The preparatory works, which include the construction of access roads, administrative buildings and adjacent infrastructure, on the project for the construction of hydropower plant Buk Bijela are nearing completion.
President of the Management Board of the project company HES Gornja Drina Milan Bastinac said that the company plans to launch a tender for the selection of a turnkey contractor by the end of the year. According to him, the process will take nine months to a year, after which the construction of the hydropower plant can start. The plant should be completed within four years from the launch of the construction.
In May 2021, Prime Ministers of the Republic of Srpska (RS) and Serbia Radovan viskovic and Ana Brnabic have laid a foundation stone for the hydropower plant Buk Bijela on the Drina river, which marks the official start of this project.
In March 2019, RS and Serbia decided to cooperate on the project for the construction of HPP Buk Bijela, besides already agreed joint development of the projects for the construction of hydropower plants Foca and Paunci on the Drina river. At the meeting of the Energy Committee of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, it was concluded that the construction of these facilities, whose combined installed capacity exceeds 180 MW, would equally contribute to the stability of energy systems of both countries.
In June 2016, the contract on the concession grant for the construction and operation of 93.52 MW HPP Buk Bijela between the RS Government and the consortium which consists of power utility ERS and its subsidiary “Hidroelekrane na Drini” has been signed. The concession is granted for a period of 50 years and the estimated value of the investment is around 195 million euros, which was later increased to 250 million euros.
RS agreed to build these three HPPs in cooperation with neighboring Serbia, while ERS merged two of its subsidiaries “Hidroelektrana Buk Bijela” and “Hidroelektrana Foca I Hidroelektrana Paunci” to establish a new company “HES Gornja Drina”, which would be co-owned by ERS and Serbian EPS, with EPS holding 51 % stake in the company.
