Wind power in Kosovo: EBRD lends €18m to first wind farm

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting Kosovo’s first wind farm with an €18m loan.

The 32.4MW wind farm, in Kitka has already begun operations, having been developed by the Turkish energy group Guris.

It will raise annual national electricity generation by more than 1.4% and reduce emissions by 81,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

The financing follows a successful policy engagement with the authorities in Kosovo to refine the renewable offtake framework.

The reforms were critical to unlock financing for wind energy projects and are expected to attract significant investor interest to Kosovo.

The investment, according to the bank, represents a “milestone towards decarbonisation” in a country where lack of reliable access to electricity remains one of the “biggest barriers” to development.

More renewable energy will help address both the challenge of power cuts and pollution caused by the lignite coal powering Kosovo’s two main electricity plants.

Technical cooperation support for the investment project has been provided by the EU under its Regional Energy Efficiency Programme for the Western Balkans, supporting the technical due diligence.

Kosovo‘s current Energy Strategy sets a target of installing 400 MW of renewables capacity by 2026.

Renewable energy capacity before Kitka was around 70 MW, almost exclusively from small hydropower plants.