Trebinje Energy Summit – SET 2020 kicks off with over 400 participants

Investors expressed great interest in building solar power plants and wind parks in the Republic of Srpska, said Prime Minister Radovan Višković as he opened the two-day Trebinje Energy Summit – SET 2020.

At the event’s opening ceremony in Cultural Center Trebinje there were more than 300 guests. More than 80 experts from the region participate in nine panel discussions.

The gathering with the slogan Energy Future of the Western Balkans is organized by the City of Trebinje, the SET enterprise and power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS) under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Srpska and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Currently we have great interest from abroad for investment in solar power plants and wind parks, RS prime minister said

Prime Minister Radovan Višković stressed the energy sector has the biggest potential in RS, so it is an opportunity for cooperation with partners from the region and beyond. He asserted the Government of RS would continue to invest in new electric power facilities and comply with environmental standards, while hiring domestic firms and workers.

The Government of RS is ready to discuss quotas for BiH for wind and solar energy

“I’d like to use the presence of Janez Kopač, Energy Community Secretariat’s director, to say to him that the Government of RS is ready to discuss quotas for BiH for wind and solar energy as currently we have great interest from abroad for investment in these renewable energy sources,” he stated, adding he expects the secretariat’s help in the endeavor.

Debate about the draft Law on Electric Power is about to start

He announced that these days the draft Law on Electric Power should be examined. It will enable consumers, for the first time, to freely chose between electricity suppliers, the top entity official said and stressed the regulated and market activities would be separated alongside price deregulation and the strengthening of the role of regulators.

The legislation is promoting the use of electric cars and for the first time provisions were included about charging stations, the necessary infrastructure and the conditions to provide the service, he underscored.

Petrović (ERS): Peoples of the region should be developing energy sector jointly

Luka Petrović, chief executive of Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS), said it is about time to improve communications in the region with regard to energy, not only for profit but also energy security.

The idea is, as he put it, to make Trebinje Energy Summit a traditional gathering place for the region for energy.

Ten scientific papers will be presented at the event

The peoples of the region live alongside one another and they should develop the energy sector together too, he added,

He emphasized that ten scientific papers would be presented at the event, while that more than 80 experts would participate at the panels.

Petrović reiterated that ERS plans to build power plants of 1,000 MW in total within ten years and that the systems would use the energy of wind, the Sun and water, but also natural gas.