NIS and Energowind to build wind farm in Plandiste together - Construction starts April 2013

The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) bought a 50 percent stake in a Serbian wind farm project from Energowind, a renewable energy developer, on Friday (14 December 2012), Bloomberg news agency reported.

Construction of the 160 million-euro, 102-megawatt wind farm in Plandiste, 70 kilometers northeast of Belgrade is to begin in the summer of 2013 and take three quarters to complete, said Kirill Kravchenko, chief executive officer of the Novi Sad-based company, at the signing of the agreement with Energowind in Belgrade.

NIS is paying 9 million euros for the stake and may invest another 14.5 million euros of its own cash in the project. The remaining financing will be agreed upon with banks by the end of March, Kravchenko said.

Output from the 34 planned turbines is seen at 212 gigawatt hours a year, starting in early 2014.

Investing in renewables is part of NIS’s strategy to branch out into electricity production and it may also cut cost for expected buying of carbon credits for the company’s main operations, oil fields and refineries, Kravchenko said.

Akuo Energy SAS, a French energy developer focused on renewable sources, may join the project next year, Kravchenko said.

The equipment supplier and contractor for the Plandiste wind farm will be chosen in early 2013, he added.

Energowind has conducted all the preparations over the past 5 years, said Energowind CEO Goran Novakovic, adding that the project would bring Serbia closer to other European countries using wind energy.