One of the oldest hydropower plants (HPPs) on the Drina river is being refurbished in a project worth EUR 70 million. The 96 MW Zvornik facility of four units has a dam holding a 25 kilometre long artificial lake, and the four-year project will extend its working life by 40 years, according to Electric Power Industry of Serbia, the government-controlled utility.
Minister of energy and mining Aleksandar Antić said the works are financed from a loan from the German development bank KfW. He stressed the HPPs capacity would be increased by 30% and that the production would shoot up 15% or 70 million KWh a year, translating into three to five million euros per year.
Voith Hydro will take 12 months for the refurbishment of each of the units. Antić said domestic companies are hired for works equivalent to EUR 17 million. KfW had already financed the overhaul of the nearby HPP Bajina Bašta, said Arne Gooss, the bank’s head for Serbia.
