Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska (RS) Radovan Viskovic said that the start of the preparatory works on the construction of the hydropower plant Buk Bijela on the Drina river should soon be made official, during the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Last March, Serbia and the Republic of Srpska (RS) decided to cooperate on the project for the construction of HPP Buk Bijela, besides already agreed joint development of the projects for the construction of hydropower plants Foca and Paunci on the Drina river. At the meeting of the Energy Committee of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, it was concluded that the construction of these facilities, whose combined installed capacity exceeds 180 MW, would equally contribute to the stability of energy systems of both countries. In June 2016, the contract on the concession grant for the construction and operation of 93.52 MW HPP Buk Bijela between the RS Government and the consortium which consists of power utility ERS and its subsidiary “Hidroelekrane na Drini” has been signed. The concession is granted for a period of 50 years and the estimated value of the investment is around 195 million euros. The concession includes the preparatory period of 12 months from the day of contract signing. The preparatory period includes the development of the project documentation and obtaining all necessary permits, followed by the investment of some 21.5 million euros. So-called Upper Drina project consists of HPP Buk Bijela, HPP Foca, HPP Paunci and HPP Sutjeska. According to original plans, overall power output of all four HPPs should be 238 MW, while annual electricity generation should reach 800 GWh (HPP Buk Bijela – 115 MW, HPP Foca – 52 MW, HPP Paunci – 36 MW and HPP Sutjeska – 35 MW). According to the studies, two HPPs on Drina river should be built in 5 and 6 years, while overall investment in the construction of all four HPPs would reach 460 million euros.
