Macedonia Awards 10 Mln Euro Concession Deal for Seven Hydro Power Plants to Mali Hidroelektrani Co

SKOPJE (Macedonia), November 26 (SeeNews) – Macedonia's Economy Ministry said on Thursday it has signed a 10 million euro ($15 million) design-build-operate-transfer (DBOT) concession deal with local company Mali Hidroelektrani for seven small hydro power plants.

Mali Hidroelektrani was set up by the Slovenian hydro power institute Turboinstitut and Macedonian construction firm Granit, heating utility Toplifikacija AD and hydro power plant operator Feroinvest, the Economy Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The power stations' total installed capacity will be 5.454 megawatts (MW) while average annual output will total 23.151 gigawatthours (GWh), the statement said.

The plants should be built within three years after the granting of the concession.

In 2006-2008, the Economy Ministry called three international tenders for DBOT concessions. It plans to call a fourth tender soon which will cover the construction of 38 small hydro power plants with a combined capacity of 20.159 MW and annual production of 87 GWh.

Macedonia has said it plans to build some 400 small hydropower plants with a capacity of 5.0 MW each and annual production of some 1,200 GWh. The country faces serious power infrastructure challenges that include insufficient electricity links with its neighbours.

($=0.6655 euro)

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