Construction launched on Jelovača wind farm, country’s second

Construction has begun on the Jelovača wind farm, which is expected to become Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) second operational wind farm, with trial run planned by the end of 2018, according to Indikator.ba.

The 36 MW Jelovača wind farm with 18 turbines is being built in the municipality of Tomislavgrad, where the country’s first wind farm, the 52 MW Mesihovina, was connected to the grid in March this year. The investor in Jelovača is F.L. Wind, an independent energy producer.

Wind power solutions provider Siemens Gamesa, majority owned by German technology company Siemens, is installing turbines for the Jelovača wind farm, which it is to operate and maintain over a five-year period, the company said in February, adding that at the time, it had received orders in Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the supply of 116 wind turbines with a cumulative capacity of more than 285 MW.

Siemens also delivered turbines for public power utility Elektroprivreda Hrvatske Zajednice Herceg Bosne’s (EPHZHB) Mesihovina wind farm and will maintain them in the first two years of operation.

Other wind farms being developed in BiH

Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH), one of two public power utilities in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) alongside EPHZHB, plans to put a EUR 83 million Podveležje wind farm into operation in the fourth quarter of 2019, Senad Salkić, executive director for capital investments at EPBiH, said earlier.

The Podveležje wind farm, to enable the production of 120 GWh of electricity, will significantly boost the share of renewable energy sources in EPBiH’s total installed capacity, Salkić said in May, noting that the delivery and installation of wind turbines was in the final stage.

The 48 MW Podveležje, which would be the first wind farm in EPBiH’s system, is financed from the company’s own sources and German state development bank KfW’s lending and grant, according to EPBiH’s website.

In Republika Srpska, the other entity of BiH, activities concerning the construction of the Hrgud wind farm are ongoing, with exploratory works planned to ensure environmental protection, according to an earlier statement by Radmila Čičković, acting general manager of Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS), the entity’s power utility.

The 48 MW Hrgud wind farm will cost an estimated EUR 65 million to be built, with up to EUR 60 million to be provided by German development bank KfW as a loan to ERS.

Certain other wind farm projects are also being considered in BiH.