Three years ago, a group of local activists in the village of Pecka in northern Bosnia and Herzegovinaset out to exploit the sun's potential and build a solar power plant on the roof of the Pecka Visitor Center. It was the first such a solar plant in rural Bosnia. The Pecka initiative was the result Contact online >>
Three years ago, a group of local activists in the village of Pecka in northern Bosnia and Herzegovinaset out to exploit the sun''s potential and build a solar power plant on the roof of the Pecka Visitor Center. It was the first such a solar plant in rural Bosnia. The Pecka initiative was the result of a crowdfunding campaign that raised €7,000 ($7,500), which was matched by the UN Development Program, or UNDP.
Yet, a whole year after their installation, the 15 solar panels haven''t generated a single kilowatt of electricity. The law regulating feed-in to the power grid remains unfinished, and the center fears that even using the installed system to produce its own energy, known as self-consumption, might later complicate connection to the grid.
"We submitted a request for connection to the local utility in July 2021, and we''re still waiting for an answer," says Boro Maric, owner of the Pecka Visitor Center. Indeed, the official bureaucracy is so ponderous, it''s "as if we had built a small hydroelectric power plant," he says. Maric also says that an acute lack of information about the entire process has made the project all the more difficult. After the system was installed, for example, the center was informed it would have to pay an additional €4,000 to connect to the grid.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federal state made up of two "entities": the Serb-majority Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is dominated by Bosniaks and Croats. The two entities were created by the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Bosnian War at the end of 1995.
In terms of meeting climate goals, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long way to go: Over 60% of the country''s energy hails from fossil fuels, primarily coal. On paper, Bosnia is on board to decarbonize by 2050 — a mighty promise in light of its prodigious coal use. It intends to ratchet up its share of energy from renewable energy sources to over 40% by 2030, according to international pledges.
The country plans to institute a system for CO2 pricingand trading by January 2026, which could cost the coal industry dearly, say experts. The greatest hurdles are the state''s complicated distribution of competencies in the field of energy and the powerful vested interests of the coal industry, say developers and experts.
Not only do Bosnia''s entities have complete autonomy in decision-making when it comes to energy, so too do the ten cantons within the federation. "These complicated procedures are the reason for the slowness" of Bosnia''s decarbonization processes, says Halko Balavac of the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry. Each canton must submit its consent for each project, followed by the entity and then the state.
In terms of laws enabling renewable energy, Republika Srpska recently passed statutes, which are still being finalized, that allow households to both produce and consume electricity. Republika Srpska has contracted projects in the field of renewable energy worth over €1 billion, according to its minister of energy, Petar Djokic.
Of the 180 countries that Transparency International assesses for corruption, Bosnia scores poorly, ranking between Albania and Malawi. The renewable energy sector, it seems, is no exception to the rule. Republika Srpska parliamentarian Nebojsa Vukanovic says privileged investors who are close to the authorities are the ones who land concessions.
"Ninety percent of concessions in the field of renewable energy sources are given to companies owned by politicians from the ruling party or their close relatives, who serve as a cover for them," claims Vukanovic. Minister Djokic, however, claims that everything is done "according to the law." "There are no privileged parties who get concessions," he says.
Bosnia boasts large reserves of coal and, according to critics, the state and energy industry intend to continue profiting from it. Experts say coal-fueled power plants in the central Bosnian cities of Tuzla and Kakanj will continue to operate at least until 2040, probably longer.
"Energy in Bosnia is run by state-owned or entity-owned companies," says economist Damir Miljevic of the Center for Sustainable Energy Transition (RESET), which advocates for renewable energy. "If it is state-owned, it is influenced by politics. This is why they do not want to change anything."
Although Bosnia''s renewable energy supply is very small at present, Miljevic is convinced that the country has the potential to lead the Western Balkans in terms of renewable energy production. "Now is the time for water, sun and wind," he says. "In all three categories, Bosnia and Herzegovina has perhaps the best conditions in Europe. Instead of using it as a development opportunity — switching from one type of energy to another — they say no, we will continue with coal, as long as it lasts."
Thisarticleis partofa five-part serieson renewable energy development in South Eastern Europeconductedwiththesupportofjournalismfund .
Edited by Paul Hockenos, Rüdiger Rossig, Aingeal Flanagan
There are 16 solar power plants at the territory of FB&H that sell electricity to electro-energetic enterprises. Solar power plants have proven to be an excellent project which can reduce electricity bills if used for personal purposes or which can generate profit if you sell the produced electricity.
The first solar power plant in B&H was opened in March 2012 in Kalesija, built by Sadik Fatić and his son Selmir, owner of the company "Eko Energija". It is installed on the roof of the City Hall in Kalesija and its construction cost 800,000 BAM. The collected sun energy is being transformed into electrical energy with the help of solar modules and that electricity is then sent to the system of Elektroprivreda BiH. The solar power plant has the power of 12 kilowatts and solar panels cover 1,200 square meters.
"This is something new here and a lot can be learned in the field of renewable sources of energy. I advise everyone who has the opportunity to invest in solar, hydro and wind power plants because they are really cost-effective. Such projects demand investments, but the profit is secured and that is the most important," Fatić said.
On the premises of the United Nations in Sarajevo, the official presentation and handover of the Interactive Solar Atlas (ISA) took place. ISA was developed within the project “Accelerating the transition to clean energy using the potential of solar energy in BiH – SolarCET”, which is implemented by UNDP in BiH with the financial support of the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia.
It is the first publicly available tool that provides all the necessary information about the solar potential in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was handed over to the Independent System Operator (NOS) in BiH.
Raduška Cupać, Energy and Environment Sector Leader at UNDP BiH, thanked Slovakia for the financial support for this project, as well as NOS for recognizing the importance of ISA, the purpose of which is to facilitate the transition to renewable energy sources for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will ultimately contribute to reducing the use of fossil fuels, as well as building a sustainable and more environmentally friendly future.
This solar atlas, as a web platform, is an important tool, with data that can be updated in accordance with current changes in the field of solar energy. This is also a key step for creating a positive environment for investments in solar energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The General Director of NOS, Nemanja Pandurević, said on that occasion: “Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken its obligations by signing the Paris Agreement and the Sofia Declaration, as well as the Treaty on the Establishment of the Energy Community.” NOS is working on the realization of the set goals, and through the National Energy and Climate Plans until 203O. we have set ambitious goals where we need to reverse the relationship between thermal power plants and solar energy in favor of solar energy, and ISA will truly help us here. ISA found the right address by coming to NOSBiH!"
The interactive solar atlas aims to motivate citizens, owners of private and public facilities to use solar panels and collectors for the production of renewable energy as a measure to support the transition to clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Patrik Turošík, chargé d’affaires, a.i. Embassy of the Slovak Republic, also emphasized the importance of this extremely useful tool, thanks to which BiH made a step towards a sustainable future.”On behalf of the Slovak Republic, we are very proud to support this project and hope that the Interactive Solar Atlas will lead to making the right decisions and wise investments in renewable energy sources,” added Turošík.
In addition to this important tool, in the previous period, SolarCET also worked in cooperation with local self-government units on the development of financial mechanisms, and the implementation and subsidization of the installation of solar systems for own needs in over 60 individual housing facilities in the area of Mostar, Cazin, Gradiška and Prijedor.
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