Aluminij Mostar, a company that was once a major aluminium producer and the largest industrial electricity consumer in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is planning to install two solar power plants at the site of its former alumina processing facility. This initiative comes amid the company’s ongoing financial difficulties, as it is currently under a financial blockade.
Aluminij Mostar has submitted requests for environmental permits for two proposed solar power plants, Helios Aluminij 1 and Helios Aluminij 2. Each plant is planned to have a generation capacity of 4.99 MW and will cover an area of 125,000 square meters. The plants will be designed with a high degree of automation, requiring no on-site personnel for regular operations. Instead, they will be managed remotely through a software system over the internet, with no control rooms or operational facilities located at the site.
The project will not involve the same company as Aluminij Industries, which is owned by Amir Kabiri and currently leases parts of the former Aluminij plant. Aluminij Mostar, which is the entity that remained operational after the original Aluminij factory ceased operations in 2019, is still struggling financially. Despite the shutdown of its operations and the subsequent layoff of most employees, a few management staff continued to work. The company now faces significant financial challenges, including a tax debt of around 7.5 million euros. In 2023, it reported revenues of about 1.6 million euros but incurred expenses of 7.2 million euros.
The alumina processing plant at the location where the solar power plants will be built was originally established in 1961 but ceased operations in 1992 and is considered not viable for restarting. This background highlights the shift from the plant’s industrial past to a future focused on renewable energy.
