The construction of four hydropower plants (HE) at the lower part of Vrbas River near Laktasi, agreed in September last year, has not yet begun, have been confirmed by the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska.
It was announced that a Russian partner, “Rakurs” from Peterburg, will investigate, however, it was confirmed from the Ministry that no one had ever come to investigate and find out how the project would be implemented in practice.
In the signed memorandum of cooperation, agreed by Petar Đokić, the Minister of Energy and Mining of the RS, and Leonid Černigov, general manager of the Russian company “Rakurs”, agreed to construct a total of four hydropower plants, each with about 20 megawatt installed power.
Namely, Trn, Laktaši, Kosjerovo and Razboj power plants, and the total value of the project was estimated at half a billion euros.
In the Ministry, however, they say that the deadline for research is September 2019 and that it has not yet expired.
“The agreement on co-operation was concluded on September 14th, 2018 and it is defined that the company will conduct research on the hydro-potential of the lower stream of the Vrbas River within 12 months for the purpose of elaborating economic feasibility studies for the construction of planned hydroelectric power plants and if it is justified to request that the concession is granted, “was emphasized.
Hydro power utility studies show that there is a huge untapped hydro potential, and the European Commission encourages environmentally-friendly projects from renewable sources to reduce the release of harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere responsible for global warming.
According to the European Commission’s data, it is estimated that BiH has the potential of about 6,200 megawatts of installed power, out of which only slightly more than 2,500 megawatts have been used, Akta.ba business portal reports.
