A groundbreaking ceremony for hydropower plant (HPP) Buk Bijela on the Drina river, a joint project of Serbia and the Serb-dominated entity Republic of Srpska, will take place on May 17, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has said. The construction of HPP Buk Bijela, according to earlier announcements, will cost EUR 200 million.

HPP Buk Bijela, with an installed capacity of 93 MW, is the first phase of a larger joint project that would include building two more hydropower plants – HPP Foča (44 MW) and HPP Paunci (43 MW).

According to previous announcements, HPP Buk Bijela should be completed within six years.

The three hydropower plants will together cost EUR 520 million to build

Last November, Brnabić and the Republic of Srpska’s Prime Minister Radovan Višković signed a joint statement on the implementation of the Gornja Drina hydropower project. Brnabić said at the time that the three hydropower plants, with a combined installed capacity of 180 MW, will cost a total of EUR 520 million to build.

Serbia’s state power utility, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), has recently become a majority stakeholder in the joint venture implementing the Gornja Drina hydropower project, with a 51% holding. The remaining 49% is in the hands of the Republic of Srpska’s government-controlled power company, Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske (ERS).