Expertise knows no address: Serbian GreenTrusters
GreenTrust’s story in Serbia began long before the company was officially founded. In 2000, Romana, who now heads the Serbian office, met Jeroen Boerkamps, one of GreenTrust’s founders in the Netherlands. Romana’s husband knew Jeroen and introduced them to each other. What began as a pleasant acquaintance gradually grew into professional project cooperation and long-term mutual trust. When Jeroen, then working as an independent consultant, was looking for a strong technical partner with experience in modeling and technical documentation, Romana – with her MSc in mechanical engineering and background in energy systems – had exactly the profile and expertise he was looking for.
“Moving into the wind energy sector felt natural, but also challenging, in the best possible way,” Romana says. The Serbian subsidiary of today’s GreenTrust Consultancy B.V. was formally established in 2012. It gradually developed into an interdisciplinary team of four Serbian GreenTrusters, and is now an engineering center that plays an important role in the development and management of European wind, solar and battery storage projects.
The Serbian office brings together experts from different disciplines: mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, financial specialists and technical draftsmen. Together they work on the full life cycle of sustainable energy projects. From Belgrade, projects are modeled and analyzed that shape the energy future of the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
Work on operational wind parks, wind resource analyses, optimization of turbine configurations and preparation of bankable reports are part of the team’s daily practice. Romana coordinates wind measurements and production modeling and ensures data quality and compliance with financial and regulatory requirements. At the same time, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are being developed that are linked to wind farms such as Egchelse Heide and A2 Lage Rooijen in the Netherlands. Measurement campaigns, data analyses, uncertainty analyses and environmental compliance are carried out according to the highest European standards.
To keep projects stable and financially sustainable in the long run, financial management plays a key role. This component is led by Dejana. Her responsibilities include reporting to banks and investors, monitoring financial parameters and ensuring compliance with financing agreements.
‘I am fully responsible for reporting to banks and investors and for the financial monitoring of the wind park assets,’ explains Dejana, who joined GreenTrust looking for more than just a professional challenge. ‘GreenTrust is an organization that is really people-oriented. There is investment in employees, room to learn and grow, and genuine attention to how people feel,’ she says. For her, this combination of expertise and organizational culture was decisive.
However, project stability is not only about financial sustainability, but also about technical agility in a rapidly changing energy market. Energy projects are becoming increasingly complex. They are no longer isolated systems, but integrated solutions where wind, solar and battery storage come together. This market development has also influenced the growth of the team in Serbia.
Miloš started at GreenTrust as a solar specialist, where he designed solar parks and provided technical support. As the market shifted to hybrid solutions and energy storage systems, he broadened his focus to the development of energy hubs and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). ‘The challenges have expanded to hybrid solutions combining multiple renewable sources and battery storage. Our task is to realize optimal and feasible solutions, paying attention to technical, spatial and environmental frameworks,’ Miloš said.
To take a project from modeling to permitting and construction, accurate technical documentation is essential. In Belgrade, drawings are prepared for battery storage plants, wind and solar parks being built in the Netherlands and other European countries.
‘I work on preparing technical drawings required for the development, construction and maintenance of wind and solar farms, as well as large-scale energy storage systems,’ Bojan explains. He also contributes to optimizing battery designs to achieve maximum storage capacity within applicable regulations.
Such projects are the result of coordinated work within an international team. In that context, GreenTrust in Serbia operates as a full part of the organization, with the same technical and professional standards. With daily work, the team shows that the energy transition is neither Western nor Eastern, but joint, and that true expertise has no geographical address, but is determined by the quality of people.