Stanari Thermal Power Plant

Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Related coal trackers:

Global Coal Mine Tracker Global Coal Terminals Tracker Global Coal Project Finance Tracker

Stanari Thermal Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 300-megawatts (MW) in Stanari, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Stanari Thermal Power Plant	Stanari, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina	44.7538609, 17.7924437 (exact)

Loading map...

Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• ': 44.7538609, 17.7924437

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year	Emergency/Backup
Operating	coal: lignite	300	subcritical	2016	2050 (planned)	False

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Owner	Parent
EFT Rudnik i Termoelektrana Stanari doo [100%]	Stanari Investments Ltd [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): domestic

Ownership Tree

This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Background

The power station is located close to the Stanari coal mine, owned by the same company, approximately 70 kilometres east of Banja Luka in Republika Srpska.

Originally the project was planned and permitted to be 420 MW and supercritical, but was later changed to 300 MW and subcritical. An updated EIA based on the new plans was not performed. Bankwatch report stated that "while it may appear that a smaller plant has a smaller environmental impact and therefore does not need a new study, several other changes were involved: (a) the project was originally planned to have a net thermal efficiency of 43% but the new version was down to 34.1%, (b) it was changed from supercritical pulverised lignite technology to subcritical circulating fluidised bed combustion, (3) the cooling technology has also been changed from a wet to a dry cooling system. This was one of the main reasons for the loss of thermal efficiency."

In May 2010 EFT signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract with China’s Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) to build the plant, which was scheduled to come on line in early 2016 at a total value of EUR 550 million.

Dongfang began construction in May 2013. The plant was expected to be completed by November 2015 and put into commercial operation in 2016. Testing began in January 2016. Commercial operation is scheduled for the second half of 2016.

The plant was inaugurated on September 20, 2016. The plant was obliged to comply with Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD) limit values for new plants as soon as it started operating.

In 2022 the plant produced 2,129 GWh, higher than 1,872 GWh in 2021. In 2023, the plant's net electricity generation amounted to 1,987 GWh, compared with 2,128 GWh in 2022. In August 2024, Elektrane Stanari said it planned to generate 1,907 GWh in 2024 and had delivered 1,108 GWh to the transmission network so far that year.

As of December 2025, SERC listed Stanari as a 300 MW thermal power plant with 283 MW of available capacity.

Operations and Exports

In 2024, Elektrane Stanari was the largest electricity exporter in Bosnia and Herzegovina, exporting 1,929 GWh out of the country's total electricity exports of 4,524 GWh. In 2025, it remained the country's largest electricity exporter, with 1,960 GWh of exports out of total national electricity exports of 5,137 GWh.

In March 2026, Elektrane Stanari CEO Aleksandar Milić said that the company planned for the power plant to operate until around 2050, based on coal reserves of 55 million to 60 million tonnes. He also stated that the future remained uncertain because of pressure on fossil-fuel generators, and that the company's surplus electricity, which had previously been exported, was instead being sold on the domestic market after the introduction of CBAM.

Ownership Change

The power station is owned by EFT Rudnik i Termoelektrana Stanari d.o.o., which was part of EFT Group. As of 2023, EFT Group stated on its website that it expects to divest of its fossil fuel assets by 2023.

As of January 2024, EFT Group's website did not list Stanari power plant and coal mine anymore.

EFT Rudnik i Termoelektrana Stanari d.o.o. was previously owned by Stanari Investments Ltd, renamed from EFT International Investments Holdings Ltd in August 2023. Its immediate parent used to be EFT Investments Limited (UK), which in turn was owned by the ultimate parent company EFT Holdings AG. UK regulatory and financial filings from August 2023 revealed that the ownership of Stanari Investments Ltd has changed and as of August 2023 it is held by two physical persons Milos Hamovic and Zoran Ivkovic. Therefore it appeared that the asset has been taken out of the official EFT Group's perimeter and is now held by physical persons associated with the group. EFT Group was previously said to be ultimately owned by the Serbian electricity trader Vuk Hamović.

As of May 2026, EFT Group's website listed only renewable energy investments – HPP Ulog, SE Bileca, and aggregated renewables – with no mention of Stanari Thermal Power Plant or the associated coal mine. Nevertheless, as of June 2025, financial results for the plant continued to be reported under the EFT Group name, suggesting ongoing operational involvement despite the formal ownership restructuring.

Regulatory Context

Draft NECP: No New Coal

In April 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina announced a draft national energy plan until 2030 that foresees no new coal-fired plants.

In July 2023, a 'public' consultation about Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) draft National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) was underway. Bankwatch Network summarized the following: "Despite considerable solar and wind potential, the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska governments have relentlessly pushed to build new coal plants such as Tuzla 7 and Ugljevik III – as well as decades-old hydropower projects in highly sensitive locations – long past their sell-by dates. These dinosaurs have heavily burdened previous energy planning and left little space for new ideas. But the draft NECP finally looks like it was written in the 21st Century: it states that there will be no new fossil fuel plants – coal or gas. This is a significant step that must be maintained in the final version of the NECP."

In December 2023, Energy Community Secretariat published comments and recommendations on the draft NECP, summarizing that "the draft plan its current form lacks the analytical basis, the assessment of the impacts of the planned policies and the investments needed to achieve the corresponding targets and objectives. It does not fulfil its objective, namely, to provide a clear set of policies and measures that will set Bosnia and Herzegovina on a predictable path to achieve its 2030 energy and climate targets." Detailed recommendations were provided in the Secretariat report. The final NECP had to be submitted until 30 June 2024.

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted additional public consultations and developed a final draft in July 2024. No new coal was envisaged, but there was no coal phase out plan provided either. The latest publicly available draft still contained missing elements such as an analytical basis, formulation of tangible policies and measures with an assessment of the impacts and the investments needed to achieve the corresponding targets and objectives. The Government still needed to conduct Strategic Environmental Assessment and incorporate the findings in the final document.

As of March 2025, BiH has not yet adopted its final NECP. Similarly, as of December 2025, the final NECP has not been adopted yet.

CBAM and Energy Exports

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which entered into force on 1 January 2026, applies to Bosnia and Herzegovina without exceptions, including for electricity exports to the EU.

A March 2026 civil society position paper stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina had exported an average of around 21% of the electricity it produced to the EU between 2014 and 2023, and that exports to Croatia fell in January and February 2026 compared to previous years after CBAM entered its definitive phase. The same paper stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina had taken no significant steps towards gaining an electricity-sector exemption from CBAM since October 2025.

Financing

• Source of financing: US$445 million in loans from the China Development Bank
• In June 2012 EFT announced that the China Development Bank had agreed to provide a "EUR 350 million structured credit facility" to finance the construction of the 300 MW plant.

Opposition

Bosnia and Herzegovina is obliged to adhere to the EU Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD), which regulates emissions limit values from new and existing combustion plants. According to Bankwatch, the plant's environmental permit for Stanari allows emissions 2-3 times higher than the LCPD, bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina into non-compliance with its Energy Community commitments. In response, an official complaint was submitted to the Energy Community secretariat by the Centre for Environment from Banja Luka. The LCPD Directive was being replaced by the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), which has stricter emissions limits, and in a few years the Stanari plant would have to be brought into line with this Directive. According to BankTrack, this most likely means additional costs a few years down the line as the planned project is not currently compliant.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.