Construction of RHPP Bistrica entering new phase, EPS initiates green permit procedure – New dam on Uvac planned, submergence of 324 hectares and 15 households

Elektroprivreda Srbije has submitted a request to the Ministry of Environmental Protection to determine the scope and content of the environmental impact assessment study for the project to build the Bistrica reversible hydroelectric power plant (RHPP), one of the key energy projects in southwestern Serbia.

The study is being prepared by Energoprojekt-Hidroinzenjering, which prepared the analysis and investment and technical documentation in 2021, and then the conceptual design based on the adopted Spatial Plan for the Special Purpose Area of the RHPP Bistrica and HPP Potpec systems.

The planned power plant will be built on the Uvac and Lim rivers, in the municipalities of Nova Varos and Priboj, as a diversion pump-storage plant with four Francis-type aggregates. Their individual turbine power is about 165 MW, while the total energy storage capacity reaches about 55 GWh, with the possibility of expansion up to 310 GWh.



The project envisages the construction of a new Klak dam on the Uvac River, up to 100 meters high and up to 400 meters long, which will form an upper reservoir with a volume of more than 100 million cubic meters of water. The lower reservoir is the existing Potpec Lake on the Lim River.

The project plans to submerge about 324 ha of land in the Uvac River bank for the Klak reservoir, of which the largest part is pastures and forests (between 55 and 60%) and agricultural land (under 40%), while the riverbed and barren land occupy slightly more than 5%. Expropriation is planned in this area, which will include 15 households with 25 inhabitants.

The system allows excess electricity to be used to pump water into a higher reservoir, while during periods of increased consumption the water is returned and produces electricity.

In addition to the power plant, the project also includes the construction of a complex tunnel system of more than six kilometers in length, an underground machine building, pipelines, and a 400 kV switchgear.



The relocation of parts of the road infrastructure and the regulation of watercourses, including the “Rutoska” River, are also planned.

The preliminary design determines the dynamics of the project implementation for a period of six years. The expected start of work is in early 2028. The deadline for completion of the work will, as stated, depend on many factors, which will be analyzed in further phases of the project documentation.

In 2022, the Government of Serbia declared this project a facility of public and national importance.

I. Z.

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Energoprojekt Hidroinženjering a.d. Beograd

Elektroprivreda Srbije

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Energoprojekt Hidroinženjering

RHPP Bistrica

Klak dam

Uvac

Lim

Potpeć

Rutoška River