BiH to install 2,200 MW of wind, solar over next three to four years

Over the next three to four years, Bosnia and Herzegovina could add solar power plants with a combined capacity of 1,500 MW and wind farms of 700 MW in total, according to Edhem Bičakčić, president of the South-East European Regional Council of CIGRE (SEERC).

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a significant potential for water, wind and solar energy, Edhem Bičakčić said. He added that new wind farms and photovoltaic plants are being built rapidly, Akta reported.

The investments in renewable energy, in his words, were additionally boosted by a significant increase in electricity prices in the last three years.

Bičakčić estimated that more than 1,500 MW in total of new photovoltaic plants and over 700 MW of wind farm capacity would produce 4,000 GWh of electricity per year. It is equivalent to a quarter of power output and a third of the consumption in BiH.

The biggest issue for new power plants is balancing

He expressed the belief that the biggest issue for such new facilities would be balancing and the transmission and distribution network capacity necessary to integrate the produced electricity. It is clear there is a lack of synchronization in the development of the transmission and distribution grids for the connection of new facilities, the BiH expert said.

Bičakčić stressed that the most difficult task for the country’s energy transition is to shut down coal power plants and cut net CO2 emissions to zero by 2050.

BiH has neither a plan nor a strategy

He pointed out that the energy transition doesn’t only concern renewable electricity production but also the use of green energy in transport and in heating and cooling.

The share of electricity in the total energy consumption should double by 2050, according to the expert. Therefore, pumped storage and impoundment hydropower plants would have to be built and used for storage together with green hydrogen and other technologies, Bičakčić stressed.

However, BiH doesn’t have a plan or a strategy for these challenges.

It is a developing country, he asserted. Without the support of international financial institutions through grants and favorable loans, as well as the transfer of knowledge and experience, it won’t be able to successfully carry out a just transition in its coal regions, Bičakčić said.