Production of Hydrogen in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Union’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2050 implies large investments in renewable energy sources. Most investments are made in energy from the sun, wind and water, but the problem of storing surplus energy obtained from such sources still remains unsolved.
France and Germany have invested hundreds of millions of euros in the development of liquid hydrogen technology in the last few years, and the future investments they announce, are measured in billions.
Experts believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina has the potential to assert itself as a producer and exporter of this gas.
Hydrogen is not a source but a carrier of energy, and the one obtained from renewable sources is called green and is becoming very interesting for the European Union market.
Its advantages are multiple, mass use would reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, as well as the emissions of harmful gases that we release into the atmosphere.
The biggest problem for the profitability of hydrogen was the price and the lack of infrastructure. Climate change has become a priority for the European Union, which adopted a green agenda according to which decarbonization should occur by 2050.
Precisely because of this, according to the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a large market ready to pay for green hydrogen is being created.
According to the estimate of “Economist” magazine, investments in technologies related to hydrogen in the next 10 years will amount to 500 billion dollars.
Despite investments in its own infrastructure, the European Union plans to produce half of it and import half of it. It is an opportunity for producers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Experts believe that decarbonization will be led by electricity in the short term, but in the long term, due to the limited capacities of batteries and charging stations, hydrogen will be an alternative, primarily for heavy industry, truck and rail transport.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is currently one project for the production of green hydrogen, in the area of Prozor-Rama, and the establishment of the Association for the Development and Application of Hydrogen is underway.
Opinions of leaders
IVICA JAKIĆ, president of the Western Balkan Pure Hydrogen Platform Association: “It is the only element as a fuel element that contributes to decarbonization, because its combustion only produces electricity and clean water.
“The advantages of hydrogen are great in the way that the electricity from solar power plants and the wind, which gives us electricity even when we don’t need it, can be put into hydrogen and use when we need”.
VJEKOSLAV VUKOVIĆ, President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “The academic community and businessmen are much faster in innovation and application of innovations for the development of the economy, business and social community, they are much faster than the state.
“Therefore, we must speed up these processes, adaptation and put pressure on the bodies and authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to start applying these rules and enact regulations by which we reduce decarbonization and solve the issue of renewable sources as primary energy sources in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
GORAN SLIPAC, president of HRO CIGRE: “Funds have been prepared, pilot projects are being implemented and I think that this is a chance for countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina to learn a lot, to accept technology, to master it and to find a niche in which the economy could participate.”
