Public power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS) aims to invest EUR 1.25 billion in 1,000-MW renewable energy power plants over the next 10 years, said ERS general manager Luka Petrović.

As the company has an enormous potential to use renewables, the ERS strategy is to build 1,000 MW renewable energy power plants over the next ten years, including wind farms and solar power plants, but also to make better use of hydropower, which are all the requirements of the Energy Community Secretariat, Petrović said at the opening of the 5th Energy Summit in Neum.

He said that the Republika Srpska government and Ministry of Energy and Mining support all projects in the pipeline as well as those that are still in the project phase. However, ERS expects financing from EU funds and financial institutions.

ERS’s action plan envisages the construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in Trebinje, the construction of a 50 MW Hrgud wind farm, and hydropower plants (HPPs) Dabar, Dubrovnik 2, Buk Bijela, and Cijevna 3, as well as power plants on the Drina River, Petrović said.

He said that the projects’ estimated value is EUR 1.25 billion, while the participation of ERS will be about 15%.

There is ongoing fund planning to secure participation in the construction of these projects as a requirement of financial institutions, said Petrović.

According to the ERS general manager, the construction of new power plants will ensure ERS’s electricity exports, new jobs, support to local communities where the facilities are located, and the hiring of domestic companies.

This year’s Energy Summit is focused on energy transition – the policy of long-term structural changes in energy systems. The summit is organized by USAID and GIZ.

About 650 participants from the state and private energy sector in BiH, as well as representatives of the international community, are attending the summit. Representatives of the international community have appealed to the BiH authorities to adopt a set of legal measures to enable the sector reforms.