Between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency in Turkey, there were talks with potential investors interested in the construction of a solar power plant in the Republic of Srpska (RS).
Chairman of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik said that the investment in question is worth 85 million euros and the solar facility will be built at still unspecified location in Herzegovina. He stressed that the EU’s goal is the transition to green energy and BiH must work quickly and accept everyone who is a significant investor in order to catch up.
Dodik says that potential investors are also aware of the complex political situation in BiH, so when they decide to invest, they mostly choose the place themselves, however, he believes that the Republic of Srpska is a more stable, flexible and better place to invest.
There are no large-scale solar power plants in BiH. Last October, RS Government and state-owned ERS have signed a concession agreement for the construction solar power plant Trebinje 1 near the city of Trebinje. The total estimated value of the investment for the realization of projects in the concession period is around 50 million euros. The installed capacity of the plant is 72.92 MW and the estimated annual electricity production is 108.7 GWh. According to initial estimates, solar power plant should start commercial operation in 2022.
Also in 2020, RS Government signed a concession agreement on the construction of solar power plant near Bileca with EFT International Investments Holding. The tender for awarding concession for the construction of this 60 MW solar power plant was launched in early March 2020 and in May the concession was awarded to EFT. The concessionaire will have to pay a one-time fee of 357,000 euros and 0.28 eurocents/kWh produced by the plant, translating to 2.8 euros/MWh. RS Government estimated the investment at 35.7 million euros. The expected annual output of the plant is 84 GWh. The concession is awarded for the period of 50 years.
