N. Macedonia signs contracts for construction of 21 MW solar plants

The plants, with installed capacity of 1 MW, 2 MW, 5 MW and 10 MW, will be backed by government premiums for 15 years after production starts, Bekteshi told a press conference streamed on the government's YouTube channel.

The investors have a three-year deadline to complete their construction.

In August the economy ministry published a tender for the construction of solar power plants with a combined installed capacity of 27 MW on private land plots. Some 44 companies submitted bids.

Earlier, the ministry called a tender for the construction of solar power plants with a combined installed capacity of 35 MW on state-owned land in Sveti Nikole and Makedonski Brod.

The government will pay about 420,000 euro ($460,675) per year in premiums for all contracts signed in the two tenders, Bekteshi said on Tuesday.

($ = 0.9117 euro)