European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is interested in providing support for the construction of solar power plant Trebinje 1, said EBRD’s Head of the Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Manuela Nessel after the meeting with General Director of power utility ERS Luka Petrovic.
Nessel said that she discussed several renewable energy projects of ERS with Petrovic, with the focus on solar projects. She sad that the EBRD would be very interested in supporting the development of solar projects in the Republic of Srpska (RS), adding that talks on investing in electricity transmission network were also on the agenda.
Last October, RS Government and state-owned ERS have signed a concession agreement for the construction solar power plant Trebinje 1 near the city of Trebinje. The total estimated value of the investment for the realization of projects in the concession period is around 50 million euros. The installed capacity of the plant is 72.92 MW and the estimated annual electricity production is 108.7 GWh. According to initial estimates, solar power plant should start commercial operation in 2022. The concession is awarded for a period of 50 years from the date of the signing of the concession agreement, and the solar plant will be built within 24 months from the date the agreement comes into effect. The concessionaire is obliged to pay a one-off fee of around 250,000 euros to RS budget, and upon the construction of the solar power plant, the concessionaire will pay a concession fee of 0.275 eurocents per produced kWh of electricity. ERS is investing in renewable energy sources in an effort to diversify its energy portfolio. Besides Trebinje solar power plant, the company is developing a project for a 48 MW wind farm Hrgud in eastern Herzegovina, whose construction should start by the end of the year.
