Arijana Maksimchuk, owner of the company Telemax - We are building a solar power plant of 4 MW, and hydrogen production is also planned

The company Telemax doo Banja Luka is a well-known name in the world of electrical installations, where it has been operating for more than two decades, and has expanded its business to include solar energy. And very successfully - in a relatively short time, it has implemented more than 20 solar power plant projects on industrial and commercial facilities, and now has more than 8.5 MW of solar power plant capacity in stable operation.

However, it does not stop there - in accordance with the company`s slogan "The Future Today", it continues to conquer new technologies. As the owner and director of the Telemax company, Arijana Maksimchuk, revealed to us, they are just at the beginning of the construction of a solar power plant with a capacity of 4 MW where they are planning a technological system that can produce hydrogen and electricity through thermolysis.

We also talked about the interest of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina in solar energy, which, as our interlocutor notes, is great, especially for companies that are exporters, but also about obstacles for the development of this type of renewable energy.

So far, you have successfully implemented more than 20 solar power plant projects on industrial and commercial facilities. Which of those projects was most challenging?

- Yes, we are, and we are proud that in a relatively short period of time we managed to organize ourselves in new technology and release over 8.5 MW of capacity. And the most challenging for us are, of course, the first projects that we carried out in 2022, when the Law on Renewable Sources came out, because all regulations and alignments with the Law on Construction when obtaining permits were not completed and the very procedure of putting the power plants into operation took place with a lot of difficulties and various interpretations of the numerous services that accompany the approval of the documentation. Also, the first installations and first commissioning were quite challenging, like all new technologies, but partners and suppliers helped us a lot with their experience and training. So today we can say that we have more than 8.5 MW of solar power plant capacity in stable operation, both on the roof and on the ground. It is important to note that for all of our solar power plants, we also did the design and obtaining documentation. And it was a challenging process for us, and the installation itself, due to our experience in previous projects, was the easiest job for us within all the activities.

How would you assess the interest of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina in solar energy? Which companies are most interested in this form of electricity generation?

- The interest is high, especially for companies that are exporters, because the use of renewable sources allows exporters to obtain a Green Certificate that enables them to meet the conditions for exporting their goods. Also, now investing in renewable energy with the aim of self-consumption is a much faster return on investment for investors due to the realization of a higher price of electricity through self-consumption, compared to the rather low prices of electricity that have been on the stock markets in the area in recent months.

What are the most common requests and dilemmas clients have when they contact you? What do you tell them when they ask how long it will take for their investment to pay off?

- Clients` dilemmas are always what is the risk, what are the guarantees and how to protect the investment as well as possible and to make the repayment period as short as possible. And that depends on a lot of factors. First of all, whether the power plant is being built for own consumption or for sale. It also depends on investments in energy, which are important for every power plant, because transmission line capacities are becoming, due to the increased interest of investors, a bottleneck in the process of investing in renewable sources, because if you have a good location and good insolation of the land where you will build the power plant, and you do not have the necessary you cannot build the capacity of the transmission line that you will use to transfer energy to the grid. If the investment in the transmission line is too big an investment, the return on the investment is extended by a year or two, so there are a lot of factors that affect the length of the return. Many contractors communicate only with the price of the power plant itself without the energy part that strongly affects the total investment, which sometimes misleads investors.

If the investment is made from a loan, the investment risk can be reduced if the loan repayment period is extended so that the energy produced can cover the loan installment. Our power plants on the ground that we have installed because we monitor the production, give more than 19% of energy compared to the planned production, because for the first four months of this year we have many more sunny days compared to the average, so the current record low price of electricity on that way partially depreciates, which is good for investors.

According to the International Energy Agency, solar energy is the cheapest form of energy. What are the necessary prerequisites for solar energy to take root in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

- Just to speed up and define the laws and regulations because private houses as the greatest potential cannot yet be worked on because the status of the energy that private houses would produce and release into the network has not been defined, so it is not currently worth investing in it, and double VAT paid by individuals, if they install a power plant on their roof, they will make the investment more expensive. And related to the investment of companies in renewable sources, the bottleneck is, as I said, the capacity of transmission lines and the compliance of laws and the acceleration of the process of obtaining documentation. If it is solved, there are no obstacles and the investment can be many times higher because there is interest.

You are also promoting the use of solar energy with the City Gecko brand of urban furniture, which includes smart benches and solar bus stops. Are citizens already used to this novelty?

- They are, and it is a good way to approach and understand solar energy towards users and future clients. The production of City Gecko products (solar smart urban furniture) that we started in 2019 is one of the reasons why we were among the first companies to start dealing with solar power plants. And as a continuation of getting closer to the customers of solar equipment, we opened our Solar Max shop, where we exhibited all types of solar equipment, panels, inverters, different types of construction and all other equipment needed for power plants, and we also created a prototype of a power plant on the ground, a power plant on roof in order to show investors and buyers live how it looks and how it works. Since last December we became a Premium partner of the German company Krannich Solar, which is one of the largest distributors of solar equipment in the world, I am sure that we can offer our market the best equipment at the most favorable prices and fast deliveries.

Do you plan to expand your field of activity to other types of renewable energy?

- Yes, we plan. We are currently with our partners at the beginning of the construction of a solar power plant with a capacity of 4 MW, in which we are also building our own solar power plant, because our plan is to install a technological system at that location, when we put the power plants into operation, as a pilot project that can produce hydrogen and electricity through thermolysis. because the power plant produces while the sun is shining, and then when the sun stops shining, the transmission line is free and ready for energy transmission. In this way, we would get an acceleration of the return on investment and use the energy investments that we definitely had to make because of the power plants. And I am sure that it will be interesting to all investors who have invested in the construction of solar power plants. But of course, we still have a very complicated procedure before commissioning, and the technology is completely new in our region. So, in accordance with the slogan of our company "The Future Today", we continue to conquer new technologies and bring them closer to our clients.

Telemax d.o.o. Banja Luka

Telemax doo Banja Luka

Arijana Maksimčuk

solar power plants

solar energy

hydrogen

City Gecko

Solar Max

smart benches

solar bus stations

electricity generation

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