Bosnia and Herzegovina undertook to international agreements that until 2050. I will be hitting the thermal power plants and coal mines and thus end the process of decarbonization.
No matter how green transitions positively affects the reduction of pollution and quality of life, it will turn out thousands of jobs.
There are about 12,000 workers in thermal power plants and mines
About 12,000 employees are currently working in thermal power plants and mines, and the state does not have a clear strategy what to do with these people as well as local communities in which mining was the holder of development, which could remain released.
In Republika Srpska, about 60 percent of the total production of electricity comes from the thermal power plant, which clearly shows the size of the challenge.
Thermal power plants directly employ about 5,000 workers, while the number of indirect jobs are about 10,000.
Examples only in Gacka is about 1,900 workers employed in the mine and a thermal power plant, which is the largest electricity producer in Serbian with Ugljevik.
Journalist and the editor-in-chief of the Herzegovinian portal “Direkt” Milanka Babić Kovačević from the conversation with the local population concluded that they were not worried.
“The inhabitants of Gack I was talking to were not worried about, since the thermal power plant was told that he has already been essentially thinking about what he is exhausting from the village or a crowding or seasonal work in the Croatian coast.” She says.
However, as he testifies, Gacko is a place that is extinguished, despite being a resource like Rite.
Although there are officially about 9,000 inhabitants, in reality, the figures of six to seven thousand mostly medium-sided and older people since there are only 960 students in primary and secondary school.
“Citizens pay people who should solve problems – from the Prime Minister, the Department of Polistry, and to local authorities and the management of electricity, but the effects of decarbonization are not a priority,” says Babic Kovacevic.
Domestic authorities expect EU assistance
However, in the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of the Republika Srpska, they are not too worried because the decarbonization process is seen as a long-term path.
It is obvious, they say, that labor transition cannot be performed in a short time.
“The closure of the thermal power plant must therefore be a gradual, long-term process, which will largely mitigate the consequences of jobs and security of energy supply,” they say in the Ministry.
They add that for 15 years they work on creating a favorable business environment for renewable energy and their workforce and transferrement transfer to the thermal power plant in the renewable sources, energy efficiency, but also in other areas such as tourism and agriculture.
However, they are aware that this will not go this easy because the resistance in the mining ends is large.
They note that BiH is traditionally “coal regions”, which makes its energy transition especially complex and sensitive.
“Therefore, for a reason, we expect European financial institutions to help this transition, in order to rehabilitate the very complex consequences that can arise”, conclude in the relevant ministry.
From the EU, they say that I can count on that help. They remind them to play a central role in BiH transition from coal through the Fund for Justa Transition, but also other mechanisms.
“The Fund for Just Transition is focused on the regions that are most affected by decarbonization, providing financial resources and technical assistance to encourage economic diversification,” they say.
They add that BiH is also available to the exchange of coal regions and Horizon Europe projects, which facilitate the exchange of knowledge, innovation and capacity building.
They remind himself from 2020. until 2023. The regional “coal regional initiative in the Transition in the Western Balkans in Ukraine” with the aim of providing support to these regions to green energy in a just and sustainable way.
“That initiative was established to facilitate the exchange of experiences of coal-dependent areas and those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at the same time, and at the same time to be considered by the EU directly or indirectly”, say in the EU Delegation in BiH.
The thermal power plants leaning the complete electrical energy sector
In the Federation of BiH are not sure how to abandon the charcoal thermal power plants at all. They are the base energy that is leaning against the complete electrical energy sector.
They must build new production capacities that will provide basic electricity production such as hydropower plants, wind and solar parks, and there are how they are recognized in the decades.
“These projects represent the potential for the creation of new jobs as well as the retraining of workers from one technological industry in another, which is socially and executive, the responsible ministries, the obligation to engage in this process on the benefit of society as a whole”, They said about Capital in Elektroprivreda BiH.
By the way, numerous positive examples of the energy transition can be found in Europe.
The former mining region Ruhr in Germany is completely transformed after the closure of the coal mine. Industrial complexes have been converted into cultural centers and museums that attract tourists from all over the world.
In parallel, the region has invested in renewable energy sources and the technology sector, creating new jobs and reducing ecological print.
The Saarland Mining Center turned to new technologies after the mine extinguishing in the early 2000s. Former mining zones are transformed into industrial and technological parks, with strong focus on IT and research and development. This energy and industrial transition has enabled the region to maintain jobs and become an example of green transformation.
Austria, known for coal mines, faced mass closure during the 1990s and 2000s. In cooperation with EU funds, the local government has developed projects for renewable energy and tourism, and workers retraining program. The result is gradual diversification of the economy and reducing unemployment, writes Capital.
