Southeast Europe Energy & Construction Projects: Bosnia – Wind – Cantonal government in Herzegovina gives approval for 60-MW wind park “Mučavača”

On the morning of 9 February 2011, the online news services in Bosnia and Herzegovina began spreading a report that the government of the federation’s Herceg-Bosna Canton had granted approval for the construction of the wind park “Mučavača” (often misspelled Mučevača, Mučevač, or Mučovača) east of Livno in the Croatian area of western

Herzegovina

. The news, however, had actually appeared more than ten days earlier.

On 27 January, the 114^th session of the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved the granting of a concession to the firm Balkan Energy Wind d.o.o. for the construction of the wind park “Mučavača” in the town of Livno.

Nevertheless, very little information is available about this project or its promoters.

The first public mention of this project seems to have come on 17 June 2010, when the 101^st session of the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton adopted the opinion of the canton’s Ministry of Economy regarding a request by the firm Balkan Energy Wind for a concession for the construction of the wind park “Mučavača” within the Municipality of Livno.

On 19 October 2010 the Federation’s Federal Ministry for Environment and Tourism received an application for an environmental permit for the construction of a wind park named “Mučavača” at Livno, consisting of 30 turbines of 2 MW capacity each.

In the meantime, the Herceg-Bosna Canton’s Ministry of Economy requested the opinion or consent of the municipal council and mayor of Livno regarding the proposed Mučavača wind park, as required by cantonal law. Because the municipal council and mayor of Livno did not reply to this request within 30 days, on 1 December 2010 the 110^th session of the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton adopted the conclusion that the consent of the municipality could be considered as given. (Since the offices of the Canton on Stjepana II Kotromanića Street in Livno are less than one kilometer from the offices of the municipality of Livno on Trg Branitelja in Livno (see town map), and the closest wind turbines, at just 3 km from the town center, will be visible from the southern parts of the town itself, this silence seems rather curious.)

Five days later, on 6 December 2010 the 111^th session of the cantonal government approved the wind study, feasibility study, and preliminary environmental assessment submitted by Balkan Energy Wind for the purpose of obtaining a concussion for constructing the Mučavača wind park, and also (apparently) decided that the awarding of the concession would be carried out using a tendering procedure.

On 11 January 2011 the Federal Ministry for Environment and Tourism published on its website a notice announcing Balkan Energy Wind’s request for an environmental permit, inviting public inspection of the application documents at the Ministry’s offices, and initiating a 15-day period for public comments. Attached to the notice was a non-technical summary of the project’s permit application. The full permit application was not published online, so at present this non-technical summary appears to be the only source available online for information about the project and its developer. From the summary we learn the following:

Balkan Energy Wind d.o.o., of Livno, submitted in January 2009 a request to the Municipality of Livno for the reserving of land in planning documents and for the right to use land for the possibility of obtaining a concession for constructing a wind park named “Mučavača” within the Municipality of Livno.

Using its own resources, Balkan Energy Wind carried out wind measurements at “Mučavača” (from 1 August 2009 through 1 February 2010, i.e., for six months), had a feasibility study carried out, and submitted to the Municipality of Livno an application for an environmental permit, outlining all the potential environmental impacts of the project.

Location: approximately 2.9 km east of the center of the town of Livno, and approximately 1.2 km northwest of the village of Jagodići. [The wind park will lie between “Mučavača”, a small hill of 1,231 m elevation near the edge of a rugged, barren plateau in Herzegovina about 1,200 m in height, and “Golubnjača”, a hill of 1,153 m elevation situated about 6 km to the southeast on the edge of the same plateau. (The phrase “rugged, barren plateau in Herzegovina” is perhaps a tautology, since almost all plateaus in

Herzegovina

are rugged and barren.) The hill “Mučavača” is located at 43° 49' 53 N, 17° 2' 47 E, about 20 km north of the area within the municipality of Tomislavgrad where EP HZHB is planning to build its Mesihovina Wind Park.] The surface area of the site on which the wind park will be constructed is approximately 6.671 km².

Turbines: The environmental permit was issued for 30 Enercon E-82 turbines of 2 MW each, for a total installed capacity of 60 MW. The rotor diameter is 82 m, and the height of the hub will be between 78 and 138 m.

On 25 March 2009, Balkan Energy Wind received a building permit from the Municipality of Livno for the erection of a 50-meter mast for wind measurement at Kruzi within the Municipality of Livno. The site for the wind mast was chosen by the consulting firm Vran-Dukić d.o.o. of Tomislavgrad, which also carried out the wind measurements.

In February 2010, the firm Vran-Dukić prepared a financial feasibility study and preliminary environmental impact assessment for the proposed project.

A full environmental impact assessment was prepared by the university-affiliated firm Institut za hidrotehniku Građevinskog fakulteta u Sarajevu d.d. of Sarajevo, and this was used as the basis for an application for an environmental permit submitted to the Federal Ministry for Environment and Tourism.

Firm developing the project:

Balkan Energy Wind d.o.o.

Splitska bb

80 101 Livno

Tel: 034 20 44 60

Fax: 034 20 84 18

JMBP: 4281197470007

Representative: Ms. Zdenka Lijović

(In fact the database of the Chamber of Commerce of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not contain any information on this firm, the only firm in Livno with a name containing “Balka*” being the Livno branch of the firm Balkan Broker Group d.o.o. of Tuzla. This firm is also located on Splitska Street, but has a different JMBP identification number: 4209802650028.)

Six days after the publication of the notice by the Federal Ministry for Environment and Tourism, on 17 January 2011 the 113^th session of the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton adopted a resolution to accept the report of the canton’s Concessions Commission regarding 1) the tendering process to be used [or already used] for a concession for the construction of a wind park at Mučavača in Livno by means of a call for bids; and 2) approval of the negotiation process for granting a concession and the preparation of a concession agreement. The government also adopted a resolution regarding approval of the proposed concession agreement, as well as the selection and authority of the ministry which will sign the concession agreement with Balkan Energy Wind for the wind park at Mučavača.

Finally, as we have seen, ten days later on 27 January 2011 the 114^th session of the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton adopted a resolution regarding approval of the proposed agreement as well as the selection and authority of the canton’s Ministry of Economy to approve the granting of a concession with Balkan Energy Wind for the construction of a wind park at Mučavača.

Many questions remain, as the project appears to be only at a very preliminary stage. For instance, the Independent System Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nezavisni operator sistema u Bosni i Hercegovini – NOS BiH) tracks the status of known wind park projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina so as to be able to forecast future power availability. In its latest power forecast, published in July 2010, even though no actual construction has begun on any wind park in Bosnia and Herzegovina the report nevertheless summarizing the permitting status of no less than forty-seven (47) proposed wind park projects, yet the report contains no mention at all of Balkan Wind Energy or a wind park at Mučavača.

In addition, the “call for bids”, tendering process, and contract signing seem to have been accomplished by the government of Herceg-Bosna Canton with astonishing speed, and nothing has been published about what payments the developers will be required to make to the canton for this wind park, a facility which will be visible for decades to come to anyone approaching the capital of the canton, Livno.

Topographic maps:

Mučavača

Topografska karta 1:25000 523-1-3 Livno

Mesihovina

VE Mesihovina Izvrsni sazetak za javnu raspravu (exergia, March 2010), p. 4

Topografska karta 1:25000 523-3-2 Duvno

Topografska karta 1:25000 523-3-4 Rasko Polje

Topografska karta 1:25000 523-4-3 Mesihovina

Links:

Održana 101. sjednica Vlade Hercegbosanske županije (18 Lipanj 2010 14:07)

http://www.vladahbz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=359:odrana-101-sjednica-vlade-hercegbosanske-upanije&catid=1:posljednje-vijesti&Itemid=50

Zaprimljeni zahtjevi – nova postrojenja u 2010. godini za izdavanje okolinske dozvole/okolišnog dopuštenja