Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) exported 119.5 million euros worth of electricity, in the first three months of 2021, which is by 31.4 % more than in the same period in 2020, when electricity exports amounted to 91 million euros, according to data published by BiH Statistics Office.
In March alone, electricity exports amounted to 43 million euros, compared to 26.8 million euros in the same month a year earlier. The increased value of electricity exports is partly the result of the recovery of industrial production in European countries, resulting in increased demand, as well as a consequence of rising electricity prices on the global market.
The data confirm that electricity production in BiH increased at the beginning of this year. Thus, in the first two months of 2021, the total gross electricity production amounted to 3,991 GWh, while in the same period in 2020 it was significantly lower – 3,387 GWh. When it comes to electricity prices, they have risen in most European markets, reaching in several cases the highest monthly average in recent years. Rising CO2 and gas prices, which again reached record levels, were the main cause of this increase, although lower wind energy production also contributed to this.
In addition to the mentioned factors, domestic producers also benefited from good hydrological conditions, since the share of production from hydropower plants is almost equal to the share of production from thermal power plants, unlike most of 2020 when drought significantly shifted this ratio to thermal power plants. The share of production from wind farms is still small, at around 1.7 %.
All this was reflected in lower needs for the import of electricity, which in the first three months of this year amounted to 9 million euros and decreased by 8.3 % compared to the same period last year. A good start in the first three months indicates a significant increase in electricity exports in 2021. Given the trend, it is quite certain that last year’s exports of around 254 million euros could very easily be surpassed.
