Suzlon kicks off construction of wind farm in Sarajevo Canton

After six years of preparation, Suzlon Energy BH has started the construction of the Ivan Sedlo wind farm about 40 kilometers from Sarajevo, in the municipality of Hadžići. Bosnia and Herzegovina currently has three wind power plants – Mesihovina, Jelovača, and Podveležje and projects with a total capacity of 2.2 gigawatts (GW) are in the pipeline.

Samir Džaferbegović, director of Suzlon Energy BH, a subsidiary of Danish-based Suzlon Energy, said the 25 MW wind farm should be completed in 18 months. The expected annual production is 70 gigawatt-hours (GWh), and the estimated reduction of CO2 emissions is 500 tons per year.

According to Džaferbegović, domestic firms will be hired for the construction phase, as well as for the assembly, testing and commissioning of the facility.

The company will use the most advanced turbine technology, he said and added the investment is estimated at BAM 70 million (EUR 36 million). The construction works are valued at almost BAM 14 million (EUR 7 million).

The wind farm’s estimated output is sufficient for six percent of consumption in the Canton of Sarajevo

The first wind farm in the Sarajevo Canton will meet about 6% of the canton’s consumption, and its construction created the preconditions for expanding the capacity by another 35 MW, which should in total meet about 14% of the canton’s electricity needs.

Adnan Delić, the economy minister of the Sarajevo Canton, said the construction of the power plant is beginning after six years of preparations.

He said the cantonal authority did everything to speed up the procedures and improve conditions for such investments. The wind farm is the canton’s ticket to enter the community of green energy producers, said Delić.

The beginning of the works was also attended by mayor of Hadžići Hamdo Ejubović, and Samir Omerović, director of the public forest management company Sarajevo-Šume.