The production of energy from renewable sources used to seem miles away, and today it is another one of the obligations that Bosnia and Herzegovina must work diligently on. And much faster than before. Through several signatures, our country has committed itself to putting this issue in the focus of work, but until now we have mostly just trotted along. A recently adopted set of energy laws could finally derail the entire process. Funds from European funds that would become available to us are an additional incentive.
Complicated and slow procedures, unclear jurisdictions and bureaucracy greatly hindered this process and made it difficult for investors. New laws could improve the situation, but only if they are consistently and fully applied in practice.
“Extremely complicated procedures that last, if not a year, maybe even years – this way they will be skipped and thrown out. However, we will see if some new hidden procedures will appear and take unnecessary time like this one,” says Almir Mujaković, president of the Green Energy Association.
By signing the Sofia Declaration, the countries of the region, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported the so-called The Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. The Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry of the FBiH Vedran Lakić (SDP BiH) reminds that it is foreseen in the European Green Plan, by which we have committed ourselves to work, together with the EU, on the goal of making Europe a climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Legal solutions without technical assumptions will not improve the situation by themselves. The current capacity of the network of 2,000 MWh hours in the area of wind power plants and the same number of solar power plants, warns the profession, could greatly endanger the entire project.
“The limiting factor is the construction of the transmission and distribution network in such a way as to provide equal access to the network to all potential investors,” explains Edhem Bičakčić, director of Bičakčić d.o.o.
The adopted laws are expected to enable investment support, which is currently lacking.
“We expect that this legislation will finally enable access to European funds. Investors with us only have commercial arrangements from banks,” Bičakčić adds.
Citizens and companies that install plants for their own consumption can currently count on EU funds for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. One of them, meeting rigorous criteria, installed a 600 kW solar power plant with the financial support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“With this installed solar power plant, it is about 30 percent of the total consumption. The main benefit for the environment, for the community, is the reduction of approximately 600 tons of CO2 per year,” says Adnan Lihić, representative of the Interprocess Tešanj company.
Investors note that even so far, the barrier to the faster implementation of these projects has not been so much the laws themselves – but rather bureaucratic procedures and unclear jurisdictions.
“So, there will probably be another delay in the implementation,” warns Lihić.
Given that the interest of investors exceeds the total capacity of our country in this sector, they appeal that, in addition to the newly adopted set of energy laws, work should be done on the efficiency of the electricity industry, the relevant ministry, regulators, operators and all those who are still an insurmountable bureaucratic obstacle for a large number of potential investors.
