How to better apply the law to small hydropower in the Energy Community?
June 16, 2020
Prompted by widespread public resistance to small hydropower plants in the Western Balkans, the Energy Community Secretariat has recently been consulting the public on guidelines for the proper application of environmental and State aid legislation in such cases. Bankwatch’s input highlights a plethora of common deficiencies that need to be addressed.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Assault on the Neretva basin runs into blockades and lawsuits
May 21, 2020
The global Covid-19 pandemic has stopped neither hydropower companies nor nature defenders from pursuing their goals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latest flashpoint is the Neretva basin, where locals and NGOs are resisting construction with blockades and lawsuits.
Montenegro must stop incentivising the destruction of its precious rivers
May 8, 2020
In recent years Montenegro was forced to stop granting incentives for renewable energy projects due to public outcry about small hydropower decimating several small rivers and enriching businesses close to the ruling party. Now a new draft Law on Energy looks set to relaunch the incentives scheme. Why haven’t lessons been learned?
The Valbona River in Peril
May 7, 2020
The Albanian government won’t save an ecologically and culturally significant river from hydropower, advocates say. But maybe its people will. Source: The Valbona River in Peril
Fears revive in the villages of Shuakhevi as one of Georgia’s biggest hydropower plants starts operation
April 17, 2020
Georgia’s Shuakhevi hydropower plant (HPP), which once promised to bring energy independence to the country but collapsed soon after becoming operational in 2017, has come back to life. But its return has not been welcome.
Status update on the Nenskra hydropower plant project
April 9, 2020
New comprehensive assessments of project alternatives, climate risks, and environmental and social impacts are necessary if the project will ever restart.
Croatian hydropower plant highlights loopholes in EIB environmental policies
April 2, 2020
The EIB-financed Ilovac hydropower plant was built on the river Kupa in north-west Croatia at around the same time as scientists established the existence of a new fish species there – Alburnus sava. Since the dam’s construction, the species has not been found at the site. Has Alburnus sava’s habitat been degraded for just 1.4 MW of installed power?
Gone with the Flow, A case study of biodiversity loss caused by Ilovac Hydropower plant, Croatia
April 2, 2020
This case study aims to demonstrate that the EIB’s environmental and social (E&S) and transparency policies are insufficiently equipped to prevent the negative impacts of hydropower plants on sensitive ecosystems, in particular when the hydropower project (1) is financed via an intermediary bank and/or (2) is located outside of the EU.
Hidroenergija na zapadnom Balkanu – ko plaća, a ko profitira?
November 21, 2019
O tome kako su i zašto beneficije za obnovljive izvore energije uglavnom korištene za gradnju malih hidroelektrana, razgovaramo sa Igorom Vejnovićem iz Mreže za monitoring javnih banaka i finansija u centralnoj i istočnoj Evropi (CEE Bankwatch Network).
MINI HIDROELEKTRANE: Mala korist za veliko uništavanje prirode
November 19, 2019
Imperativ na Balkanu posljednjih desetak godina postale su investicije u proizvodnju električne energije. Financijskom podrškom iz Europe, Svjetske banke i Europske banke za obnovu i razvoj na području između Slovenije i Turske izgradit će se gotovo 3.000 malih hidroelektrana, čija snaga varira između pet kilovata i deset megavata.
