EPBiH obtains loans for solar park on former coal mining site

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine is financing a EUR 40.35 million solar park project almost entirely from loans that the EBRD and UniCredit approved.

Suffering severe financial losses and a lack of coal, Elektroprivreda BiH is under pressure to accelerate the deployment of renewables. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state-owned power utility is in a similar position as other such companies in Balkans and beyond.

Trampled by market forces and environmental requirements, coal plants are lowering production, and even shutting down, at rates that seemed unbelievable just a few years back. EPBiH has relatively big and numerous projects, but implementation has been slow and the Gračanica solar power project is no exception.

The Gračanica solar park will have 45 MW in connection capacity

The company signed agreements with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on a EUR 25.1 million loan and with UniCredit Bank’s subsidiary in BiH, for another EUR 15 million. The funds are for two adjacent solar power plants with 25 MW each in peak capacity.

They are envisaged with a grid connection of 45 MW in total and an annual output of 66 GWh. The investment is valued at EUR 40.35 million. The loans will need to be repaid in ten years, but with a two-year deferment.

Gračanica 1, 2 is EPBiH’s biggest photovoltaic investment

The site for the photovoltaic park is a rehabilitated tailings dump in Bugojno in the central part of BiH. The coal mine, Gračanica, is in the neighboring municipality of Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje.

The twin facilities, called Gračanica 1 and 2, are the utility’s biggest solar power project so far. The EBRD’s representatives noted it is the bank’s first renewables investment in the country, according to EPBiH’s announcement.

BiH’s utility eager to help increase number of prosumers

General Manager Sanel Buljubašić said the company is working with the authorities on the possibilities to help consumers generate electricity for a part of their needs and become prosumers. “This way we are achieving a greater dispersion of electricity production into the center of consumption,” he stated.

The Gračanica 1 and 2 endeavor is part of broader cooperation with the EBRD on the utility’s energy transition.

As part of the project, the EBRD is supporting a 2050 technical cooperation initiative, in which several 2050 decarbonisation scenarios for EPBiH will be comprehensively assessed, along with their impact on EPBiH’s operations, financial capital requirements, planning, project implementation structures and communication with stakeholders. A second technical cooperation initiative will support EPBiH in working with the authorities to introduce new educational standards in the renewable energy field, focused on a just transition in the context of workforce management challenges associated with decarbonisation, the bank added.

The Austrian government and the EBRD are providing funds for technical support.

EPBiH lost EUR 13.6 million in the first half of the year or 9.1% more than in the same period of 2023. Turnover fell 5.3% on an annual basis, to EUR 286.8 million.