BANJA LUKA – Bosnia and Herzegovina has the natural potential to meet its entire annual electricity demand from solar panels. However, experts claim that the state, with its three electricity companies, is not too interested in this form of energy, which, in the process of decarbonization, presents itself as a logical choice.
To be precise, there is support for renewable energy sources, but only nominally, as all indications suggest that there is still significant resistance to it and a lack of readiness to shift away from dirty energy based on fossil fuels.
Samir Avdaković, a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Sarajevo and director of the “ATS Institute,” believes that the key lies in prosumers, small producers who are also consumers of electricity, who are recognized in Europe as the leaders of the energy transition, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina they are still mostly outside the legal framework.
According to him, rooftops today represent the greatest energy potential and should be the focus.
“Electricity consumption in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to about 12,000 gigawatt hours annually. Half of that could be produced on rooftops if we installed 5-kilowatt panels on one million rooftops. The connections and infrastructure are already in place. So, half of the electricity for the entire year could be found right here,” Avdaković says.
Furthermore, one of the ideas that is rarely discussed but is highly developed in Europe is floating photovoltaic power plants.
Students have calculated that installing panels on 5% of the surface area of large artificial lakes in the country would yield 1,215 gigawatt hours of energy, which is over 10% of the total production in the country.
He also sees potential in viticulture, which has a 2,000-year tradition in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We have 4,000 hectares of vineyards. On one hectare, 1,250 gigawatt hours of electricity could be produced, or a total of 5,000 gigawatt hours. In addition to electricity production, panels also protect the grapes, and experiences worldwide show that yields can increase by up to 30%,” Avdaković said.
However, a significant obstacle to realizing these ideas is the fact that bylaws have not been adopted in both entities, and the authorities are in no hurry.
Deliberately Complicated Procedure
Mirza Kušljugić, a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Tuzla and chairman of the Board of the Center for Sustainable Energy Transition (RESET), claims that the development of this type of electricity production is being hindered in every possible way, including delays in legislation, bylaws, and complicating regulations in electricity distribution.
“We are the only country in Europe without prosumers, and I believe that this was intentional. The people managing the electricity companies are afraid of consumers who also become producers entering the system. This would require significant changes where they would no longer have a monopoly,” he says.
According to him, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the only ones in Europe who are prevented from producing electricity for their own needs, and this needs to be changed urgently.
“There is no prosumer in Europe who is forbidden to connect to the grid. This happens only here,” he concluded.
Economist Damir Miljević says that the energy transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina is being faked.
At numerous conferences, he says, there is talk of new megawatts from renewable energy sources, while in practice, none of the electricity companies, except for two wind farms, have done anything significant.
This has led to a situation where private individuals in the municipality of Gračanica have installed more panels than all three electricity companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina combined.
“The problem is that decisions are not being made, and the consequences of this indecision will ultimately be paid by the citizens through a lack of electricity or increased prices,” Miljević said.
Otherwise, laws defining prosumers have been adopted in both entities, and in September last year, the Republic of Srpska adopted the Rulebook on Customer-Producers.
The Electric Power Industry of the Republic of Srpska announced in August 2022 the Energy Sustainability Program, promising to help install solar panels on 50,000 households in Srpska under favorable credit conditions.
The program was a complete failure, with less than 5,000 people responding to the public call. The “ERS” also shares the blame for the low response, as it did not make much effort to explain to consumers the advantages and benefits of installing solar panels.
