Techno-economic analysis of the wind park Bogdanci in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Wind energy as a renewable energy source with the highest growth rate in the last two decades, is considered as a very important source of electricity for the future. The forecasts for development of wind energy are highly optimistic and state that this type of energy will be really important in the future. Following recent data and analysis from certain studies, the share of wind energy in the global world electricity generation in 2020 is estimated to reach 12%. In the same context, and in order to reduce high dependence on fossil fuels, Macedonian government took some steps to introduce and enforce utilization of renewable energy sources. First wind park with capacity of 36.8 MW, installed and operated by the state-owned electricity producing company (JSC Macedonian Power Plants - ELEM), started with operation in April 2014, on a location near Bogdanci. The techno-economic analysis regarding its performance in terms of investment costs, operation and maintenance costs, electricity production and return on investment period, considering valid feed-in tariffs for wind energy production in the country is also presented in the article.