solutions such as the latest Spectrum Power 7 SCADA and Gridscale X dynamic Security Assessment, which deals with the monitoring of dynamic parameters of the transmission network. Expertise of the engineering team of Siemens d.o.o. Belgrade is recognized and used by Siemens all over the world.
We are glad that such projects are multiplying because, although the sustainable transformation of industries, economies and entire business chains is growing day by day, climate challenges and global flows require a further acceleration of the energy transition in the region through a more consistent application of sustainable technologies and the transformation of traditional ways of doing business.
What smart solutions does Siemens offer to accelerate the energy transition?
– Siemens solutions that play a major role in this area are led by our smart grid, a technology that allows for balancing energy production and consumption, which significantly increases the reliability and sustainability of the system.
Also, the Siemens Xcelerator platform connects digital technologies and enables more flexible management of energy infrastructure, which helps optimize resources and reduce emissions.
We are also proud of Siemens’ automation and control solutions for power plants, such as SCADA systems and redundant controllers. These technologies enable more efficient management and monitoring of energy resources, making a key contribution to achieving carbon neutrality goals.
Through the creation of targeted technologies and the application of smart solutions in projects, Siemens improves energy efficiency and directly contributes to sustainable development, making our energy system more resilient and improving the everyday life of all of us.
As an example from local practice, Siemens is the first company in Serbia and the region to deliver and put into operation a charging system for 10 electric buses in Novi Sad. The system consists of 3 ultra-fast 450kW pantograph chargers and 5 small 2x25kW chargers for overnight bus charging, which means that the three daily chargers recharge the buses in a very short time, under 10 minutes.
The project of electrification of the company’s vehicle fleet is also underway, which is certainly ambitious and demanding, but we follow expectations and clear goals; We are gradually but surely moving towards the goal of complete electrification of our vehicle fleet by 2030.
Through the implementation of smart solutions, Siemens improves energy efficiency
At the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, as part of the lecture Challenges in the Integration of Renewable Energy Sources in the Distribution and Transmission Network, which was organized in partnership with our Association, you presented your solutions that can significantly affect the efficiency of solar power plants. What do these solutions bring in practice and should they be taken into account at the investment decision stage and the initial design phase?
– The smart SICAM PPC solution provides the opportunity to have a significant impact on the efficiency and performance of solar power plants. The plant requires system operator solutions to manage solar power plants to ensure compliance of operational parameters with the grid code.
In practice, this means that the characteristics of all subsystems of the power plant, together with the controller, must be taken into account already at the design stage. In the case of power plants with high installed power (B and C categories), the functionality and performance of the controller itself should be considered already when making a study and making an investment decision. In this way, we ensure the optimal and efficient operation of solar power plants, which is crucial for the long-term success and sustainability of these projects.
You often emphasize “know-how” and expertise as a key segment of the company’s business. Who makes up Siemens in Serbia, what is the structure of employees by education, gender, age?
– The average age of employees is 38 years, while the percentage of highly educated reaches almost 80%. Siemens in Serbia is in a particularly grateful position when it comes to the ratio of colleagues with a golden ratio of 50-50%. It is a privilege to work in such an environment, the expertise of our team, as well as the approach to work, are valuable for our team.
In addition to our commitment to greater diversity of teams and our goal of having at least 30% women in leading global management by the end of fiscal year 2025, we launched a global Gender Equality Program at the end of 2021 that actively encourages stronger gender equality in the company along the entire employment chain, and we are pleased to see the positive results of creativity and productivity of diverse teams.
Siemens has been a member of the Association RES Serbia for a year now. How satisfied are you with your membership and interaction with other members?
– I think that it is very important for the development of renewable energy sources that there is a platform such as the association RES Serbia that enables the exchange and development of new ideas in this sector, but also the discussion of challenges and finding ways to overcome them through the improvement of legislation, deadlines, etc.
In this regard, we are very satisfied with the professional and active approach of the Association. I would especially like to emphasize the inclusiveness of the Association, commitment to the topics of gender equality through the Green Women’s Network and other initiatives, but also the education of young people about the importance of the energy transition.
We hope that as a company with 178 years of tradition and innovation that operates in almost all countries of the world, Siemens with its membership contributes to the achievement of concrete results and progress in the work of the RES sector and in the Association itself.
I also think that there should be an initiative for the activities of the Association both on the part of the Association itself and on the part of the members, because in this way we will further accelerate the further development of the RES sector. A real example of which I am personally proud is the joint event of Siemens and the Association at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and I believe that we will have more similar activities in the future. As I said, each membership is a two-way street, and it is an invitation for all members to support the further development of the RES sector, as well as sustainable development in the world, through the presence and concrete actions in cooperation with the Association RES Serbia.