Austrian company planning hydro power and solar plants in Republic of Srpska

The Austrian company SCHALL Group has expressed interest in building renewable energy power plants in the Republic of Srpska (RS), Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining of RS Petar Đokić said after a meeting with representatives of the company. He said they plan to build water-powered and solar-powered plants along the Vrbanja river basin in Herzegovina.

Đokić met with Gerhardt Schall, CEO of the KIOTO, SCHALL Gruppe eco-tec and PV Invest companies who expressed interest in building several small hydro power plants of a combined power of around 12 MW on the Vrbanja river. He said the combined investment in those plants would be around EUR 6 million.

The Austrian companies also want to build several solar-powered plants with the first one being built in Herzegovina. That plant will have a power of 65 MW.

The SCHALL Gruppe eco-tec has completed similar projects in Austria, Germany and Italy. Those plants have a combined capacity of about 30 MW of installed power.

The Austrian company feels that the Republic of Srpska has a very good geographic position and has the potential for renewable energy plants which could serve as an example to other countries in the region. The Republic of Srpska has 16 small hydro power plants and several small solar power plants.

Đokić said the RS is interested in renewable energy plants and recalled that it has an obligation to increase the amount of power it gets from renewable sources under international agreements. Schall said the projects his company wants to launch in the RS is a way to achieve that goal.