Gov't Signs Deal for Macedonia's First Wind Farm

Construction of the first wind park in Macedonia, located in the southeastern town of Bogdanci, will begin this fall with financial support provided by the German development bank KfW.

The Ministry of Finance, KfW Bank and ELEM (Macedonian Power Plants) on Saturday signed agreements for the project worth 55 million euros.

"Today, the financial structure for the construction of Bogdanci wind farm was closed. 32.9 million euros have been provided through the agreements signed with KfW Bank and the remaining 22.6 million are to be provided by ELEM from company funds," Vice PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said on Saturday after signing the documents.

15 to 18 windmills will be built with a capacity between 2 to 3 megawatts on the wind farm, which will cover 29 hectares. The total production power of the park will be 100 gigawatts and its capacity 37 megawatts.

"The goal is to use renewable energy sources while producing electricity, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and decrease Macedonia's import dependency on electricity," ELEM CEO Vlatko Cingovski stated.

The project will be conducted in two stages. The first involves the installation of windmills and is to be completed within the next several years. The second stage includes the additional installment of wind turbines in an effort to increase the power of the wind farm by about 50 megawatts.