Macedonia To Start Construction of HPP Boskov Most in Q2 2012 – Fin Min

SKOPJE (Macedonia), November 11 (SeeNews) – Construction works on hydropower plant Boskov Most in western Macedonia should start in the second quarter of 2012, after the project received financial support from the EBRD, the finance ministry said.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it is providing a 65 million euro ($88.5 million) loan to Macedonian state-run power producer ELEM for the construction of the 70-megawatt hydropower plant (HPP).

ELEM will invest an additional 42 million euro in Boskov Most, which should become operational in 2016, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The plant, near the town of Debar, will have an average annual production of 117.54 gigawatthours of electricity.

The project will include the construction of a 33-meter high dam, a reservoir with a capacity of some 900,000 cubic meters, penstocks and a powerhouse, the statement said.

The plant is part of government plans to align Macedonia's power industry with European Union directives, which set an overall goal across the EU-27 for a 20% share of energy consumption to be derived from renewable sources by 2020.

($=0.7345 euro)

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