Bosnia's ERS, Hidroelektrane na Drini to sign concession deal for Buk Bijela HPP shortly - report

BANJA LUKA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), May 24 (SeeNews) – A consortium led by the power utility of Bosnia's Serb Republic will sign a 50-year concession deal for the construction and use of the Buk Bijela hydro power plant (HPP) on the river Drina in the coming days, local media reported on Tuesday.

Buk Bijela will be Bosnia's largest HPP in terms of installed capacity, reservoir size and mean outputs, the energy ministry said in a statement earlier this year. The HPP is expected to produce some 332.3 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year.

Elektroprivreda RS and local hydropower complex Hidroelektrane na Drini are expected to invest some 382 million marka ($218.1 million/195.3 million euro) in the construction of the HPP, daily Nezavisne reported, adding that the concession deal has already received the government's approval.

Following the signing of the concession deal, the two companies will have a year to perform preparatory works and to set up a company to manage the construction of the HPP, the daily added.

The Buk Bijela HPP project was postponed several times due to scrutiny by environmentalist organisations and NGOs from Bosnia and Montenegro who fear it will destroy the canyon of the Tara river which flows between the two countries.

The Serb Republic is one of Bosnia's two autonomous parts, the other is the Muslim-Croat Federation.

(1 euro=1.95583 Bosnian marka)

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