Bosnia's power exports at risk as people switch to electricity for heating
04/11/2022 13:10
By Daria Sito-Sucic
SARAJEVO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Bosnia, the Balkans' sole
exporter of electricity, may be forced to cut exports as
Bosnians turn to subsidised electricity for heating after a jump
in prices for other fuels, including gas, firewood and wood
pellets.
Electricity prices for households in Bosnia are subsidised
by the state and are a tenth of international market prices. In
contrast, the price of gas has increased nearly 100% since last
winter, mainly tracking higher oil prices.
As a result, people are switching to use electric heaters
because of the subsidised electricity.
"Bosnia and Herzegovina may stop exports if this process
continues in the short-term," said Edhem Bicakcic, president of
the Bosnian branch of the International Council on Large
Electric Systems (CIGRE).
"It's not reasonable that using electricity for heating is
cheaper that heating from pellet fuel or firewood," Bicakcic
said.
Bosnia exports about 25% of its electricity, which is mainly
generated using locally produced coal or from hydro plants.
In the first nine months of 2022, electricity exports
amounted to more than 900 million Bosnian marka ($450 million)
and accounted for 7% of the country's total exports.
Two thirds of the electricity went to neighbours Croatia,
Serbia and Slovenia, which will be affected if Bosnia turns off
supply, said Ahmed Egrlic, a vice-president of Bosnia's Foreign
Trade Chamber.
Egrlic also said Bosnia's power network is not designed for
high electricity consumption by households and a massive switch
to electrical appliances for heating could bring the system
down.
Utilities also stand to lose, as a jump in subsidised sales
at home strips them of hundreds of millions of marka in export
revenue, which could be used to modernise outdated coal-fired
plants and to build renewable energy facilities, industry
experts said.
Power distributor Elektrokrajina Banja Luka has proposed to
the authorities and utility Elektroprivreda RS (ERS) that
heating using biomass should be subsidised.
Entire apartment blocks in the city of Banja Luka have
cancelled their biomass heating accounts due to high bills.
"The (biomass) subsidies would pay off because of enormous
differences between the prices of electricity on international
power markets and those for households," Elektrokrajina
spokesman Predrag Klincov told Reuters.
He explained that on international markets utilities can
sell electricity at a price projected to reach 900 euros/MWh in
winter while households now pay just 30 euros/MWh.
"For each kilowatt/hour of energy spent for heating, ERS
will have a direct loss of dozens of millions of marka in Banja
Luka alone," Klincov said.
(1$ = 2.0 Bosnian marka)
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Jane Merriman)
((daria.sito-sucic@thomsonreuters.com; +38733 295 484; Reuters
Messaging: daria.sito-sucic.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))