bne IntelliNews -

China’s state-owned Tianjin Electric Power Construction Company (TEPC) is interested in investing BAM1bn (€511.3mn) in energy projects in Republica Srpska, according to the Bosnian Serb Republic's website.

The company already works on the construction of Bosnia's Stanari thermal power plant (TPP) as a partner of the UK-based energy firm EFT Group. In May 2013, EFT Group started building the 300 MW Stanari plant close to the Bosnian town of Doboj. It was is estimated to cost €550mn, produce 2,000 GWh of electricity annually and consume 2.3mn tonnes of coal a year. The plant is expected to start working at full capacity in the second half of 2016.

The Republica Srpska’s government will provide the Chinese company with specific projects with technical details so that TEPC can decide on investments, Energy Minister Petar Djokic said in the statement following a meeting with company representatives.

Djokic added that Republica Srpska has significant energy potential and the Energy Ministry will fully support the projects approved by the Chinese company.

Last year, Republica Srpska announced a development plan that envisages the launch of several major energy projects by 2025, including the construction of a section of the South Stream gas pipeline and three gas power plants. The three gas power plant will be built in Banja Luka (the republic’s capital), Prijedor and Bijeljina (or alternatively at Ugljevik). The plan envisages also the construction of thermal power plants Stanari and Ugljevik 3, wind parks in the Trusina and Hrud in eastern Herzegovina, two hydropower plants in Bocac and one in Mrsovo, as well as hydropower plants in Dabar, Nevestinoje, Ulog and Cijevna.

The Spatial Planning ministry is also preparing the design project for the construction of a hydropower plant on the central Drina River and for smaller plants that will be awarded via concessions.

TEPC proposed the build-operate-transfer (BOT) and turnkey business models for the projects, which will be financed possibly through China’s Exim Bank.