The largest wind farm in Bulgaria St Nikola celebrated its 10th anniversary since the start of its commercial operations

March 12, 2020

Saint Nikola Wind Farm has generated around 3 200 000 MWh of clean energy for the Bulgarian customers

The largest wind farm in Bulgaria St Nikola celebrated its 10th anniversary since the start of its commercial operations. On March 15, 2010, the 52 turbines of the wind farm located near the town of Kavarna officially started producing clean and reliable energy for the Bulgarian market. Since then, Saint Nikola has generated around 3 200 000 MWh of clean energy for the Bulgarian customers.

AES Geo Energy is the owner of Saint Nikola Wind Farm and is one of the two energy projects of AES in Bulgaria – the global technological leader and biggest investor in the Bulgarian energy for the last 30 years.

With its 156 MW of installed capacity, the wind farm provides over 22% of the overall installed wind capacity in Bulgaria and enables the country to meet the EU requirements for the RES share in the overall energy mix. The Saint Nikola Wind Farm project investment amounts to BGN 540 million provided as capital by The AES Corporation and as funding by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Financial Corporation – part of the World Bank.

Saint Nikola Wind Farm is the backbone of the Integrated Early Warning System for Bird Protection, which complies with the European requirements for the conservation of wild birds. The integrated system minimizes the risk of bird collisions with the rotating parts of the wind turbines by stopping single turbines or the entire wind farm and implements a monitoring program during the risk periods for species of protection significance. The system integrates information from several radar systems, as well as direct on-site monitoring by ornithologists, who regularly monitor birds in the area, assess potential hazards and, where necessary, issue turbine shutdown orders. Despite its impressive size – 105 meters and the diameter of the rotor 90 meters, each of the generators can stop if there are flying birds and to let them pass.