The Chinese company Norinco plans to build eight hydropower plants (HPP) on Moraca river with combined installed capacity of 293.6 MW and an annual electricity generation of 894.82 GWh. This is much higher compared to previous project of the construction of HPPs on Moraca river from 2011, which envisaged the construction of four HPPs with combined installed capacity of 238.4 MW and an annual electricity generation of 721 GWh.
Norinco’s technical solution for Moraca river HPPs envisages the implementation of the project in two phases. The first phase includes the construction of HPP Andrijevo and HPP Zlatica, while the second phase includes the construction of HPPs upstream of HPP Andrijevo. A total of eight HPPs is planned, five of them will be built on Moraca river and another three on its tributaries (Mrtvica, Sjevernica and Mala Rijeka). Five HPPs on Moraca river are: HPP Gornja 1, HPP Gornja 2, HPP Gornja 3, HPP Andrijevo and HPP Zlatica.
The amendment of information on the status of HPP Moraca project is currently ongoing, and when it is completed it will be sent to the Government’s Commission for Economic Policy (KEP). The failed tender five years ago envisaged the cost of construction of 531 million euros. Given that, according to Norinco’s plans, HPPs of significantly larger capacity will be built, it should expect that the cost would be higher as well. However, the Ministry of Economy did not disclose any commercial details of Norinco’s offer.
Last year, the Government of Montenegro has signed Memorandums of Understanding in the field of hydropower with Chinese companies NORINCO International and SynoHydro and Turkish company Bereket Enerji, as well as with the Governments of Turkey and Slovakia. The MoU is primarily related to two large projects: the construction of HPPs on Moraca and Komarnica rivers.
