FBiH government gives green light for Široka Draga wind farm

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has given consent to the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry to issue an energy permit to the company Imres, based in Livno, for the construction of the Široka Draga wind farm. It will be located on Kamešnica hill, in the territory of the municipalities of Livno and Tomislavgrad.

The Široka Draga project was announced in November 2017, with the idea of building a hydropower plant in addition to the wind park. Turkey’s firm Enprode is also included in project development.

The investment envisages the installation of 19 turbines with a capacity of 6.6 MW each. The estimated annual electricity production of the planned 125.4 MW wind farm is 403 GWh.

Every project for power generation with an installed capacity higher then 30 MW must obtain consents from both the Government of FBiH and the entity’s parliament

According to the entity government, the Široka Draga project was initiated in 2009, when wind speed and direction monitoring began. The analysis of the gathered data showed that the planned location offers great potential for power production.

In line with the current regulations for new power plants in the Federation of BiH, for every facility with an installed capacity higher than 30 MW, the energy permit is issued by the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry, after it gets consent from the government and the entity’s parliament.

The next step for the Široka Draga project is to obtain parliamentary approval.

The Federal ministry has so far granted seven approvals for the connection of wind farms to the grid

The Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry, in line with the strategic plan and program for the development of the federation’s energy sector, has so far issued seven approvals for connecting wind farms to the transmission grid.

Mesihovina, Jelovača and Podveležje were commissioned in the meantime. The projects for Baljci, Oštrc, Ivovik and Suzlon Wind Energy are in various stages of development. The combined capacity is 321.4 MW.

The Široka Draga wind farm will expand an already wide list of wind energy projects in the Tomislavgrad and Livno. The two municipalities have the largest number of wind farm projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tomislavgrad hosts Mesihovina and Jelovača, and more than ten endeavors are in the pipeline.

Tomislavgrad and Livno are located close to the border with Croatia, a European Union member state, and about 50 kilometers from the Adriatic coast near the islands of Hvar and Brač.