EVN Macedonia opens solar power plant with two-sided panels

Bifacial solar panels use the reflection from below to produce additional electricity. EVN Macedonia connected a 1.48 MW power plant of the type to the grid in North Macedonia within a public incentive scheme.

The first photovoltaic power plant in North Macedonia that simultaneously produces electricity from the sun and the reflection of light was installed by EVN Macedonia. It is made of bifacial panels, which also use the reflection from the material placed underneath them, in this case white gravel. The back side of the device adds 10% to output, the company said.

The Austrian-owned power distributor and supplier, which also operates 11 small hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 47 MW, now added the state-of-the-art solar power plant’s 1.48 MW to its portfolio. It was built in less than four months in Vojshanci near Negotino, in the central part of the country.

EVN Macedonia built bifacial solar power unit via government’s premium program

“This photovoltaic power plant is a result of the successful collaboration between the public and the private sector. We are proud that our company invests in projects that are designed to protect the environment and especially for pollution reduction,” Chairman of the Management Board of EVN Macedonia Stefan Peter (pictured right) said.

EVN Macedonia said the unit with two-sided panels would produce 2.1 GWh per year

The project is part of the Ministry of Economy’s program for premiums for photovoltaics on private land. The bifacial photovoltaic power plant of EVN Macedonia has 4,416 panels of 335 W each and an annual output of 2.1 GWh.

“We have plenty of solar energy, we are a country with 280 sunny days a year and the highest quality peak of solar energy,” Prime Minister Zoran Zaev (center) stated. He added public-private partnerships for 62.5 MW in photovoltaics have been established.

Government targets 400 MW in photovoltaics, 200 MW in wind power plants

The state expects at least 10% from the planned 100 MW solar power plant in Oslomej for the resources it offered, according to the prime minister, who noted state-owned utility Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) is constructing its own 10 MW photovoltaic unit in the old open cast coal mine there.

Contracts will be signed for another 10 MW in Oslomej and 20 MW in the REK Bitola lignite and thermal power plant complex, he underscored.

North Macedonia intends to pay up to EUR 35 million for a 25% share in the gas power plant project in Alexandroupolis and 10% in the gas terminal in the Greek port

“The procedures for the construction of 8 MW in photovoltaics in Kochani were successfully completed. Between Kriva Palanka and Kumanovo we have an investment potentially worth EUR 500 million for a 400 MW wind power plant. We are working on three separate projects with foreign investors for a total of 90 MW in wind turbines in Bogdanci, Demir Kapija and Sveti Nikole. At the same time, a location in Debarca is being prepared for 50 MW and an additional 100 MW throughout the territory of our country,” Zaev said.

In his words, the country’s target is 400 MW in photovoltaic units and 200 MW in wind power plants. Turning to the planned investment in Greece, he revealed North Macedonia would acquire a 25% interest in the 800 MW gas power plant project in Alexandroupolis and participate with 10% in the liquefied natural gas terminal there for EUR 30 million to EUR 35 million.