Skopje, 7 July 2021 (MIA) — The first private wind park in the country, an investment worth EUR 61 million, will be built near the village of Bogoslovec. It is expected to start producing electricity in the spring of 2025 and provide about 20,000 households with renewable energy in the next 25 years. According to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at the launch of the project, the Bogoslovec wind park will help move national electricity production toward renewable sources. “The Bogoslovec wind park with its eight turbines and 36-megawatt power will double the existing wind park capacity in the country and contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in excess of 87,000 tons per year,” PM Zaev said. The construction of the wind park will comply with environmental standards while also supporting the national energy transition from brown coal (lignite) to renewable energy sources. “Our country has excellent geographic potential, as confirmed by studies listing at least 15 locations favorable for the construction of windmills,” Zaev said. “Along the Vardar River valley, in Ovche Pole, around Sveti Nikole, Shtip, Kriva Palanka, Kumanovo as well as in the mountains.” According to the latest national energy development strategy, Zaev noted, the country by 2040 plans to build wind parks with a total capacity of 750 megawatts and an estimated total annual electricity production of 1,800 gigawatt hours. As part of the energy transition process, Zaev said an environmental tax is being introduced for polluters, “including oil derivatives,” and over the next few years “an environmental tax on coal and electricity generation from coal in line with EU policies and obligations under the Paris Agreement. “The Government is strongly committed to investing in renewable energy sources. This is a serious process of transitioning from coal power plants to solar, gas and wind power plants,” the PM said. Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi said the Bogoslovec wind park was an investment by a local company that would increase the share of energy produced by wind power plants in the country by an additional 36 megawatts. “Let this serve as an example for all our businesspeople at home but also foreigners, who are more than welcome to invest in renewable energy sources in our country,” Bekteshi said. “Our laws already allow it in a transparent, competitive and open way, treating everyone as an equal.” Thor Impex is the company building the Bogoslovec wind park, with Siemens Gamesa manufacturing and installing eight wind turbines on site. The national energy transition goal is to increase the country’s renewable capacity by more than 50 percent by 2024, resulting in an additional 400 MW and 160 MW of solar and wind energy. mr/