Harbinja at RENEXPO Fair: Energy Efficiency Has No Alternative

On the second day of the RENEXPO Sarajevo fair, which is also Expert Day, Safet Harbinja, Director of the FBiH Environmental Protection Fund, one of the organizers of the conference on energy efficiency, addressed the participants, reports the bh. news agency Patria.

Speaking about the topic of today's conference, Harbinja stated that energy efficiency and renewable energy sources and sustainability in the energy sector are becoming strategically important issues and occupy an important place in long-term strategic considerations and sustainable economic development of BiH in the future.

- EE is very important, and it will be even more important for BiH in the future. We have a significant lag behind the countries of the region in establishing EE policies and creating legal regulations for its achievement. Sustainable financing of such projects is of utmost importance. EE is inevitable and does not represent an alternative, but is the only direction for further development that has been slowed down for a long time – said Harbinja.

The FBiH Environmental Protection Fund, together with relevant institutions and with the support of the international community (UNDP, GIZ), is implementing energy efficiency projects.

- Creating legal regulations and co-financing such projects with public funds is a rational approach to systematic energy management, which is complex and technically demanding – said Harbinja.

The Environmental Protection Fund of FBiH and the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of RS have also joined the systematic approach to energy use. For the third year in a row, they have been jointly implementing projects related to more efficient energy consumption, primarily in public consumption facilities, reducing costs and harmful emissions.

Harbinja thanked numerous partners with whose help environmentally friendly projects are being implemented, and specifically addressed the adoption of legal regulations.

- From the moment the law on energy efficiency is adopted, we will be largely ready for its operational implementation. Initiating the systematic energy renovation of public consumption facilities is the only way to reduce energy inefficiency and achieve savings, which will exceed the investment within a few years and ensure adequate income – said Harbinja.

The energy efficiency sector involves the creation of a whole new spectrum of products and services and new activities (from design, conceptual solutions, technologies, monitoring energy performance and energy consumption, measurement and verification of achieved savings...)

Srđan Todorović, Director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of RS, said that what the expert community thinks is very important.

- When it comes to RS, we have created a legal framework for regulating this area with the law on spatial planning and the law on energy efficiency. The Fund plays a significant role in the energy efficiency in construction project, and the issuance of energy efficiency certificates in construction should begin on January 1, 2016.

The RENEXPO fair is being held in Sarajevo on November 4 and 5 at the Hollywood Hotel.