Part of 150 MW solar power project in BiH receives green light

Domestic firm Eco-Wat, which is developing a project for a 150 MW solar power plant, won preliminary approvals from the Government of the Federation of BiH for energy permits for five sections of just under 5 MW each.

One of the biggest solar power projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved progress in the administrative process. Eco-Wat from the town of Kiseljak intends to install 150 MW in the Hodovo business zone in Stolac in the Herzegovina region in the country’s south. The investment is intended to be implemented in phases and now the company secured preliminary approval for five units.

The individual segments, marked as A1 to A5, are all just one kilowatt short of 5 MW in nominal and connection capacity, according to the Government of the Federation of BiH. It instructed the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry to continue the procedure in accordance with the directive for energy permits for the 25 MW section.

The firm received the same approval from the entity government in May for units C2-C5, with identical capacities. Eco-Wat filed late last year for a preliminary environmental approval assessment for an electrical substation in Hodovo and an overhead high-voltage power line. It said at the time that it plans to build two transformer units in the first phase.

The new preliminary approval highlights the current wave of investments in solar power in Herzegovina.

The Stolac solar park project was the biggest in the procedure in BiH until Etmax from Banja Luka recently filed for a 50-year concession for 500 MW, comprising seven units. The location is in Nevesinje, in east Herzegovina, in the territory of the Republic of Srpska. It is BiH’s other entity.