The Parliament of North Macedonia has approved the issuance of state guarantees for two loans worth 188 million euros provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to be used for financing major infrastructure projects.
One of the two loans in question, in the amount of 19.8 million euros, will be used to partially finance the construction of 10 MW solar power plant in Oslomej 2 and 20 MW solar power plant in Bitola.
The total cost of the two projects is 25.5 million euros and, besides the EBRD loan, it will be financed by the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) grand of 5 million euros, while state-owned power utility ESM will invest 700,000 euros.
The first 10 MW solar power plant on the depleted Oslomej coalmine was put into operation this April. It is expected to generate between 15 and 17 GWh of electricity per year and was also partially funded by the EBRD and the WBIF grant.