In addition to the plans for several solar power plants in Trebinje, the city in the far south of the Republic of Srpska is paving the way for a wind farm. Chinese company Zhongbo Group is interested in investing in the project.
The Assembly of the City of Trebinje has approved the proposition to develop a zoning plan, the first step in the Trebinje 1 wind farm project, according to local news website Trebinje danas.
The owner of Zhongbo Group, registered in Banja Luka, is Everest Power Pte. Ltd., headquartered in Singapore.
The company has conducted research and preparatory works on the site and obtained approval from electricity transmission company Elektroprenos BiH.
The city authorities will monitor the development of the plan to protect the local population
According to Siniša Vučurević, head of the capital investments department of the City of Trebinje, the zoning plan covers three locations. The first is for the areas of Domaševo, Ždrijelovići, Ugarci, Čvarići, and Vrpolje. The second part are the villages Bodiroge, Vladušići, Turani, and Grkavci, and the third one entails Staro Slano, Tulje, and Dobromani.
He stressed that the department would oversee the preparation of the planning document to ensure the protection of the local population living in the area.
Vučurević added it is in the city’s interest to obtain revenue from concession fees. According to the regulations in the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina, 95% of the fee belongs to the local authority.
Power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske holds three concessions
As for solar power plants, state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS) has been awarded the three concessions for photovoltaic plants – Trebinje 1, Trebinje 2 and Trebinje 3. The company Modul Energy holds the concession for the Čičevo PV plant on city territory.
In September last year, the Government of the Republic of Srpska signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources with two China-based companies. One of them was Zhongbo Group.
The first project envisaged by the agreement is a wind farm. A few months earlier, Zhongbo Group was mentioned as a potential investor in the Hrgud wind farm project.