More than 650 participants arriving at the 5th Energy Summit in Neum

(Patria) - Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16, the 5th Energy Summit begins in Neum, which will be a meeting place for more than 650 participants and decision-makers in the reform of the energy sector in our country. Opening addresses will be given by the Ambassadors of the USA, Eric Nelson, Germany, Christiane Hohmann, the United Kingdom, Matthew Field, and the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Khaldoun Sinno. The Prime Ministers of FBiH and RS, Fadil Novalić and Radovan Višković, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Mirko Šarović, will not only give opening addresses but will also participate in the first panel, which will focus on the discussion between experts and governments on energy transition.

Bajazit Jašarević, Director of Elektroprivreda BiH, Drago Bago, Executive Director for Development at Elektroprivreda HZHB, and Luka Petrović, General Director of Elektroprivreda RS, will also contribute to the discussion. An expert perspective on the energy transition process will be provided by experts from BiH, Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia – Igor Lukšić, Mirza Kušljugić, Kemal Hanjalić, Neven Dujić, Nikola Rajaković, and Garett Kelly, President of the non-governmental organization SEE Change Net. In practice, energy transition represents a systemic shift from conventional energy systems to new systems that involve an increased share of renewable energy sources, greater energy savings, and a more active role for energy consumers.

This is a structural change that is happening worldwide and is one of the requirements of EU energy policy. Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina must find a way that will enable it to achieve its potential as a net exporter of electricity and join the regional and global trends of energy transition. Over the next three days, the 5th Energy Summit will also discuss the status and challenges of the market in the energy transition, the potential of biomass in BiH, the reform of renewable energy incentive systems and citizen energy, the importance of energy efficiency, while the last day will be reserved for discussing the perspective of the gas sector in the energy transition. Additionally, a panel on the role of the media in the energy transition process, with the participation of representatives from various sectors and editors from BiH media, will be particularly interesting.

The organizers of the fifth Energy Summit are the USAID project Investing in Energy Sector (EIA), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the projects "Promoting Renewable Energy Sources in BiH" and "Promoting Energy Efficiency in BiH," and the British Embassy Sarajevo, under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Regulatory Commission for Energy in FBiH, and the Regulatory Commission for Energy of Republika Srpska.