Due to poor hydrological conditions, but above all the rise of market prices, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electricity imports are 85 % higher in the first eight months of 2021 compared to the same period last year.
According to the BiH Statistics Agency, the country imported electricity worth 53.5 million euros in the first eight months of this year. In August alone, imports amounted to almost 15 million euros. Quantitatively, BiH imported 884 GWh of electricity on a monthly basis in the second quarter of the year. In the same period in 2020, imports were lower by 42 GWh and amounted to 842 GWh.
Higher imports this year were partly due to bad hydrological conditions due to a long dry period, which reduced production in hydropower plants, which had to be replaced by imports.
The higher value of exports was mostly due to more expensive electricity this year, which increased the value of both imports and exports of electricity. But the steep rise in electricity prices on European energy exchanges occurred in September, which will be reflected in the statistics that will follow for the coming months.
The export of electricity in the first eight months of this year amounted to 243 million euros and it is by 39 % higher than last year. The rise of electricity prices on the global market, but also higher consumption compared to last year with the recovery of the economy since last year’s outbreak of the pandemic, has contributed to the good results of electricity companies this year.
In the first half of the year, power utility EPBiH made a net profit of 23.2 million euros, EP HZHB recorded a net profit of 10.3 million euros, while ERS made 17.9 million euros in profit.
