Bosnia and Herzegovina’s power utility keeps posting losses amid weak output, increased imports

State power utility Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH) failed to stabilize its operations and turn a profit in the first half of 2025, posting a loss of BAM 45.47 million (EUR 23.25 million) instead. The poor performance was largely due to reduced electricity production and increased imports caused by a coal shortage.

EPBiH’s target for the first six months of 2025 was BAM 11 million in profit. Instead, the state power utility generated a loss that was by BAM 18.76 million higher than in the same period of 2024, when the loss amounted to BAM 26.71 million, according to Biznisinfo.

EPBiH suffered a net loss of EUR 29.4 million in 2024, following a EUR 170 million loss in the previous year.

In the first half of this year, EPBiH’s hydropower plants generated 121.8 GWh less electricity than planned, while output at its thermal power plants fell short of the target by as much as 651.4 GWh amid a coal shortage. At the same time, due to the lower production in its own power plants, EPBiH’s expenditure on electricity purchases was several times higher than planned.

The lower production and losses were mainly due to the coal shortage

In H1 2025, Bosnia and Herzegovina imported almost 4.5 times more electricity than it did in the same period in 2024, reflecting the difficult state of EPBiH and the other two power utilities in the country – Elektroprivreda HZHB (EPHZHB) and Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS).

EPBiH recorded a loss despite higher revenues

EPBiH recorded the six-month loss despite an increase in total revenues, from BAM 561.8 million in H1 2024 to BAM 745.1 million in the first half of this year. Revenues from power purchase agreements grew from BAM 549.3 million to BAM 733.3 million.

Total expenditures, however, increased to BAM 790.6 million from BAM 588.5 million in the first half of last year.