Bulgarian developer to build 50 MW merchant PV plant in North Macedonia

Bulgaria-based solar developer Solarpro Holding has won a tender to build a 50 MW solar power plant at the former Oslomej coal power plant near Kicevo, North Macedonia.

The company said it competed against two other unspecified international bidders. It has secured the rights to develop, fund, build, operate and maintain the PV power plant, but without a fixed tariff or feed-in premium.

“Solarpro Holding will give 18% of the annual revenues to Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM) for the next 35 years,” a company spokesperson told pv magazine. “After that, the PV power plant will be transferred to the public partner.”

ESM is North Macedonia’s state-owned utility. It launched the tender in December 2019.

“ESM provided the construction site with all the permissions and grid connection opportunities, and we are obliged to build the plant and to split the revenues with it,” the spokesperson said. “We plan to sell its energy with merchant agreements on the local electricity market or with power purchase agreements (PPAs).”

Solarpro said that the installation will be its second solar project in North Macedonia. Last year, it won another tender to build a 10 MW solar park in Makedonski Brod.

According to the latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Balkan country had around 94 MW of cumulative installed PV capacity by the end of 2020. Thermal power plants account for 842 MW of North Macedonia’s total power generation capacity of 1.41 GW, with hydroelectricity and wind accounting for 553.6 MW and 36.8 MW, respectively.