Bosnia and Herzegovina produced 7.44 TWh of electricity during the first half of 2026, an increase of 3.5 per cent from the corresponding period of 2025. The headline improvement concealed a substantial change in generation mix.
Hydroelectric production increased 32.4 per cent to 3.13 TWh, while output from transmission-connected wind and solar plants rose 16.1 per cent to 0.64 TWh. Coal-fired generation declined 16.9 per cent to 3.07 TWh.
The stronger domestic balance allowed electricity imports to fall by almost 40 per cent, after the country spent a record BAM 629 million, or approximately €321.6 million, on imported power during 2025. Exports nevertheless declined about 20 per cent, indicating that the additional hydroelectricity was used principally to displace imports and weaker thermal generation rather than rebuild Bosnia’s former export surplus.
Hydro and coal each supplied roughly 41–42 per cent of first-half production, with grid-connected wind and solar contributing about 9 per cent. This is a materially more balanced portfolio than Bosnia’s traditional reliance on ageing lignite plants, but the improvement is exposed to hydrology.
A return to dry conditions would remove low-variable-cost hydro generation while the thermal fleet remains constrained by mine performance, environmental requirements and ageing equipment. Utilities can therefore reduce import expenditure in a favourable water year without resolving the structural availability problem of their coal assets.
For power traders, Bosnia’s lower import requirement weakens one source of regional demand during wet periods. Its reduced exports work in the opposite direction. The country is becoming less consistently directional in cross-border trading: hydro conditions, coal outages and reservoir policy can shift it between importer and exporter more rapidly than its historical generation profile suggests.
