Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa signed a 69 million euro ($78.4 million) contract on Tuesday to supply Bosnia's biggest power utility EPBiH with wind turbines for a future 48 megawatt (MW) wind farm.
Under the contract the company will supply 15 turbines and build the wind park on the Podvelezje plateau near the southern town of Mostar. The deadline to complete the project is 21 months, said EPBiH.
It will also service the turbines for five years.
The total cost of building the wind farm, the first in EPBiH's portfolio, was put at around 83 million euros. It will produce 130 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, enough to supply 6,500 households, said EPBiH.
To help EPBiH proceed with the project, German state-owned development bank KfW lent the utility 65 million euros, while EPBiH will finance the remainder of the cost.
Bosnia generates 60 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants and the remainder from hydro-power. It plans to increase the share of renewable energy to 43 percent by 2020.
Several developers are seeking to add around 500 MW in wind capacity in Bosnia over the coming years but only one wind farm has been put into operation so far.
Reporting by Maja Zuvela
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