Macedonia Awards 6.0 Mln Euro Concession Deals for Five Hydro Power Plants to Local Companies

SKOPJE (Macedonia), January 15 (SeeNews) – Macedonia's Economy Ministry said on Friday it signed six million euro ($8.6 million) design-build-operate-transfer (DBOT) concession deals with several local companies for five small hydro power plants in the southwestern part of the country.

A consortium comprised of local companies GSP Aktuel and Hidrovat won a concession for the construction of three small hydro power plants, and Feroinvest and the Flexpower-Ingmark consortium each won concessions for one plant, the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

The power stations' total installed capacity will be 3.8 megawatts (MW) and their average annual output will total 13.37 gigawatthours (GWh). The plants should be built within three years after the concession was granted.

Macedonia's Economy Ministry has already signed concession agreements with five companies for a total 28 small hydro power plants, the statement added.

Between 2006 and 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 36 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 project is expected to cost some 300 million euro. The country faces serious power infrastructure challenges that include poor electricity links with its neighbours.

($=0.6953 euro)

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