Balkan countries are working on wind use as an alternative source for electricity production for the purpose of fulfillment of available EU requests- experts say.
“The region has big potential for development of this so called green energy. Although it cannot cover all needs, it represents a significant alternative for the purpose of expensive import decrease and it is ecologically cleaner”, Zdravko Stefanovski, stated energy expert in Macedonian Ministry of Energy.
27% i.e. 21% of total energy production is asked from Serbia and Macedonia by EU to be from renewable energy sources.
Serbia, whose production didn’t approach 21%, made an action plan in order to manage this goal.
Serbian oil industry NIS signed an agreement with Energowind in Decembar last year so it can construct a windmill park in Plandiste municipality.
“This investment is 160 million EUR worth. We’ll build 34 windmills with total capacity of 102 MW. Construction permission is maybe already provided, and negotiations with banks are being finished in March so construction can begin in April”, Kiril Kravicenko, Managing Director of NIS, stated.
Wind energy in Macedonia can provide almost 10% of annual needs for electricity.
“It is windy in the east part of Macedonia for 150 days and wind’s speed reaches 8 meters per second”, Stefanovski stated.
Significant step forward is also investment of Turkish Company NeSa Energy in the windmill center in Macedonian municipality Bogdanica. “Construction of 44 planned windmills will be over in the next two years”, municipal mayor of Bogdanica stated.
Macedonian plants began in the meantime with windmill park construction 36 million EUR worth which is also placed in Bogdanica municipality that has 16 windmills with capacity of 37 MW.
“We expect energy inflow in the second half of the year. Macedonian plants signed contract with Terna-Siemens Company from Greece last year for finishing the settlement project of substation and transmission line that will connect energy to Macedonian network. We concluded the contract in order to provide and install turbines with the company from Denmark”, Mirce Kotevski, spokesman of this state company stated.
Experts have chosen 15 potential locations for windmills in Macedonia along the Vardar river and amount mountain area where the wind speed is high up to 8,5 meters per second.
Spanish producer of windmills Inval stated that he plans to construct two wind parks with 37 windmills that would produce 100 MW in Stip and Radovis.
There are 79 wind motors with 131 MW capacities in Croatia. They are placed in 9 wind parks.
Thing are going pretty fast and the boom of wind power plants on our coasts has only began. Croatia is the first in Europe according to the percentage of installed wind capacities in the first half of 2012. Croatia is planning to build 94 more windmills and to do six projects within investments of 163 to 200 million EUR. Wind is expected to become main alternative energy source until 2020.
The first windmill in BiH began to work at the end of last year in Visoko with approval from Regulatory Commission for Energy in the country. The project is almost 260.000 EUR worth and one private Bosnian Company Susa-komerc is financing it.
“The windmill is constructed in 2008, but we were waiting for working permission.Wind will be used as alternative energy source more and more”, Sadeta Hadzimenahovic, Susa-komerc Company representative stated.
Source Serbia Energy See desk
