PowerChina Jiangxi Electric Power Construction has been selected to implement a project for the construction of a 30 MW solar power plant in North Macedonia.

The contract was awarded through a tender by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which financed the solar project.

The project is for North Macedonia’s state-owned power utility Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM).

Solar panels will be installed at two locations

PowerChina will construct and operate a 30 MW solar PV project across two sites: 10 MW on an exhausted coal mine of thermal power plant (TPP) Oslomej, and 20 MW near TPP Bitola, according to the EBRD.

The contract is valued at EUR 12 million.

Of note, several solar power plants have been built at the site of depleted coal mines and near the two coal power plants managed by ESM.

ESM built the first solar power plant on a depleted open pit coal mine in the Western Balkans

At the Oslomej coal mine, ESM built the first solar power plant on a depleted open-pit coal mine in the Western Balkans, with a capacity of 10 MW. Such locations could be called ideal for the installation of photovoltaic power plants.

In early May, Austria-based developer and independent power producer Renalfa IPP began the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS) with an operating power of 50 MW and a capacity of 200 MWh at its solar power plant in Oslomej.

PowerChina is very active in the region of Southeast Europe

The power plant was built through a public-private partnership with ESM.

PowerChina is very active in the Southeast Europe region.

In late June, China-based SANY Renewable Energy marked the start of construction of its wind power plants Alibunar A and Alibunar B in northeastern Serbia. It has selected PowerChina Chengdu Engineering for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC).