Renewable electricity can help Serbian cement exporters improve the emissions data reported under the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), provided power procurement is integrated into a wider strategy addressing clinker production, kiln fuels and process emissions.
For covered cement products, the definitive CBAM methodology includes indirect electricity emissions. Producers able to demonstrate an eligible lower electricity emissions factor can therefore improve reported embedded emissions, although electricity procurement cannot replace measures targeting the direct emissions associated with cement manufacturing.
Cement’s carbon footprint is heavily influenced by calcination and thermal energy. For Western Balkan producers, the strongest monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems must combine electricity data with information on clinker chemistry, kiln fuels and other process emissions to establish which measures deliver the greatest reductions in reported emissions intensity.
Product Allocation and Electricity Evidence
Producers first need to map their products and processes, distinguishing clinker, cement types and other relevant outputs. Electricity consumption from grinding, conveying, fans, mills and shared utilities should be identified and allocated consistently, while production volumes and clinker ratios require controlled records.
Changes in product composition can affect emissions intensity even when total site energy consumption remains stable. A lower-clinker cement, for example, may have lower embedded emissions while requiring more grinding electricity per tonne, making energy-intensity indicators insufficient on their own.
Renewable procurement can include on-site solar, direct technical connections and qualifying physical power purchase agreements (PPAs). To support the relevant actual-value reporting route, producers need to preserve generation and consumption data at the required intervals and obtain the necessary verified information from generating installations. Purchasing annual renewable certificates alone should not be assumed to satisfy those requirements.
Grid Supply and Plant Efficiency
Cement plants must also distinguish qualifying renewable electricity from grid power and backup supply. Even under a long-term renewable contract, a facility may draw substantial electricity when contracted generation falls short. Applying one emissions factor across the entire year could obscure this difference.
An effective MRV system separates qualifying and fallback electricity volumes, allowing management to assess the contribution of additional renewable coverage. Electricity strategy should also be coordinated with operational efficiency measures, including grinding optimisation, high-efficiency drives, fan controls and maintenance, which can reduce electricity consumption per tonne.
Where production schedules allow, flexible loads can be shifted towards periods of higher renewable generation without disrupting kiln operations. Producers can also assess whether operating more efficient mills or product lines during those periods improves electricity costs and the indirect emissions component, subject to product-quality requirements and actual operating data.
Integrating Electricity with Clinker Decarbonisation
Importers and customers still require a complete embedded-emissions calculation. A lower electricity factor cannot compensate for inadequate clinker or fuel records, so monitoring systems must integrate raw materials, kiln emissions, fuels, measurable heat where relevant, electricity consumption and product output.
Plants should also distinguish electricity used in quarrying, clinker production and cement manufacturing where the reporting boundary requires it. Site-wide renewable electricity percentages may otherwise conceal which production stages benefit from the contracted supply.
Investment assessments can compare renewable electricity, alternative fuels, clinker substitution, heat recovery and process efficiency by cost per verified tonne of emissions reduced. Renewable power may address a smaller share of the cement footprint than clinker substitution or alternative fuels, but it can be implemented more quickly and may be easier to verify.
Financing and Customer Reporting
For lenders, cement offers a way to connect renewable power investments with regulatory emissions reporting. Financing for solar installations or physical PPAs can specify how electricity evidence enters the product-level calculation. Banks must still assess whether the customer or importer captures the resulting value and whether the contractual arrangements secure the necessary power and supporting data.
Verified electricity information can also support customer product declarations beyond CBAM, where the relevant product-footprint methodologies permit its use. Maintaining a common, high-quality evidence base can therefore serve customs reporting, commercial relationships and sustainability disclosures, although the calculations required for each purpose are not necessarily identical.
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