Renewable energy developer Enel Green Power, part of Italy's Enel Group, said on Monday it has launched into operation a 21 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Bulgaria, doubling its installed capacity in the Black Sea country.
The wind farm, located in Shabla, on the Black Sea coast in northeastern Bulgaria, will be able to generate over 54.6 million kilowatthours (kWh) of energy per year meeting the needs of 19,000 households and avoiding the emission of around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, the company said in a statement.
The wind farm consists of seven turbines with a capacity of 3.0 MW each.
"This project proves once again Enel Green Power’s commitment to renewable energy generation growth. [...] we are active in Romania and Greece as well, and consider this region as a very important development area with a strong Renewable Energy potential that matches the growing energy demand of the countries," the company's president Francesco Starace said.
Thanks to the Shabla wind farm, Enel Green Power doubled its installed wind capacity in Bulgaria to 42 MW. The company brought into operation its first wind farm in Bulgaria, the 21 MW Kamen Bryag facility in Kavarna, also on the Black Sea coast and near Shabla, in October of 2009.
The company set foot in the Bulgarian renewable energy market in 2008 following a deal with Global Wind Power Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Danish Global Wind Power, for the acquisition of the Kamen Bryag and Shabla wind projects.
Enel, which owns Bulgarian coal-fired power plant Enel Maritsa East 3, has also expressed its interest in building solar parks in the country.
The construction of solar and wind parks gained momentum in Bulgaria following the country's entry in the European Union in 2007. Bulgaria must cover 11% of its gross domestic energy consumption with electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2010, compared to less than 10% at the end of 2009, and should increase this share to 16% by 2020.
The country had 330 MW of installed wind farm capacities and 3.0 MW of solar plants at the end of 2009.
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