Photo: lhzuniga from Pixabay
The Government of North Macedonia has instructed state-owned power utility Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) to prepare all necessary documents for the installation of a 300 MW to 350 MW photovoltaic power plant. It will be the biggest photovoltaic facility in the country, and one of the largest in Europe.
The solar facility is going to be built on the land that was earlier planned for the construction of a cargo airport near the city of Štip. Europe’s largest solar power plants are located in Spain – Nunez de Balboa (500 MW), and Mula (494), while the third in size is Cestas in France – 300 MW. Iberdrola and Danone said in January they would make a PV plant with an installed capacity of 590 MW in Spain.
The planned PV facility would be among the five largest in Europe
ESM has a task to conduct a feasibility study and the necessary technical, financial and economic analysis, the government said. It has a task to hire a consultant for the preparation of tendering documentation and assistance in the implementation of the procedure for the construction of the PV plant with a turnkey contract.
Solar power is in expansion in North Macedonia. Last month the government selected Turkey’s Fortis Energy Electric and Bulgaria’s Solarpro Holding for the installation of two solar power plants with an capacity of 50 MW each. The construction of the solar power plants on private and state land with a total capacity of 56 MW is underway while the 10 MW PV facility at the Oslomej coal mine is nearly finished.
ESM will hire a consultant to help implement the project
The national target for the end of 2021 was 200 MW of solar capacities, and 400 MW for 2024, in order to reach a 50% share of renewables in electricity production.
The construction of the cargo airport near Štip was abandoned last year because the project was not cost-effective. In 2008 the Government of North Macedonia and TAV Makedonija signed a EUR 50 million agreement for the construction of the facility.
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