(ANSA) - BELGRADE - The largest wind farm in Serbia was opened on Thursday. The wind farm, a 189-million-euro project, is located near the village of Kovacica, in the north of the Balkan country, and has a capacity of 104 MW, equivalent to the annual demand of 60,000 households. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) supported the construction of the wind farm with a 49 million loan, the EBRD said in statement, noting that other financiers of the project were Erste Group and Erste Bank Serbia and that the investor is the company Enlight Renewable Energies of Israel.

Investment in renewable energy is "particularly important for the Western Balkans, a region which is dependant heavily on coal for electricity generation," said Zsuzsanna Hargitai, EBRD Regional Director of the Western Balkans.

According to EBRD, the project will contribute to the goal of Serbia - country where the majority of energy is produced by coal-fired plants - of raising the share of energy consumption from renewable sources to 27 per cent by 2020. (ANSA).