Financing, PPA in place for 105-MW wind project in Serbia

Serbian diversified holding MK Group and Slovenian investor Alfi Green Energy Fund have secured financing for their 105.6-MW Krivaca wind farm project in eastern Serbia, Austrian bank Erste Group said on Friday.

The two sponsors are investing EUR 155 million (USD 169.5m) in the project and are currently building the wind farm in the municipality of Golubac, east of Serbia's capital Belgrade.

Erste Group, as the main creditor and agent in the financing, led a lender consortium comprising Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, Slovenia’s NLB Group and OeEB - the Development Bank of Austria. The exact terms of the financing were not disclosed.

The Krivaca wind farm will be made up of 22 turbines supplied by Germany’s Nordex SE (ETR:NDX1). It is expected to be fully up and running at the end of 2023.

Krivaca will be the first wind farm in eastern Serbia, and it is also the first renewable energy project in the country to be contracted under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

In a separate statement on Friday, Swiss energy trader Axpo Holding said it had signed a ten-year PPA with the entity co-owned by MK Group and Alfi Green Energy Fund.

“While this is the first renewable PPA in Serbia, we are seeing an increasing number of companies seeking to purchase long-term electricity from renewable energy sources as part of their sustainability strategies. Thanks to our decade-long expertise in this field, we are able to provide innovative and bespoke energy products and services to companies across the south-eastern European market and beyond,” said Domenico Franceschino, Axpo’s Head of Origination Western & Eastern Europe.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.094)

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