The energy crisis is hitting hard on all consumer budgets around the world. Current events disrupted the energy markets and increased the price of energy – especially the price of oil, natural gas and electricity, and caused uncertainty regarding energy supply in the world, the region, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.
We spoke with Nihad Harbas, GEFF technical expert for Bosnia and Herzegovina, about how households in Bosnia and Herzegovina can still face the winter in a warm home with more rational energy consumption.
“During the upcoming heating season, citizens of BiH can influence the reduction of energy costs by using energy efficient technologies (EE) and renewable energy sources (RES). Energy efficiency means reducing household energy consumption without affecting comfort. This is achieved by installing insulation and quality windows, replacing old heating systems with modern and efficient ones, as well as installing LED lighting. However, energy efficiency is only part of the solution, as it can only reduce the need for energy. It is desirable that we ourselves produce as much energy as possible from renewable sources,” said Harbas.
Recently, there has been more and more talk about the importance of increasing the capacity of households to produce their own energy and thereby increasing energy independence. In this context, the emphasis is on heat pumps and photovoltaic systems (solar panels).
Heat pumps: modern, reliable and efficient heating
“Heat pumps are technologies that transfer thermal energy from one environment to another. They take heat from the surrounding air, water or earth, and raise that heat to a higher temperature level by investing additional energy. The coefficient of performance (COP) of heat pumps ranges between 3 and 5, which means that three to five kWh of heat energy are obtained for one kWh of electricity invested. The coefficient of performance of systems that use fossil fuels is on average between 0.6 and 0.8, and savings on monthly bills are achieved according to the coefficient of performance of the heat pump. Also, it is important to note that a heat pump that uses the ground as an energy source is the most efficient, followed by a heat pump that uses water and finally the surrounding air,” explains Harbas.
The advantages of heat pumps are reflected in the fact that they can be used for heating and cooling, they work automatically, they are silent, and they are easy and quick to install.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has an enormous solar potential
Photovoltaic panels are devices that directly convert the energy of solar radiation into electricity. The degree of efficiency ranges from 10% to 25%, depending on the panel manufacturer and its working principle.
The advantages of using photovoltaic systems are high reliability, low operating costs, free source of energy (sunlight), minimal need for maintenance, they do not create noise and do not pollute the environment, and provide the possibility of introducing electricity to places where it would otherwise be financially unprofitable or even unfeasible.
“Before installing the solar power plant, which consists of several solar panels connected into one system, it is necessary to check whether the roof can support the weight of the panels, and the photovoltaic system must be connected to the lightning protection installation. Choosing the power of the solar power plant is best based on local consumption of electricity, and choosing the number of panels that will produce the amount of electricity that the household uses during the year. Determining the power of the power plant depends primarily on the location of the building, as well as the type and orientation of the roof. Essentially, panels can be installed on any type of roof that is not damaged. According to data from the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute, BiH has an average of 1,800 sunshine hours per year, while the southern region of BiH has up to 2,300 sunshine hours per year. According to these data, which show that Bosnia and Herzegovina has a huge solar potential, investments in solar photovoltaic systems are very justified,” adds Harbas.
By combining energy efficient technologies to lower bills
The basic measure for improving the building’s energy efficiency should be the thermal insulation of the building’s external walls, roof, and the replacement of old windows and doors, so other measures should be applied only after the implementation of the building’s warming measures.
“As an example, the implementation of possible measures to improve energy efficiency in a 60 m2 apartment, as well as a two-story family house of 120 m2 with a central heating system, will be shown. In the analysed case, the current status of the apartment and family house is what we often encounter in the field, namely that the exterior walls and ceiling are uninsulated, that the carpentry is very old and the glass is single-layer, and that the apartment is heated by electric heaters, while the house has a central heating system installed using a solid fuel boiler – coal. As measures to improve energy efficiency for both buildings, it was proposed to install thermal insulation in the form of EPS on the outer walls with a thickness of 10 cm, thermal insulation of the ceiling (in the apartment) and the roof of the house with stone wool of a thickness of 10 cm, replacing the joinery with a new three-layer PVC of high efficiency, and in both cases, as a measure to improve the energy efficiency of the heating system, an air to water heat pump with an average seasonal coefficient of performance of 3.5 was adopted. The graphs below show the current situation in non-insulated buildings, as well as the situation and money savings that can be achieved if the above energy efficiency improvement measures are implemented. You will be able to see in an illustrative example that after the implementation of the proposed measures, the data changes drastically,” explains Harbas.
Graph 1: Presentation of the current situation in an uninsulated apartment of 60 m2, and the situation and money savings that can be achieved after implementing energy-efficient technologies
Graph 2: Presentation of the current situation in a non-insulated house with an area of 120 m2, and the situation and money savings that can be achieved after implementing energy-efficient technologies
Calculate possible energy savings in your home
The Green Economy Financing Facility (abbreviated as GEFF), a programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), developed an online Energy savings calculator in order to help BiH citizens to find out how much energy and money they can save by applying highly energy-efficient technologies. Apartment and house owners can now independently calculate potential savings and find out which technologies can be used to increase the energy efficiency of the home and reduce air pollution.
The EBRD GEFF provides funds for increasing the energy efficiency of apartments and houses with an EU incentive of up to 20%. Financing is provided through local partner financial institutions: UniCredit Bank Mostar, UniCredit Bank Banja Luka, Sparkasse Bank, Partner MKF, ProCredit Bank, MK Mikrofin, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and MF MI-BOSPO.
In order to make the list of green products that meet the conditions for financing available to all citizens of BiH, the EBRD developed the Technology selector, an online catalogue of highly energy-efficient technologies.
Up to now, more than 4,500 households in BiH have improved the energy efficiency of their homes through the GEFF programme.
EBRD GEFF programme is conducted with the support of the European Union (EU), the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).