Bulgaria's St Nikola Wind Farm Partially Halts Operations after Breakdown
Bulgaria's largest wind farm - the 156 MW Saint Nikola, operated by AES Geo Energy - will partially halt operations until January 21 after a breakdown on December 12, the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) said. A problem with the distribution system has left the plant with 100 MW of available capacity, IBEX said in a notice. The Saint Nikola wind farm, located near the town of Kavarna on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, was built in 2009 and commenced operations in 2010. It consists of 52 turbines of 3 MW each. The total investment in the project was 270 million euro ($332.2 million), of which 198 million euro was provided by a bank consortium including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and UniCredit Market & Investment Banking.AES Geo Energy is a joint venture of New York Stock Exchange-listed power corporation AES, which holds a majority stake, and the German Geo Power company.AES Bulgaria also operates the 600 MW coal-fired power plant AES Galabovo, located in southern Bulgaria.