Alcazar snaps up EUR-200m wind project in Montenegro

September 28 (Renewables Now) - Sustainable infrastructure investor Alcazar Energy said today it has acquired the rights to a 118-MW wind project in Montenegro that is expected to be one of the largest in the Western Balkans and double the country’s installed wind capacity.

The USD-200-million (EUR 189.6m) project is aligned with Alcazar’s push to build the largest renewable energy platform in the Western Balkans for which it plans to invest USD 600 million, according to a statement.

The Bijela project is expected to generate enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 20,700 households annually and avoid over 260,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Its construction is scheduled to start in early 2025.

Under the deal, Alcazar has entered into a partnership with the original greenfield developers of the project, Simes Inzenjering and Sistem MNE. Various parties have already expressed interest in helping it fund the project, which is expected to achieve financial close in the first quarter of 2025.

“We are committed to green energy because it represents the future of our sustainable development. I invite foreign investors to continue investing in Montenegro, and the government will be their open and serious partner without any hindrances,” Montenegro's prime minister Dritan Abazovic noted in the statement.

A number of renewable power projects are currently under development in Montenegro.

Earlier this year, the state-run electricity utility secured a EUR-82-million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a 55-MW onshore wind site. Additionally, the government in March gave the go-ahead to a local company to start a detailed development of a 150-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the southern part of the country.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.948)