Chinese company Norinco eyes the Montenegrin major HPP projects Moraca and Komarnica. However negotiation for the project realization is under severe opposition from environment NGOs.
The suggestion of the Ministry of Economy to adopt the information on the Memorandum of understanding between the Government of Montenegro and Chinese company Norinco on the construction of hydro power plant Morača and Komarnica openly breaks the basic postulates of transparency and public interest, says the non government organization Green Home.
They say that negotiations between the two parties were marked as confidential, while the designation of confidentiality is suggested to last up to two years after the Memorandum stops being active.
The organization says that the Government is ignoring the negative conclusions from the studies requested from independent institutions on the inadequacy and bad profitability of these plans, by conducting secret negotiations, which allows the Chinese investors to propose their own technical solutions.
“When we speak about the four hydro power plants on Morača and their infrastructure including new roads, bridges, moving the monuments of culture, protecting Morača monastery and so on, the estimated costs calculated by independent experts reach the amount of 250 million euro to be paid by the citizens of Montenegro . Besides that the project is based on 40 years old plans which were based on dated technical, environmental and social solutions”, said the announcement of Green Home.
As they add in this organization the unfinished or superficial studies, analysis and projections make that project even less clear, while the Government decided to resolve the issue of ignoring the opinion of NGO and experts, by closing down the negotiation from the public.
“Spending 250 million euro of citizens’ money on badly designed and very dangerous dams in order to export 75 percent of energy, has no social or economic excuse. It was clear from the public debate and concession act for the hydro power plant on Morača that the project is not profitable which was clearly demonstrated by the failed public call for bidding from September 2011, when no bidders showed up” says the announcement.
In Green Home they say that Montenegro already produces between 55 and 68 percent of total domestic consumption from hydro power plants, and it has fulfilled the EU conditions for 60 percent of the energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, transmits Serbia-energy.eu