ERS to introduce incentives for households to install solar panels

Power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS) will launch a program for subsidizing households to install solar panels by the middle of the year, its general director Luka Petrović announced.

The program is yet another initiative in the Balkans region to speed up the development of renewables and introduce prosumers after Montenegro and Serbia recently started providing subsidies for the installation of solar panels.

The Republic of Srpska will provide subsidies through ERS, a model similar to the one in Montenegro, where it is done by Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), while in Serbia, the subsidies are provided directly by the state.

Application for citizens should start on June 1

Luka Petrović, the general director of ERS, said the company would propose the model of subsidizing solar panels to the Government of the Republic of Srpska and that citizens could be able to start applying on June 1 and indefinitely. The first installations could begin at the end of this or the beginning of next year, according to ERS, Srna reported.

ERS expects 10 percent or about 50,000 consumers to install solar panels, Petrović pointed out and added that the new law on renewable energy sources enabled the concept of prosumers.

The intention is for all 580,000 housing units to be able to install solar panels

Petrović said that the ultimate goal of ERS is for all citizens to have the opportunity to be prosumers, which is 580,000 housing units in the Republic of Srpska. However, households with lower incomes, which must be certified, will receive the best conditions for installing solar panels.

With solar power, households will see no change or minor fluctuation in their electricity bills, said Petrović.

According to him, the ones that do not meet the conditions for subsidies have the option to finance the installation of solar panels on their roof on their own.