Three small hydropower projects soon up for bids in Montenegro

Hydrological research showed the total potential capacity of the small hydropower units in Montenegro would be 7.2 MW, with an estimated yearly production of 30.9 GWh.

The government in Podgorica is preparing a public competition for concessions on future small hydropower plants, SHPPs, on three streams: in Šavnik, Kolašin and Mojkovac, as reported by Pobjeda newspaper. Hydrological research showed the total potential capacity would be 7.2 MW, with an estimated yearly production of 30.9 GWh, the paper learned in the Ministry of Economy.

The public hearing on the concession document lasted one month, through June 12, Portal Analitika reported. „The current concession contracts foresee the construction of 41 SHPPs with a total capacity of 72 MW and yearly production of 244 GWh. The value of investments for all planned SHPPs is EUR 109 million,” the ministry said.

The plan for building SHPPs needs urgent revision, because it is an uncontrollable and unsustainable utilization of rivers’ hydro potential, threatening to destroy most of the small water streams in the country, environmentalist organization Green Home said on May 31, citing potential damages in the ecosystem if the project isn’t planned properly.

Montenegro’s potentials cannot be utilized properly without building middle-sized and big hydropower plants, Goran Sekulić, associate professor in Podgorica’s Faculty of Civil Engineering, told Elektroprivreda magazine, Portal Analitika reported. „We cannot achieve environmental protection, which is being persistently insisted on, if we are poor and have no profitable product that would increase the state’s total revenue,” he added.