Federation of BiH brown coal output falls almost 30% in July as two mines halt production

July output falls to 211,783 tonnes

Brown coal production in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina dropped to 211,783 tonnes in July, against 300,931 tonnes in the same month a year earlier, a decline of almost 30%, according to Telegraf Biznis. Hayat cited the same July volume in its reporting on the shutdowns at the country's pits.

Production has been suspended at the Breza mine and at RMU Abid Lolic in Han Bila, according to information from the mines quoted by Telegraf Biznis. Miners at the affected pits are demanding payment of wages already earned and their right to health care. The miners themselves have raised the question of what electricity would cost consumers in future if domestic mines are shut down and thermal power plants are left without sufficient coal.

Kakanj depends on steady deliveries

The Kakanj thermal power plant depends directly on regular coal supply, and reduced output at the mines can lead to reduced operation of its units, Telegraf Biznis reported. Electricity the plant fails to generate would have to be replaced through purchases on the market, shifting the shortfall from the pit head to the wholesale price.

Elektroprivreda BiH states that the planned annual generation of the Tuzla and Kakanj thermal power plants combined exceeds 4,300 GWh. That figure sets the scale of the volume tied to domestic coal deliveries, and it is the reference point used to measure what a prolonged interruption would be worth in money.

The cost of replacement power

A previously published figure from the Federation regulator FERK put the replacement market price of electricity at approximately 20 feninga per kilowatt-hour, a fening being one-hundredth of a convertible mark. Telegraf Biznis applied that benchmark to size the financial exposure:

• Every 100 GWh of missing energy would be worth close to 20 million KM at that indicative price.
• If, purely theoretically, the entire planned output of Tuzla and Kakanj had to be bought on the market at that price, its value would approach 860 million KM.
• The final cost would depend on the market price at the moment of purchase and on the volume that actually had to be replaced.

Telegraf Biznis stressed that this is not a forecast of future electricity prices, and does not mean consumers would actually pay that sum. The calculation illustrates the financial risk that accumulates if domestic coal and power output keep falling before replacement sources are built.

Import bill already doubled

Bosnia and Herzegovina spent nearly 629 million KM on electricity imports during 2025, twice as much as a year earlier, according to Telegraf Biznis. Each further reduction in domestic generation increases the need to buy power on the regional market, where prices depend on demand, weather conditions and the availability of power plants.

A short suspension of mining does not mean higher bills arrive immediately, nor that supply will be interrupted, the outlet noted. The problem becomes considerably more serious if the stoppage persists. Telegraf Biznis placed responsibility with those who have managed the mines over the years, taken the business decisions and announced restructuring whose results were not sufficient to prevent the fall in production, rather than with the miners pressing for unpaid wages and medical cover. If domestic mines continue to lose output and the thermal plants are left short of coal, the missing energy will have to be sourced elsewhere.