PETROVIĆ: RSPI IS THE ONLY IN THE BALKANS WITH SO MANY INITIATED INVESTMENTS

TREBINJE, MARCH 18 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Power Industry /RSPI-ERS/ is the only power company in the Balkans with so many public investments initiated, General Director of the company Luka Petrović told SRNA.

"Unlike neighbouring countries with significant private investments, here the public sector is at an advantage when it comes to investing," Petrović said. He notes the RSPI opened a series of investments it partially financed last year, such as the closing of the financial structure for the loan arrangement for the Dabar Hydroelectric Power Plant /HPP/. "By increasing the share of Hydro-energetic system on Trebišnica River Basin /HET/ shares, since Republika Srpska now owns 86.4 % HET shares, and by injecting BAM 92.8 million into Dabar HPP, RSPI created the condition to activate the loan arrangement with the Chinese Exim bank of EUR 189 million for that project," Petrović said. He pointed out that Dabar HPP is a very complex project, worth BAM 668 million, which includes the formation of an accumulation lake with the Pošćenje dam, hydromechanical equipment for water discharge, two embankments, a 12-kilometer tunnel, a machine building and three generators, a canal of 5.5 kilometers through the Dabar Field and the expansion of the Dabar-Fatnica tunnel. Petrović said they signed a very significant contract last year among important investments, for the construction of a complex coal purification plant in the Gacko thermal power plant, worth BAM 69 million, which has more than two million kilograms of steel and includes a crushing plant with mills, belt conveyors, that will yield at least 6,000 tons of "clean coal" per day. This, as Petrović said, will increase the power of the Gacko thermal power plant from the current 180 to 220 or 240 megawatts, which will thus be able to produce additional amounts of electricity and generate new income, such an investment will be able to be recouped in six or seven years. The development and investments executive director in the RSPI Jovica Vlatković stated the RSPI initiated 15 new projects and investments in renewable energy sources in the previous period, among which are the hydroelectric plants Dabar, Mrsovo, Buk Bijela, Bileća, Cijevna 3, Bistrica, as well as solar power plants Trebinje 1,2 and 3, Ljubinje 3 and wind power plants Hrgud, Trusina and Radimlje. Vlatković pointed out that after the implementation of those investments, the share of "green energy" in RSPI should amount to 65 percent, proving the RSPI is determined to invest in renewable energy sources. He added that, in addition, an investment of about BAM 202 million was planned in two thermal power plants in Gacko and Ugljevik, as well as the installation of electrofilters in the Gacko thermal power plant. The technical affairs executive director at the RSPI Ivan Koprivica announced that in the coming period, the RSPI will invest about BAM 30 million in the distribution network in order to reduce losses and increase the quality of delivered electricity. Koprivica pointed out that the RSPI will soon call for a public invitation to offer small power plants "to go back under their auspices" and that RSPI will buy electricity from them that would be slightly lower than the market price. According to him, RSPI is determined to reduce the share of electricity production from fossil fuels, and advocates gradual adaptation to the decarbonization process.