EBRD loan for new wind farm in Bulgaria
18 January 2010
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a € 60 million loan to support the development of renewable energy in Bulgaria.
The syndicated loan to Eolica Bulgaria will finance construction of a wind farm near the town of Suvorovo, some 25 km inland from the Black Sea coast in the east of the country.
The wind farm will consist of 30 wind turbines, with an estimated capacity of 60 MW. The project is expected to be operational at the end of 2010.
With a total cost of € 108 million the project is co-financed by an € 11 million loan from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and by Enhol Group's equity investment.
As part of the project, Eolica Bulgaria, majority-owned by the Spanish Enhol Group, focusing on development of renewable energy in Spain, central and eastern Europe, will develop and operate the wind farm, build a new substation at the project site and a line to interconnect the wind farm to the national power network.
This is the EBRD's second wind farm project in Bulgaria. In 2008 the Bank and the International Financial Corporation provided € 198 million for construction of the St. Nikola wind farm.
