North Macedonia awards strategic investment status to wpd’s, EFT’s renewables projects

The Government of North Macedonia has given the green light to wpd to develop a 415 MW wind farm and to the Energy Financing Team (EFT) to build an 80 MW solar photovoltaic facility, declaring them strategic investment projects under a law passed in 2020.

The projects in question – wpd’s wind farm Virovi and EFT’s solar power plant Erdželija – both meet the requirements of the law on strategic investments. With the government’s decisions they now qualify to obtain the bank guarantees necessary for completing the strategic investment procedure established by law, the government said on its website.

Viktor Andonov, energy advisor to the prime minister of North Macedonia, said that the purpose of the law on strategic investments is to demonstrate to investors that the state will support them in their projects.

wpd plans a 415 MW wind farm and EFT an 80 MW solar photovoltaic facility

According to Adonov, since the adoption of the law, more than 10  investors have contacted the government.

Yesterday the government adopted decisions to declare wpd a strategic investor for the 415 MW wind farm and EFT for the 80 MW solar photovoltaic facility without state incentives, Andonov said during the RES Serbia 2021 conference today in Belgrade.

The government is currently assessing several other renewable energy projects, worth between EUR 2 billion and EUR 3 billion in total.

Investors will not receive state incentives

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev earlier said that EUR 3.1 billion would be invested in energy through 2027. A total of 1.5 GW of solar power projects are planned or already being discussed with the government, Zaev also said.

Andonov said that for every investment under the law on strategic investments the parliament adopts a law which serves as a guarantee that the government will provide help to investors in their projects.

He said that the reason for the adoption of the law was the fact that investors in the region are afraid changes in one cabinet can jeopardize their investment.