Belgian company Elicio NV commissioned two wind farms in Serbia – 42 MW Alibunar in 2018 and 8 MW Malibunar in 2017. Country Manager for Serbia of Elicio NV, Christophe Bols said that the company is interested in further increasing its wind power portfolio in the country.
Bols explained that the company has already launched preliminary procedures for the project involving the construction of a wind farm on the territory of Pancevo municipality, by filing requests to the local authorities.
According to him, Elicio NV is satisfied with the overall business environment in Serbia, which is one of the reasons for expansion plans. He noted that, although the feed-in tariff system will be removed in the future, Elicio is prepared for the auction-based model because it already operates in other countries with similar RES support schemes. In October 2018, Elicio NV has successfully completed the project for the construction of Alibunar wind farm. The wind farm has installed capacity of 42 MW and will generate enough electricity to cover the demand of some 38,000 households. Elicio NV invested some 80 million euros in the project. Beside the 21 wind turbines the wind farm complex also includes completed transformer station and distribution station. The International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, provided a loan worth 19.1 million euros to Elicio NV for the project for the construction of Alibunar wind farm. The agreement involves two loans of 15.5 million euros and 3.8 million euros, plus a syndicated loan. In 2017, the company commissioned wind farm Malibunar, which has four wind turbines with combined installed capacity of 8 MW. The plant’s annual electricity production is about 25 GWh, while the cost of the project was 13.8 million euros.