Tendering procedure for construction of power plants on the Morača to start - investment worth 500m EUR

- The preparations for the tendering procedure for construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Morača will start in few days with the announcement of the pre-qualification tender - Branko Vujović, Montenegrin Minister of Economy, announced.

The pre-qualification procedure will last prior to end of April - Vujović said after yesterday's (February 25, 2010) meeting of the Government, at which it was decided that the tender should be announced in both domestic and foreign newspapers.

Upon the expiration of the pre-qualification procedure, the Government will make the list of bidders who must meet certain conditions to participate in the second phase of the tendering procedure.

Montenegrin Government will also make decision in March whether and in which way the state will participate in construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Morača.

The Government of Montenegro announced earlier that four hydroelectric power plants would be built on the Morača and that they would annually procude 721 kWh of electric power.

Hydroelectric power plants will be built in the locations of Andrijevo, Raslovići, Milunovići and Zlatica.

The biggest power plant will be Andrijevo, with the power of 127.4 MW and the dam 150 meters high. That hydroelectric power plant will be built 24 km upstream from Podgorica, and the nearest to the city will be power plant Zlatica, about eight kilometers away from the capital of Montenegro.

The deadline for construction of the plants on the Morača is six years. Their production of electric power should cut the current power supply deficit of Montenegro in half.

It is estimated that the construction of hydroelectric power plants would cost about 530m EUR. According to the plan, hydroelectric power plants would be used by a concessionaire for 30 years, and then they would become the property of Montenegro.

The Government of Montenegro adopted the drafts of two documents for the Morača basin last week - the detailed spatial plan and strategic estimate of influence on environment.

It is expected that the international tender for construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Morača may be announced by the end of the year.