All Chinese thermal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina
XI JINPING WAS SERIOUS
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in September 2021 that his country will no longer build coal-fired thermal power plants abroad. At that time, several Chinese companies and banks had contracts for investments in thermal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Although there are no official confirmations, after the announcement of the Chinese president, it is clear that all projects related to investments in the construction of new thermal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina related to Chinese contractors, creditors or investors have stopped. On the other hand, investments in the renovation or revitalization of existing thermal power plants continue.
One thermal power plant built in RS, and about the two announced "not even a word"
The only completed thermal power plant connected to Chinese contractors, investors or creditors in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Termoelektrana Stanari in Republika Srpska. The thermal power plant is owned by the company EFT Vuk Hamović. Its construction cost around 550 million euros, and it was partly financed by a loan from the China Development Bank and several commercial banks.
Chinese banks were supposed to provide credit for the construction of the Ugljevik 3 Thermal Power Plant, but the announcements were abandoned after the Chinese authorities announced that they would stop building coal-fired thermal power plants abroad.
In 2018, the Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Investments of BiH and the Government of the RS announced the establishment of a joint company with Chinese partners for the construction of the Gacko 2 Thermal Power Plant, next to the already existing thermal power plant. The Chinese side was supposed to have a 51% stake in the company. The construction of this thermal power plant in Herzegovina did not happen five years after the announcement.
In the Federation, two investments in thermal power plants were announced, but...
Probably the largest and most controversial Chinese investment in the electric power sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the one related to Block 7 of the Tuzla thermal power plant. The first announcements of an investment worth 700 million euros appeared ten years ago, and construction has not yet taken place.
The big announcements were overshadowed by the first withdrawal of the American General Electric from the project. The Chinese consortium, as the main contractor, immediately announced that it could not honor the original contract because of this. Because of this, the Government of the Federation of BiH asked Elektropriveda BiH to terminate the contract, and the Parliament of the Federation of BiH will have the final word on everything. The director of the EP BiH told Radio Free Europe about Block 7 that "they are trying to find the best solutions in this matter".
Revitalization of Block 6 TE Tuzla
Two Chinese companies, Dongfang Electric International Corporation and Dongfang Boiler Group, together with the company ITC from Zenica, won the job of refurbishing the boiler of Block 6 of the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant through a tender. The value of the project is 25.44 million KM (about 13.02 million euros), and it is fully financed by Elektroprivreda BiH from its own funds.
The Chinese companies Energy China Group and China Energy Engineering together with the Bosnian company Lager Posušje have expressed interest in the construction of the Kamengrad Sanski Most Thermal Power Plant. In 2017, they signed an agreement on the realization of the project in Budapest. Two years later, they sent a letter of intent to local authorities, seeking interest in building a power plant worth more than one billion euros. Since then, there has been no information about the progress of the project, and the thermal power plant has not started to be built.