EUR 9.8 million for construction of wind park Malibunar in Serbia

UniCredit Bank Serbia and Electrawinds Mali WF, a Serbian subsidiary owned by Belgian Elicio NV, has signed a long-term financing agreement in the total amount of EUR 9.8 million for the development, construction and operation of the Malibunar wind park.

On August 31, the first debt disbursement took place, in the amount of EUR 3.2 million, UniCredit Bank Serbia announced.

The bank is following the project as sole lender utilizing the funding provided by Green for Growth Fund (GGF), the first specialized fund to advance energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) in Southeast Europe. The financing is complemented by a short term VAT bridge financing and interest rate hedging arrangements.

The construction of the wind park started in November 2016.

The total value of the investment in Malibunar, located in South Banat, is around EUR 14 million.

The wind park will be consisted out of 4 Senvion MM 100 turbines with a total installed capacity of 8 MW.

It is estimated that, upon the completion of the construction, Malibunar will generate electricity of 25 GW hours annually and will supply around 7,200 households with electricity. At the same time, this Project will contribute to avoiding the CO₂ emission of 15,800 tons per year.

“We are very proud that UniCredit Bank’s wide experience in the field of renewable energy financing has been recognized and that we were entrusted a role of Malibunarsole lender. The fact that we once again participate in a project of huge importance for this country is another proof that we are continuing to follow and support the development of this sector”, Csilla Ihasz, Chairwoman of the Management Board of UniCredit Bank Serbia, said.

“This is evidenced by our portfolio that today includes also mini hydro plants and solar parks. As a pioneer on the local market, our ambitious are big and we will continue to go in this direction”, she added.

Elicio is proud that this milestone has been achieved as this is the first project that has secured project financing after the new decrees adopted by the Serbian Government in June 2016, Ludo Vandervelden, General Manager Elicio NV, said.

“It demonstrates the quality of the project and expresses the confidence that both Elicio as investor, and UniCredit as lender could show to the Serbian market & regulatory framework. UniCredit has a solid experience in renewable energy in CEE & Balkans and as well as a strong local presence in Serbia, making it a very suitable and trustworthy financing partner with whom we entered into a long term relationship”, he said.

The Serbian government amended in June 2017 certain features of the renewable energy decrees, which paved the way to start the construction of second wind farm in the Alibunar area, located adjacent to the Malibunar wind farm. The project is called Alibunar and will have a total of 42 MW of power. Around EUR 80 million will be invested.