Montenegro close to deal on 100.8 MW commercial wind farm with wpd

Negotiations on the lease in Brajići in the country’s south are said to be 95% complete. Montenegro is hiring German partners to develop the wind farm project on 23 hectares in the mountain above the city of Budva.

The contract for an investment of EUR 101.3 million should be signed this month with a German joint venture, the Ministry of Economy in Podgorica said after the initial schedule was pushed back. Montenegro is leasing land for its first commercial wind farm, which wpd AG intends to build with a local partner on 23 hectares near Budva. The existing two have power purchase agreements with fixed prices, while the unit in Brajići is planned to operate in market conditions.

The deal was scheduled to be inked by the end of last year. Vijesti learned from unspecified sources in the consortium that 95% of the terms have been agreed on the 30-year lease and that talks are ongoing.

The German company and Vjetroelektrana Budva doo filed the only application last year for the Brajići site in the mountain in the country’s south. Golub Senić controls 20% of the local firm, translating to 4% of the project, while wpd owns the remainder.

It may take the investor three years to obtain permits and finish the construction of the Brajići wind power plant

The offer is for 100.8 MW in capacity, the article adds. In earlier reports, the turnover for domestic companies in the endeavor was estimated at EUR 22 million.

The newspaper noted the Government of Montenegro expects what would be the first commercial wind farm to come online three years after the signing. Before the last delay, works were seen starting by July. The investor will still need to obtain a construction permit and other documents.

The lease is apparently worth EUR 16.5 million in total for the period of operation. Over two hundred people may be hired to build the wind power plant. The tender was for a minimum of 70 MW to be built on 1,379 hectares of available land, some of which is private. A part of the lot is located in the neighboring municipality of Bar.