Largest solar power plant in BiH to be installed in Bosanski Petrovac

The Government of the Una-Sana Canton plans to announce an international public call for the construction of a 90 MW solar power plant this year.

The solar power plant, which is to be built near Bosanski Petrovac, is the fourth large photovoltaic power plant in the pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which currently doesn’t have any utility-scale unit of the kind.

The power plant near Bosanski Petrovac is the fourth large photovoltaic power plant in the pipeline in BiH

The Republic of Srpska awarded two concessions last year for the construction of solar power plants – to privately-owned energy trader EFT (60 MW) and state-controlled utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (73 MW). In December 2020, state-owned company Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH) plans the construction of a 30 MW facility.

The Ministry of Economy of the Una-Sana Canton has obtained consent from the Municipal Council of Bosanski Petrovac to initiate the procedure of granting a concession for the use of solar energy for generating electricity, Nezavisne reported.

The value of the investment is estimated at EUR 50 million, and the production will be exported

Minister Nijaz Kadirić said it would be the largest solar park in BiH. The value of the investment is estimated at EUR 50 million (BAM 100 million), and the output should be exported.

He said the law on concessions should be amended to facilitate the conditions for awarding concessions and that an international public call would be published. The activities are scheduled to be completed this year, including the start of the construction works, in Kadirić’s words.

Of note, in January last year he announced that three tendering procedures for solar power plants would be launched within months.

A few months earlier, company RSV Energy from Bosanski Petrovac said it planned to build a 47 MW solar power plant on 80 hectares. The company opened the first solar power plant in the municipality in mid-2019. It has a capacity of 150 kW and an annual output of 219 MWh.

Solar park on 150 hectares

Mahmut Jukić, the head of the Municipality of Bosanski Petrovac, one of the least developed areas in the Una-Sana Canton, confirmed the canton’s government has initiated activities for the construction of a large solar park at the Bjelajski Vaganac site.

Research was conducted there and the government asked the municipal council to give consent for the procedure of granting concessions to investors, he added.

The project is planned on an area of ​​about 150 hectares, and the installed capacity of the solar park is 90 MW.