Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state-owned power utility, Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH), is advancing the development of the Kovanici hydropower plant, a project valued at approximately 45 million euros. As part of the next steps, the company has issued a tender for a study on property expropriation and real estate valuation within the planned construction zone.
The tender documentation outlines that the study will include geodetic, agricultural, forestry, and construction assessments of the affected land. Interested bidders must submit their proposals by July 23. The future hydropower plant is planned for the Zenica-Doboj Canton, covering parts of the Zenica and Zepce municipalities. It will operate as a run-of-river facility with infrastructure built along the riverbanks.
EPBiH has already completed the preliminary design and an environmental impact assessment for the project. HPP Kovanici is expected to generate around 58.53 GWh of electricity per year. The project involves creating a reservoir upstream from the dam, stretching about 3.6 kilometers. Downstream, approximately 1.7 kilometers of the Bosna riverbed will be regulated. The reservoir will maintain both a normal and maximum water level of 263.5 meters above sea level.
The preliminary design also includes integration with two additional hydropower plants located downstream—Begov Han (9.8 MW) and Zeleca (9.8 MW). Combined with Kovanici’s 12.2 MW capacity, the total output will be transmitted through new 20 kV cables and connected to the national grid via a 20/115 kV transformer station located at the Kovanici site.
