Solar Power For Coal Pits Of Bosnian Electric Utility

• Bosnia & Herzegovina will see 200 MW solar power capacity coming up in the country
• Its national electricity utility plans to install this capacity on its open coal pits where it has completed mining activities
• The utility aims to bring the capacity online by the year 2025, its CEO said in an interview

Bosnia and Herzegovina's public electric utility Elektroprivreda Bosne I Hercegovine (EPBiH) plans to get solar power with 200 MW combined capacity for its open coal pits where the company is done with coal exploration. It plans to install this capacity by 2025, the company's CEO Amir Andelija said in an interview with local business news portal ekapija.

With the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as its more than 90% stakeholder, EPBiH has total installed power generation capacity of 1.682 GW primarily comprising thermal and hydro power. It is also getting into the wind power space.

EPBiH is obligated to lower its carbon emissions as the country needs to lower its CO2 emissions to zero by 2050 under European Union (EU) directives.

Balkan Green Energy News reported in September 2020 that Bosnia and Herzegovina's State Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERK) has increased the maximum capacity of solar power plants that can be connected to the country's grid was raised from 400 MW to 825 MW, and for wind it was increased from 460 MW to 840 MW. DERK acted on the proposal made by the Independent System Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina (NOSBiH). It would encourage utility scale solar power plants in the country as the news report said there are none to date.

Earlier in May 2020, European energy trading and investment company Energy Financing Team (EFT) won the rights to develop 60 MW Bileca Solar Power Plant in Bosnia, part of the country's plans to develop 1 GW renewable energy capacity by 2029 and lower its coal power consumption (see 60 MW Solar Capacity Awarded In Bosnia).