How JP Elektroprivreda BiH uses Montel News and Market Data

As is the case with so many people that hold trading positions within the European energy industry, Smajo began his journey in the energy sector as an engineer, learning the day-to-day realities of how energy moves and how systems work. “It was a good education”, says Smajo “but then I went to work for the University of Sarajevo, so that’s where my learning of network management really began”.

And now, as Head of Department for Control and Trading at Bosnia’s State-owned utility company, Elektroprivreda BiH, Smajo puts that knowledge to good use, alongside a further 20 years of experience working across electricity generation, energy trading and grid capacity management.

To show the scale of day-to-day operations, it is worth noting that Elektroprivreda BiH is the largest electricity supplier in the country, providing power to more than 770,000 customers across Bosnia & Herzegovina. As a result, access to market data and information on events affecting the energy industry are very important.

Depending on the ways in which energy demand drives the need for more or less electricity on the Bosnian power grid, Montel Online also helps Smajo choose whether to dispatch more electricity generation from the assets available to him, or buy imported power where it may be cheaper due to market conditions. “Being publicly owned means that I am working with public money. Using that in the best way possible means that I need access to real-time information from European energy markets”.

Having been using Montel Online for over 6 months now, Smajo is happy with how electricity price data within the platform is helping the business to perform trading activities. “The energy market data service within Montel Online provides a wealth of information necessary for electricity trading activities, especially during the extremely volatile market conditions we have seen since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the associated impacts on gas exports”.

This enables Elektroprivreda BiH to see how electricity prices are changing and to make better decisions when it comes to buying or selling power. As the prices from various electricity markets around Bosnia are placed into their own software environment, both trading activities and decision-making processes are supported by reliable, constantly updating energy data.

When it comes to the energy news, Smajo not only holds an interest in the pan-European reporting offered by Montel News, but also finds a value in one of our regional partners – Montel Energetika.net. Covering 10 countries across the Balkan region from our base in Ljubljana, Energetika provides energy news both from, and relevant to, the Bosnian energy market.

“Another aspect of my role is to stay informed on regulatory developments affecting Bosnia’s energy market, those energy markets in surrounding regions and even up to EU level. As a result, I need both Montel Online and Montel Energetika.net to make sure I am always in the know.”

With customisable options available in Montel Online, Smajo is never stuck for information either. Able to customise his own page to cover the updates most important to Elektroprivreda BiH, he can select by topics, country, languages or even specific publishers which might have a nose for the most important news. Depending on the task at hand, it could be energy policy, technology developments in the energy sector or market drivers that he needs to know.

As we draw our interview to a close, Smajo remarks “you really cannot underestimate the importance of having all this information in one place. The data provides the hard facts, sure, but when you add the news right next to it, you immediately understand why things are happening the way they are.”

And with an annual financial portfolio of activities totalling around €300 million, that’s why Bosnia’s biggest electricity supplier trusts Montel Online to support their business.