The Mini Hydro Power Project

Coal fired power plants cause serious environmental problems

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ranks lower than most countries in Europe in terms of developing its hydropower potential. Almost 85 percent of the country's electricity is produced by lignite-fired thermal plants that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.

This makes air pollution the most serious environmental problem threatening Macedonia today.


Local communities encouraged to tap hydro-power potential

Aware of this problem, the government, with help from the World Bank, is working on encouraging local communities to replace thermal plants with smaller and cleaner hydropower plants.

The idea is not new. It was first considered in the 1980s, but as Dr.Predrag Popovski, a professor of hydrological engineering who worked on the original feasibility studies recalls, the construction costs exceeded the means available to the country at the time.

World Bank helps small towns to set up independent hydro-power plants

With US$ 750,000 from a GEF Grant Macedonia was able to revive the plan. The four independent mini-hydropower plants in Kavadarci and Debar aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other pollution.

All this has gone hand in hand with the adoption of a new energy law, which states that the state-owned electric company is required to purchase the electricity provided by independent producers.

Clean and cheap energy

The town of Kavadarci now receives its electricity from the turbines built on a 19-kilometer pipe that runs to the town from the top of a nearby mountain. 

The plant in Debar operates the same way. In both cases, the insertion of turbines into the natural flow has had no effect on the quality or quantity of the water supplied to residents.



Revenue from hydro-power plants will benefit the community

A “side effect” of the project has been no less important: citizens of both Macedonian and Albanian descent have worked closely together in designing and building the plants—a welcome cooperation in a country that has seen more than its share of ethnic strife.

The plants have been built without any government or city funds and are now operated without them as well. Furthermore, they are extremely durable, with a lifespan of 60 to 70 years—much longer than most thermal plants.

The cash flow from electricity sales is projected to pay off all construction loans within seven years. It will also provide the towns with additional funds for education, roads, and other municipal projects. Thanks to the success of the pilot project, Macedonia can look forward to more such environment - friendly projects in future.