EFT, China's Dongfang in deal for PV plant construction in Bosnia

UK-based EFT Group said on Monday that its Bosnian unit, EFT SE Bileca, has signed a contract with China's Dongfang Electric Corporation for the engineering, procurement and construction of the 60 MWp Bileca photovoltaic (PV) plant in Bosnia's Serb Republic.

Under the agreement, works are expected to start in the second quarter of 2022, while commercial operation should begin in the middle of 2023, EFT Group said in a statement e-mailed to SeeNews.

The Bileca solar power plant is expected to produce 100 GWh of electricity per year, EFT Group said.

The contract between EFT SE Bileca and Dongfang Electric was signed on December 2.

The Serb Republic awarded a 50-year concession contract to EFT Group for the construction of the PV plant in 2020. The estimated value of the investment is 104 million marka ($117.5 million/104 million euro), according to an earlier statement by the entity. The concessionaire has paid a one-off fee of 700,000 marka, and will pay a concession fee of 0.0055 marka per kWh produced once the plant is commissioned.

In Bosnia, EFT controls one of the country's largest electricity producers and exporters - the 300 MW Stanari thermal power plant, via its subsidiary EFT Rudnik i Termoelektrana Stanari.

EFT Group, owned by Serbian businessman Vuk Hamovic, is an energy trading and investment group focused on Western, Central and Southeastern Europe.

The Serb Republic is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Federation.

(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)

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