Montenegro’s EPCG revamps Kruševo hydropower plant project

Montenegro’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) launched a tender for a study on the hydropower potential of the Piva river downstream from the Piva hydropower plant to examine the possibility to build hydropower plant Kruševo.

EPCG issued a public call for the production of a study on the hydropower potential of the Piva river downstream from the Piva hydropower plant and a software platform for the selection of the most appropriate version of the Kruševo hydropower plant project.

The Piva is one of the most important water streams in Montenegro, the state-owned electricity producer said in the tender documentation and added the river is now only partially utilized for hydropower production.

The part of the river from HPP Piva to the point where the Piva and Tara rivers form the Drina is 10 kilometers long, of which 6.5 kilometers are in Montenegrin territory, and the rest is the country’s border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The study should cover a version for Kruševo with a dam and a dam toe powerhouse at a location that is 1.6 kilometers upstream from the point where the rivers Piva and Tara meet, in line with the Energy Development Strategy of Montenegro until 2030. Another assignment will be to produce a solution for a dam and a dam toe powerhouse on the section of the river that is only within the country’s territory.

The bids can be submitted by September 1. The public procurement is estimated at EUR 220,000 excluding value-added tax.

Two hydropower projects under development for Piva river

The Mratinje dam for the existing Piva hydropower plant was built in the 1970s in the middle part of the stream. The reservoir has a capacity of 800 million cubic meters. It is one of the biggest arch dams in the world.

EPCG is planning to build another hydropower plant upstream, called Komarnica. Domestic environmental organizations recently filed a complaint with the Secretariat of the Bern Convention with regard to biodiversity protection. EPCG said the project requires an intergovernmental agreement.

EPCG will examine the hydropower potential of the Piva’s downstream section from HPP Piva to the point where it meets the Tara

Of note, the construction of the Buk Bijela hydropower plant began last year on the Drina river in BiH, downstream from HPP Piva. Montenegro adopted a Declaration on the Protection of the Tara River in 2004, EPCG said, adding that it is significantly affecting the possibility to implement the project.

Also, environmentalist groups from Montenegro filed a complaint last year with the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee because BiH didn’t carry out a transboundary environmental impact assessment of the planned dam for Buk Bijela.