The National Energy and Climate Plan of BiH, the draft of which was recently promoted, aims to prepare the country for smooth decarbonization starting in 2030. Its implementation is considered a development opportunity with regard to natural potentials. Procrastination and non-implementation can lead to the collapse of the existing economic concept. The BiH Council of Ministers should adopt this plan by the end of the year.
Sikulje. Surface mine of the Kreka mine. 700 thousand tons of coal per year from this mine are burned by TPP Tuzla. So far, they have exploited about 35 percent of the coal reserves. 1,800 mine workers were engaged in this, as well as the Dubrave mine and the Mramor pit. However, coal mining is coming to an end.
“We have heard that it is being talked about and no one is in a position to behave calmly and easily, it is difficult for everyone that it would be closed today or tomorrow, it does not matter,” says the shift supervisor of the Kreka mine, Šikulje miner, Sabahudin Kurtić.
The plan of the mine is to make the most of the coal, as long as possible. Action plans after the closure of the mine are at the level of ideas.
“I see the perspective of the mine that it will work in the coming years. The next 15-20 years,” Kreka mine director Hasan Bleković briefly stated.
The holding that manages mines and thermal power plants in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will start shutting down mines and reducing the production of electricity from coal in five to eight years.
“By the year 30, roughly, it is planned that pit exploitation will end. There will remain surface exploitation and some pit exploitation will remain where the coal is of good quality,” said Assistant General Director for Development of Elektroprivreda BiH Mustafa Musić.
At the same time, two TPP units in Tuzla and one in Kakanj with a total capacity of 450 MW will also cease operation. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 41 percent compared to the reference year 1990 is only part of the National Energy and Climate Plan.
The NECP also includes measures to increase the share of RES and energy efficiency, energy stability, establishment of the internal energy market, and encouragement of research, innovation and competitiveness.
“Through the negotiations with the EC and the EEC, we have agreed that coal is a transition fuel for us and we will use coal until we switch to renewable energy sources,” said Admir Softić from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The authorities do not understand the process that many call the new industrial revolution, experts for a sustainable energy transition claim. Poor planning, a weak economy and an expensive decarbonisation process require support.
“Among other things, we think that the EU must show much more solidarity with the countries of the region, first of all, in restructuring the mining regions and solving the problem of energy poverty, and in a much more structured way than they are doing so far,” says Mirza Kušljugić from the Center for Sustainable Energy Transition RESET.
The introduction of taxes on CO2 emissions will make the production of electricity from coal unprofitable, our interlocutors assure. A key transitional tool could be the decision for Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop an internal emissions market according to the ETS model and use that money to develop green projects. The CBAM export tax model is much less favorable, because the money goes to the funds of the importing countries.
“With the introduction of CBAM, harmonization at the borders of Europe regarding the payment of taxes on CO2 emissions, i.e. with the introduction of the ETS, the profitability of operating coal-fired thermal power plants will practically decrease, that is, they will not exist and our thermal power plants will be closed by 2035 at the latest,” says Denis Žiško from Center for Ecology and Energy.
Acting on time is becoming an increasingly expensive currency of the energy transition. A politically and institutionally complicated country like Bosnia and Herzegovina spends years fulfilling various prerequisites. The last train has left.