Bosnia and Herzegovina must produce 40 percent of its total electricity consumption from renewable sources

Bosnia and Herzegovina's national plan is that by 2020, as much as 40 percent of the country's total electricity consumption will come from renewable energy sources, they told the BiH news agency Patria at the Operator for Renewable Energy Sources and Efficient Cogeneration (OIEiEK).

Finally, the Operator further explains, these are obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the country undertook by signing the Energy Community Treaty.

The Operator is currently working on drafting the rulebook on the procedure for submitting applications for issuing guarantees of origin for electricity.

The rulebook will enable qualified electricity producers, who have not exercised their right to guaranteed (incentive) prices, to more easily sell their electricity on the free market.

- Due to the obligation that electricity suppliers must have a percentage of mandatory uptake of electricity produced from renewable sources in their total portfolio, they will be able to prove this through a guarantee of origin, and thus fulfill their legal obligation - say the Operator, adding that the guarantee of origin for electricity becomes an incentive for producers to produce electricity from renewable sources, and thus intensifies the overall electricity production.

- It is important to note that the aforementioned rulebook should be viewed in the context of other legal acts, and primarily as a compatible act with the Rulebook on the Mandatory Share and Uptake of Electricity, adopted by the Energy Regulatory Commission in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - say the Operator.

When asked about the progress of investments in renewable energy sources in FBiH, the Operator says that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are potentials for the utilization of renewable energy sources, and that investor interest in investing in renewable energy sources is much higher than the currently allowed quotas.

The Operator further explains that they have noticed insufficient information among investors regarding the legal framework regulating the field of renewable energy sources, and thus the unpreparedness of investors in the application process.

Therefore, the Operator has created the website www.operatoroieiek.ba, where daily updates are posted regarding the work of the Operator for RES and EC. Also, the website provides insight into all legal and sub-legal and internal acts that regulate the field of RES and EC in FBiH, as well as other data that have proven to be necessary to publish in daily contacts with investors, writes NAP.