October 8, 2025
by in News

Under Reform Agenda, BiH commits to aligning electricity prices with market

By adopting the Reform Agenda, Bosnia and Herzegovina committed to liberalizing the electricity market, aligning electricity prices with market levels, and supporting the green transition through renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Reform Agenda, after a delay longer than one year, and submitted it to the European Commission. It made the move just as the deadline, set by the commission, was about to expire on September 30.

If it failed to adopt the document, BiH would have lost EUR 108 million out of a total of EUR 976.6 million that was allocated to the country under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, worth around EUR 6 billion overall. Due to the delay, BiH already lost EUR 108 million in July.

The first step in price harmonization is to conduct a study on different scenarios

One of the obligations from the Reform Agenda is to align household electricity prices with market prices in the region and the European Union by 2027, domestic media reported.

The measure is aimed at making price formation more transparent and integrating BiH better into the regional and European electricity markets.

The first step in price harmonization would be to conduct a study on different scenarios for price deregulation for households. It will serve as a tool to plan price increases. The study is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

The current price of electricity in BiH is below ten eurocents

According to the latest Eurostat data, for the second half of last year, the price of electricity for households in BiH was below ten eurocents. Prices in the European Union ranged from ten eurocents in Hungary to 40 in Ireland.

The European Commission is required to assess the Reform Agenda and approve it if it matches expectations. Payments are directly linked to the measures that governments in the region vow to implement.

Of note, in early July, the European Commission proposed the first tranches from the support package, worth EUR 87.7 million in total, for projects in Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia.

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September 26, 2025
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Greece mulls subsidizing green energy as loan to energy-intensive industry

The Greek government intends to support energy-intensive industries through a new mechanism involving renewable energy.

In recent days, discussions took place between the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the ministries of environment and energy, finance, and development. The employers’ organization presented a so-called Italian plan. It is based on Italy’s Energy Release 2.0 scheme.

The assistance would be provided in the form of a green energy loan. Around 400 industrial consumers would benefit from lower power prices, at EUR 60 per MWh, for three years. In return, they would be obliged to invest in renewable energy and return twice as much cheap electricity within a period of 20 years.

Based on the proposal, the industries are expected to add about 1.75 GW, of which 80% in photovoltaics and 20% in wind power capacity. The estimated amount of low-cost electricity that they would be entitled to is 10 TWh, and the cost of the scheme is seen at EUR 285 million per year for three years.

Brussels approval critical

SEV expressed the belief that the European Commission would easily accept the plan, after Italy got partial approval. However, another industry association, the Hellenic Union of Industrial Consumers of Energy (UNICEN), warned that the other country’s scheme has not yet formally obtained a green light from the administration in Brussels.

Namely, the EU sent a letter to the Italian authorities, listing the changes they needed to make. According to UNICEN, the Greek model would be approved if it follows the proposed revised version.

The ministers consider SEV’s proposal acceptable, but they said they needed to figure out the financing details. Other mechanisms are not yet off the table. Importantly, they cannot include direct state support because of restrictions set by European competition law. It stipulates that a government cannot simply provide money to a sector unless the scheme implies investments, such as in green energy.

“We are interested in a fair intervention with a holistic view, in order to focus on the most heavily affected businesses. Also, the scheme should not cause fiscal problems,” Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis stated.

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September 4, 2025
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Montenegro’s state power utility posts EUR 24.5 million loss in H1 2025

Montenegro’s state-owned power utility, Elektroprivreda Crne Gore, posted a EUR 24.5 million loss in the first half of 2025, a 620% increase compared to the same period last year.

The main reasons for the poor results were a production halt at the Pljevlja coal power plant and a wide gap between the purchase price of imported electricity and the selling price for consumers connected to the distribution network, according to Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG).

EPCG’s total revenue in the first half of 2025 amounted to EUR 208.1 million, while total expenses reached EUR 234.7 million.

The operating result was a EUR 24.5 million loss, which is EUR 21 million more than in the first half of 2024, when the loss was EUR 3.5 million. This represents a 620% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to EPCG’s half-year report.

Total electricity production was nearly 25% lower year-on-year

A significant factor affecting the business result was the halt in production at the Pljevlja thermal power plant from March 31 this year due to final works on environmental reconstruction and the regular annual overhaul. As a result, the plant’s utilization rate for the first six months was only 48.8%.

In the first half of 2025, TPP Pljevlja produced nearly 400 GWh of electricity, 7.9 GWh or 2.02% above the plan, but almost 18%, or around 87 GWh, less than in the same period in 2024.

The total output at hydropower plants – Piva, Perućica, and small hydropower plants (SHP) – was 658 GWh, which is 22% or 159 GWh less than in 2024.

The company spent EUR 35.8 million more on electricity imports

The total output of all power plants was 1,058 GWh, or 78.8% of the plan, according to the report. This also represents a decrease of 26%, or 278 GWh.

During the first half of 2025, EPCG imported 656 GWh of electricity for EUR 62.4 million. The average price was EUR 95.09 per MWh. In the same period last year, imports totaled 430.3 GWh, at an estimated cost of EUR 26.6 million, according to the report. This marked a 52% increase in the volume of imports.

The company has received consent to borrow EUR 50 million to finance electricity imports.

The report underlined that the price charged to consumers on the distribution grid is significantly lower than the purchase price of imported electricity. The gap has a major negative impact on EPCG’s results, the company noted.

Electricity is imported at above EUR 100 per MWh and supplied to distribution consumers at an average price of around EUR 45 per MWh, according to the report.

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May 8, 2025
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Electricity prices for Slovenian firms among highest in EU in 2024

Last year, Slovenian households had cheaper electricity than the European Union average while the tariffs for other categories of consumers, including businesses, were among the highest in the EU, according to an analysis by Slovenia’s transmission system operator ELES.

The analysis, conducted by ELES CEO Aleksander Mervar, also showed network fees are significantly lower than the EU’s average.

Slovenia is in the bottom third of the list of the 27 member countries. As for its neighbors, domestic prices were higher than in Hungary and Croatia, and lower than in Austria and Italy, Naš Stik reported.

Last year, Bulgaria had the lowest prices in the EU, followed by Malta, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Croatia. When measured against purchasing power, prices in Slovenia are in the lower half of the list.

The Government of Slovenia has capped electricity prices for households

The analysis attributes the lower tariffs for households mainly to measures that the Government of Slovenia introduced. The two main interventions were setting a maximum price for 90% of consumption, and freezing the payment of a fee for subsidizing electricity production from renewables and high-efficiency cogeneration.

From January 1 to October 31, the maximum price was 8.2 eurocents per kWh in the lower tariff and 11.8 eurocents per kWh in the higher one. They were the maximum prices for 90% of consumption, while the remainder was set by suppliers in line with the market conditions.

Without government measures, the annual bill of the average Slovenian household, with an annual consumption of 4,000 kWh, would be higher by EUR 345.89 or 45.77%, according to the calculation.

ELES denies network fees impacted competitiveness of firms

The conditions for businesses were different. Prices for commercial and industrial consumers were among the highest in the EU. However, the domestic average was lower than in neighboring countries.

Businesses in Serbia experienced a similar issue last year.

ELES denied the claim by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia that high network fees lowered corporate competitiveness. The company argued they were significantly lower for commercial consumers, by 36.5% to 49%, than the EU average.

In addition, network fees are as much as 53% below the level in the countries surrounding Slovenia, according to the ELES analysis.

Network fees for households in Slovenia are among the lowest in the EU.

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