When the power sector becomes unstable, the FBiH Government steps in

By Almir Bečarević, energy expert and president of KV SBiH Sarajevo

The FBiH Government, at its 312th emergency session held on April 30, 2026, adopted a Decision on the conditions and manner of transforming existing power plants into hybrid facilities for the production and/or consumption of electricity, including facilities for storing electricity.

The High Representative suspended certain provisions of the FBiH Constitution for 24 hours with his decision, and now we have an example of the FBiH Government not suspending certain legal provisions, but supplementing them with a decision.

Specifically, the decision supplements the Law on Electricity, not as a by-law developed to implement the law, but as an act that supplements the law. This is a unique case in legal practice, as can be seen from Article I, Paragraph 2 of the Decision, which states:

"Terms used in this decision that are not defined in the Law on Electricity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina..."

This decision invents terms and legal institutes, even though the Law on Electricity was adopted by both houses of the FBiH Parliament, and now the FBiH government is inventing terms and defining them with its decision, thereby expanding the scope of the law beyond its clearly defined provisions.

The cited wording clearly shows that someone was in a hurry to adopt this decision even before the amendments to the law, along with another wording that clearly indicates favoritism towards certain groups, i.e., electricity producers.

The preamble to the adopted decision states: "... and bearing in mind the need to preserve the stability of the power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina..."

The logical question arises - who determined that the FBiH power system is unstable and does this indicate that it is on the verge of collapse? Is the FBiH Government hiding something from the public or does it intend to favor someone under the guise of endangerment with this decision?

Is this a public act of favoritism and abuse of office? How is the public unaware that the power sector is on the verge of collapse and can only be saved by a decision on electricity storage?

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has made a decision that allows existing power plants (such as solar and wind farms) to transform into hybrid facilities and add battery systems for storing electricity without the need to obtain new urban planning and construction permits or enter into new construction processes.

In order to adopt the decision and enable the creation of hybrid facilities and battery systems, Article I, Paragraph 2, Point 2 states: "... as determined by the study..."

The logical question arises - which study? Who prepared it? On whose orders? When? Under what number? Where was it published? Who adopted it? Who supervised it? All without answers.

In practice, studies are done for each hybrid facility and battery system, not a universal study that we don't even know exists and why it hasn't been publicly published.

And now we come to the essence.

Legal certainty is achieved through procedures established by the Constitution, with the legislative body at the top of this pyramid, and now we have the FBiH Government, which, bypassing the legislative body, adopts decisions that do not respect these procedures. If the High Representative can do it, why couldn't the Prime Minister of the FBiH do it with his signature?

Is favoritism towards interests or battery procurement stronger than procedures and parliamentary oversight? Does the decision allow current owners of power plants (only they can be involved in the implementation of this decision) to gain an advantage in the profitable business of energy storage even before the law is amended?

Many questions, few answers. The decision allows for profit because hybrid means one facility replaces another, and storage means releasing energy when it is most expensive. All under the guise of "preserving the stability of the FBiH power system."