After the meeting of Bosnian Minister for Telecommunications and Transport Ismir Jusko and Chinese Ambassador to BiH Chen Bo, both sides confirmed mutual interest in expanding cooperation in the area of construction of energy facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ambassador Bo said that she is convinced that BiH has potential and attractive projects, and that Chinese companies have capital, experience and developed technology, as demonstrated worldwide by participating in the financing and construction of large infrastructure projects, including those in the region – Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia.
She reminded that Chinese company Dongfang Electric was the contractor in the project for the construction of 300 MW thermal power plant Stanari in the Republic of Srpska (RS), adding that Chinese companies are also interested in the construction of unit 7 at thermal power plant Tuzla. The net agreed price under the EPC contract for the construction of unit 7 at TPP Tuzla is 722.35 million euros (without VAT). In talks with the representatives of the Chinese Exim Bank it was agreed that the maturity of the loan is 20 years, with a 5-years grace period. The loan from Exim Bank will cover 85 % of the investment, while the remaining 15 % will be provided by power utility EPBiH.
TPP Tuzla has 6 units with overall output of 715 MW. New unit 7 will be replacement capacity for units 1 and 2 (32 MW each), which have already been shut down and units 3 (100 MW) and 4 (200 MW) which should be put out of operation in 2018. The future unit 7 will have 450 MW of electric output combined with 300 MW of heat output, with annual generation of 2.75 TWh. When unit 7 is completed, it will provide almost a quarter of electricity produced by EPBiH.
Chinese companies are also interested in hydro projects in the RS, namely the construction of HPP Dabar and HPP Buk Bijela.
