Construction of first large solar power plant in BiH kicks off

After several announcements from domestic and foreign companies, the construction of the first large solar power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina finally started. It will be located in the southern municipality of Grude, some twenty kilometers from the Adriatic Sea and fifty kilometers from Mostar.

Norwegian renewable energy company Greenstat, in partnership with GP Toming from Grude, has launched the construction of the 45 megawatt (MW) Petnjik solar power plant in the municipality of Grude, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FIPA) said.

The two investors are implementing the project through special vehicle company Drin Energija. It is Greenstat’s first solar project abroad.

It will be the Norwegian company’s first solar power plant abroad

The Norwegian company announced that works are underway. It said the installation would begin in June, that it would start mounting solar panels in the first quarter of next year, and that the commissioning is expected by the end of 2023. Annual production is estimated at 65 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

FIPA revealed it had several meetings with the representatives of the foreign investor in BiH and Norway and that it presented the country’s business environment and investment opportunities.

Greenstat was founded in 2015. It is involved in the development of projects for hydrogen, industrial wind farms with one to five turbines and a capacity from several hundred kilowatts to 3 MW, and solar power plants.

Greenstat plans to increase investment in Southeast Europe

The Norwegian company said solar is becoming the cheapest form of renewable energy in many parts of the world and that the time has come to establish Greenstat Solar AS, which would own and operate solar power plants in Norway and abroad. Energy would be sold or used to produce hydrogen.

After analyzing several projects in Europe, the firm decided that the first investment abroad would be in BiH, in partnership with GP Toming, according to its statement.

Petnjik will be the first in a series of power plants, the company added and underscored it is considering new investments and expecting to boost its investments in Southeast Europe.

Many more utility-scale solar power plants are announced in BiH

Greenstat said it is looking forward to contributing to energy production in a country that is actively working to replace fossil fuels with renewables.

Of note, government-owned Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH) plans to build a 30 MW solar park near its Podveležje wind farm, and the Republic of Srpska has awarded two concessions for the construction of solar power plants – to private company EFT (60 MW), and to state-controlled power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (73 MW).

There are plans for the construction of several more utility-scale photovoltaic facilities in the country.