March 15 (SeeNews) - Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda HZHB connected to the grid the 50.6 MW Mesihovina wind farm, the first in the country, the municipal government of Tomislavgrad said.
The wind farm, consisting of 22 turbines, will produce 165.17 GWh of electricity annually, the municipal government said on Wednesday following the opening ceremony.
The Mesihovina wind farm will supply electricity to around 27,500 households with an average consumption of 6,000 KWh per year.
Apart from diversifying Bosnia's electricity supply, Mesihovina is also expected to increase employment.
The wind farm cost 82 million euro ($101.4 million) to build, with 72 million euro secured through a loan from Germany's development bank KfW. The cornerstone of Mesihovina was laid in 2010 but construction was delayed due to loss of political support for the project.
In April 2016, the power utility announced it has awarded a 71.9 million euro contract for the construction of the first lot of the wind farm to a consortium led by German engineering group Siemens. The construction of the second lot was awarded to a consortium consisting of Croatia's ABB and Elektrocentar Petek for 4.3 million euro.
EP HZHB's next project in Tomislavgrad will be the construction of a 90 million euro pumping hydro power plant Vrilo, with works due to start in the summer.
Elektroprivreda HZHB, the smallest of the three Bosnian state-owned power utilities, is based in the Federation. The country's largest power utility is Elektroprivreda BiH, also based in the Federation, which together with the Serb Republic forms Bosnia and Herzegovina. Elektroprivreda RS is the power utility of the Serb Republic.
($=0.808325 euro)