On July 22, 2021, the Regulatory Commission for Energy of the Republic of Srpska adopted the Rulebook for the Issuance of Licences (hereinafter the Rulebook), published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska No. 75/21, which entered into force on August 25, 2021.
On the day this Rulebook came into force, the Rulebook for the Issuance of Licences published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska No. 7/19 ceased to valid.
Abbreviations
Regulatory Commission – Regulatory Commission for Energy of the Republic of Srpska
DERK –State Electricity Regulatory Commission
FERK – Regulatory Commission for Energy of the Federation of BIH
NOS – Independent System Operator in BiH
BOS – Balance Responsible Party
The Rulebook prescribes and regulates the procedure for issuing, extending, amending, annulling, and revoking licences for performing energy activities, criteria for issuing, requirements, as well as type, content, and period of validity of licences, then manner of keeping the Register of Issued Licences and the manner of monitoring.
The energy activities include the following activities: production of electricity, distribution, management of electricity distribution system, production of oil derivatives, transport of oil through oil pipelines and oil derivatives through product pipelines, storage of oil and oil derivatives, production of natural-gas, transport, management of natural-gas transmission system, storage, management of the natural-gas storage system, distribution of natural-gas, management of the natural-gas distribution system, trade and supply of natural-gas, management of the compressed natural gas plant and management of the liquefied natural gas plant.
Before starting to perform energy activities a legal entity or entrepreneur, as an energy entity, performing one or more energy activities is obliged to obtain a licence for performing energy activities, except:
To perform the activity of electricity production for:
- production of electricity in power plants up to 1 MW, unless one producer produces electricity in several facilities with a total capacity of more than 1 MW
- production of electricity exclusively for own needs,
- production of electricity in new power plants, for a maximum of six months from the day of obtaining the use permit,
- for performing the activity of transport and management of the natural-gas transmission system on the new transmission system, for a maximum of 12 months from the day of obtaining the use permit from the competent authority in the field of construction for that system,
- to perform distribution and management of the natural-gas distribution system on the new distribution system, for a maximum of six months from the day of obtaining the use permit from the competent authority in the field of construction for that system.
The Regulatory Commission issues licences in the electricity sector, the natural-gas sector and the oil and oil derivatives sector. The procedure is initiated at the request of the applicant, the energy entity. A separate application is submitted for each energy activity, which means that if the energy entity plans to perform several energy activities, the same is obliged to apply for each of these activities separately.
Application forms are available on the website of the Regulatory Commission, in electronic form.
Before the final decision on the issuance of the licence, the Regulatory Commission review the correctness of the application, then determines the draft licence, and makes a conclusion on the public consideration of the draft licence.
The Regulatory Commission publishes the application for a licence, the draft licence, and the conclusion on the public consideration of the draft licence on its website.
A press release containing essential information on the application, draft licence, etc., is published in a daily newspaper available throughout the Republic of Srpska and the website of the Regulatory Commission so that interested parties, who have a legal interest, are aware of all information and have opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
The final decision on the issuance of a licence is made by the Regulatory Commission at a regular session, in the form of a decision, no later than 60 days from the date of submission of a proper application.
The Rulebook defines the requirements and criteria for making decisions on issuing licences for performing energy activities, as well as joint and additional documentation that has to be attached to the application for issuing a licence to perform activities in:
Electricity sector:
- production of electricity in hydropower plants, thermal power plants, thermal power plants with integrated mines, cogeneration plants and other power plants that use renewable or other energy sources,
- distribution and management of the electricity distribution system,
- distribution and management of a closed electricity distribution system,
- electricity supply and trade.
Natural-gas sector, oil and oil derivatives sector:
- Natural-gas production,
- transport and management of the natural-gas transmission system,
- distribution and management of the natural-gas distribution system,
- storage and management of the natural gas storage system,
- liquefied natural-gas plant management and compressed natural-gas plant management,
- trade and supply of natural gas.
Petroleum and petroleum products sector:
- production of petroleum products,
- oil transportation by oil pipelines,
- transport of oil derivatives by product pipelines,
- storage of oil and oil derivatives.
Licences are issued for the period of validity:
- up to 30 years for performing the activities of electricity generation, distribution and management of the electricity, distribution and management of the electricity distribution system, distribution, and management of the closed electricity distribution system,
- up to 5 years for performing the activity of supply and trade in electricity,
- from 15 to 30 years for performing the activities of transport and management of the natural-gas transmission system and distribution and management of the natural-gas distribution system,
- up to 10 years for performing the activities of natural-gas production, storage and management of the natural gas storage system, trade and supply of natural-gas, management of the liquefied natural-gas plant and management of the compressed natural-gas plant,
- from 5 to 30 years for performing the activities of production of oil derivatives, transport of oil through oil pipelines, transport of oil derivatives through product pipelines and storage of oil and oil derivatives.
The procedure of extension, modification, cancelation, and revocation of the licence may be initiated at the request of the licence holder or at the initiative of the Regulatory Commission.
The Regulatory Commission keeps a Register of Issued Licences, which is available on the website of the Regulatory Commission (reers.ba).
Author: Tijana Banjac
E-mail: [email protected]
