CEE Bankwatch Network announced that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s draft National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) has been a public consultation until the end of July. NGO warned that until this week the document was not available online. The coordinating ministry didn’t carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the plan, despite it being mandatory under the Energy Community Treaty.
Despite considerable solar and wind potential, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska Governments have relentlessly pushed to build new coal plants such as unit 7 at TPP Tuzla and TPP Ugljevik 3. But the draft NECP states that there will be no new fossil fuel power plants – coal or gas. This is a significant step that must be maintained in the final version of the NECP.
The BiH draft reflects that the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is coming and includes the introduction of an emissions trading scheme by 2026. Suppose BiH wants to avoid the impacts of CBAM on the electricity sector. In that case, this will have to be in place by 1 January 2026, as the country does not look likely to benefit from the mechanism’s main exemption clause based on market coupling.
No new gas-fired power plants are planned but additional gas interconnectors are still being promoted. Sarajevo’s heating supply is very dependent on natural gas, but building a new gas pipeline from Croatia is undoubtedly not the only solution.
195 MW HPP is planned by 2030 in the draft NECP. It does not specifically state, but it includes the 160 MW HPP Dabar project and 35 MW HPP Ulog, which are under construction.
BiH has not completed a new greenfield hydropower plant of more than 10 MW since 2010, only HPP Bocac 2 on an existing dam. Against this reality, even 195 MW might be overambitious.
