Macedonian hydropower complaint highlights EBRD’s enduring opacity
February 11, 2019
After almost a year of struggling to get basic environmental information from the EBRD about the Krapska hydropower project, Bankwatch has submitted an official complaint [1] to the bank’s Secretary General. As we run the same administrative circles over and over again, another precious river valley has been irreversibly damaged.
Krapska Reka small hydropower plant, Macedonia
February 6, 2019
Loopholes in the EBRD’s due diligence, together with a lack of assessment and monitoring by Macedonia’s local and central government, has proven to be a lethal combination for the country’s rivers. A prime example is the Krapska Reka small hydropower project. The authorities’ failure to recognise the location as part of the proposed Jakupica National Park, Emerald area and a future Natura 2000 site, on top of poor mitigation measures and construction practices, have caused irreversible damage to this small river valley.
Dabrova Dolina hydropower plant, Croatia
January 24, 2019
A harmless-sounding mill conversion project on Croatia’s stunning river Mrežnica is a textbook example of how even small hydropower plants can damage protected areas. It also exemplifies the lack of transparency and oversight of investments that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development channelled through commercial bank intermediaries.
A tale of two communities successfully resisting the Balkan hydropower tsunami
July 31, 2018
Two communities in central Bosnia have had reasons to celebrate within the last few weeks as they achieved major victories in their campaigns against small hydropower plants near Fojnica and Kruscica. Bankwatch joined them to see what lies behind their success.
Court complaints launched against Bosnia-Herzegovina hydropower permits
July 26, 2018
Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Nikšić, Podgorica, Prague – The Aarhus Resource Centre Sarajevo has submitted two court complaints [1] to the District Court in Banja Luka against the environmental permits for the Buk Bijela and Foča hydropower plants on the river Drina in Bosnia-Herzegovina near the border with Montenegro.
Dabrova Dolina, Croatia
March 19, 2018
Why even small hydropower plants shouldn’t be built in protected areas.
Financing for hydropower in protected areas of southeast Europe: update
March 16, 2018
Multilateral development banks have supported no fewer than 82 hydropower projects across southeast Europe, including in protected areas. The study finds that the number of hydropower projects in the region that enjoy financial support from multilatera
Locals oppose dam that is set to endanger critical fish habitat in Bosnia-Herzegovina
May 30, 2017
We are passing through the canyon of the river Vrbas, in north-west Bosnia-Herzegovina. I am looking through a car window, mouth wide open in awe. While I look up to the rocky, edgy peaks hundreds of meters above and down to the heavenly blue river, I
Activists help put the brakes on Balkan hydro projects
August 27, 2015
Balkan governments are under mounting pressure to curb the construction of hydropower plants (HPPs) in national parks and wildlife areas, where hundreds of projects are planned or underway. Environmental campaigners have already scored successes in halting new HPPs. In late July, Croatia’s environment ministry rejected Hrvatska Elektroprivreda’s impact study for its 68-MW Ombla HPP near historic Dubrovnik, Courts in Republika Srpska (RS) have twice this year backed activists’ claims that environmental assessments on proposed plants in the Sutjeska National Park were flawed.
Guest post: Croatia and the Energy Union: the European Commission’s unwarranted obsession with gas
August 20, 2015
Building the Energy Union, the European Commission pretends that all is well for renewables in Croatia and unnecessarily fixates on diversifying gas supply instead of managing demand.
