A concession for the construction of 172 MW hydro power plant Komarnica was awarded to state-owned power utility EPCG by the Montenegrin Government.
According to the previous statement from the Government, this will be the only concession for the construction of hydro power plants awarded in 2020. It was previously agreed that the concession will be awarded directly to EPCG, which will decide whether it will build HPP Komarnica by itself or in partnership, as well as weather it will finance the project by itself or through a loan.
In early 2020, the Government adopted the detailed spatial plan for the area where the plant should be built. The new version envisages that HPP Komarnica will have installed capacity of around 170 MW, with estimated annual electricity production of 209 GWh, however with a lower elevation of the accumulation compared to the most profitable option. This means that the project will not be as cost effective as it could be, but this version is more environmentally acceptable. The cost of the project has also been increased to 246.5 million euros, significantly higher than the valuation of 185 million euros from 2018. EPCG claims that the initial cost was based on an obsolete study dating from 1988. HPP Komarnica is envisaged as a upstream step of existing HPP Piva, and will use the hydro potential of the Komarnica river, located some 45 kilometres from HPP Piva. It is estimated that the plant could be built in five years.
