Macedonia’s state-owned electricity producer ELEM plans to build a 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant adjacent to its Oslomej thermal power plant (TPP).

The proposed PV plant project, which has a total estimated cost of EUR 10 million, would be financed by proceeds of a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and ELEM’s own sources, according to the general procurement notice available on the Macedonian company’s website.

The solar plant would be built on the exhausted coal mine of TPP Oslomej and the electricity produced would be directly sold in the nearby grid. The project is part of the strategy of ELEM to diversify its production mix away from coal and increase the production share from renewable energy sources, which will provide clean energy in a country and a region with serious capacity shortages and high levels of carbon intensity, the notice reads.

The project will require the procurement of goods, works, and services for the supply and installation of the 10 MW PV plant. Tendering for the contracts is expected to begin on January 1, 2019, according to the notice.

The tendering will be conducted by e-procurement using the EBRD Client E-Procurement Portal (ECEPP). Interested suppliers, contractors, and consultants should register on ECEPP in order to receive notifications via this link.

ELEM already operates a wind farm

Most of ELEM’s capacities consist of coal-fired power plants and hydropower plants, but the company also has a wind farm, the 36.8 MW Bogdanci.

The Bogdanci wind farm launched production in July 2015. A total of EUR 55.5 million was invested in building the 16 turbines, each with an installed capacity of 2.3 MW. German development bank KfW provided EUR 47.9 million for the wind farm, while ELEM contributed EUR 7.6 million from own sources.

The company plans to expand the wind farm in a second phase by adding 6 more turbines with a total capacity of 13.8 MW. ELEM is ready to invest EUR 6 million in this phase, while the remainder of the overall investment worth EUR 24 million should be secured through a loan.