Krivača, first wind farm in Serbia south of Danube, officially starts production

The companies MK Group and Alfi Renewables inaugurated their Krivača wind farm in Golubac in eastern Serbia. At 105.6 MW in capacity, it is one of the largest in the region and the first such facility in the country south of the Danube as well as the Sava river. All the other operating wind farms were built in Serbia’s northern province of Vojvodina.

The construction of the Krivača wind farm began in May 2021. It is the first renewable energy project in the country with a commercial power purchase agreement – utility PPA.

Krivača is also the second wind power plant put into operation in Serbia since 2019. The other one, inaugurated in November, has only 9 MW in capacity.

The investment, EUR 165 million, enables the production of 310 GWh per year, sufficient to supply 75,000 Serbian households. The wind park consists of 22 wind turbines in an area of 56 square kilometers.

MK Group and Alfi Renewables said they built Krivača in an extremely short period of time for such a large project, just over two years. It meets the highest global green standards, they claimed.

Janković: MK Group will invest EUR 1 billion in wind  and solar

The companies said the wind park is important for strengthening energy security and estimated it would reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 120,000 tons per year. MK Group and Alfi Renewables stressed that they built 30 kilometers of new roads, 40 kilometers of transmission lines and a substation with a switchyard.

MK Group’s Chief Executive Officer Mihailo Janković, said that the company was a pioneer in the renewable energy sector, as it opened the first wind farm in Serbia ten years ago. Krivača is the fourth in its portfolio.

“Through independent and partner projects, we will enable the total production of as much as 1 GW of energy from renewable sources in the next three years. We will invest close to EUR 1 billion in wind energy and solar energy”, Janković said.

Berločnik: Alfi is preparing a new, even bigger fund

According to Tomaž Berločnik, partner in Alfi Renewables and President of the Investment Committee of Alfi Green Fund, the company is materializing its mission of improving the environment with one of its first investments in Serbia. Alfi Renewables manages the investment fund, which he said is the largest in the region in the renewable energy segment.

“Our Alfi Green Fund, which has raised 104 million euros, with 80% of the money invested by Slovenian private and institutional investors, has acquired new projects faster than expected, addressing the investment potential of around 300 MW of installed capacity. Therefore, we are already planning an even larger fund for the coming year,” said Berločnik.

Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and Ambassador of Slovenia Damjan Bergant spoke at the ceremony.

The two companies said the Krivača wind farm is among the first projects in the region financed by a consortium of four international lenders: Erste Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, OeEB and NLB.

The sale of electricity under a long-term PPA was arranged with Swiss company Axpo. The wind turbines were delivered by the German company Nordex.