Montenegro’s electricity company Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) has signed an agreement worth over EUR 1.6 million with a group of bidders from Serbia – Jaroslav Černi and Energoprojekt Hidroinženjering – to produce a preliminary design plan for hydropower plant (HPP) Komarnica.

The contractors are also to prepare a feasibility study and an environmental impact study, EPCG has said.

The preliminary design plan and the accompanying documentation are to be completed within 15 months, EPCG said, adding that the feasibility study will determine whether the project to build HPP Komarnica is profitable, while the environmental impact study will review all potential effects on the environment and envisage measures to reduce impacts.

A more precise construction cost, as well as the technical characteristics of the hydropower plant on the Komarnica river, will be unveiled after the preliminary design plan and the feasibility study are completed and adopted.

During February, the signing of an EUR 6.3 million agreement with German development bank KfW for the reconstruction of HPP Piva is expected, which will mark the launch of EPCG’s planned five-year investment and development cycle worth EUR 172 million, the company said in the statement.

Two options for construction

According to Montenegro’s energy sector development strategy through 2030, two options for the construction of Komarnica have been worked out. One, more unfavorable for the environment, estimates the overall cost of building an HPP with a total installed capacity of 168 MW and expected annual production of 232 GWh of electricity at around EUR 183 million.

The other option, more likely and more favorable for the environment, is for an HPP with an installed capacity of 172 MW and annual output of 227 GWh to be built, under an investment estimated at EUR 178 million. This option would leave the Nevidio canyon unflooded, while there would also be no impact on the Šavnik municipality.

According to the strategy, it would take an estimated seven years to build Komarnica.

In October 2016, the representatives of EPCG exchanged views on future projects’ activities with representatives of Serbian state-owned power company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS).