Once built, the Čebren pumped-storage hydropower plant will significantly accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in North Macedonia and the region by helping to balance intermittent green energy, said Victor Andonovenergy advisor to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia.
The Čebren project, planned several decades ago in this former Yugoslav country, will ultimately be built by the Greek consortium PPC-Archirodon Group, winner of the government’s call for tenders for the concession.
Two weeks ago, the consortium formed by the Greek company Public Power Corporation (PPC) and the Archirodon group won the concession for the construction of the Čebren pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in North Macedonia.
During his appearance on the Win-Win show on Telma television, Viktor Andonov stressed that the construction of the facility, with a capacity of 333 MW, had been planned for six decades, Libertas reported.
The idea, he stressed, is to use water from the Crna River, the largest tributary of the Vardar River, which is the longest in the country.
In a transparent procedure, the government chose a private investor who accepted the obligation to finance and build Čebren itself.
The chosen technical solution, first and foremost the height of the dam, was determined on the basis of thousands of pages of detailed technical and geological research carried out by renowned domestic and foreign consultants during the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a emphasized Andonov.
For example, the height of the Čebren Dam was defined by the Water Saving Basis of Macedonia, adopted by the Parliament in 1978.
According to Andonov, the government selected a private investor through a transparent procedure. Its obligation is to finance and build Čebren itself and operate it jointly with the state-owned electricity company Elektrani na Severna Makedonija (ESM), he added, that ESM would own 33% of the facility .
Government-controlled ESM will hold a 33% stake in the company that will operate Čebren
Regarding the value of the project, Andonov said that the estimated value of the investment is one billion euros. Prices that have been the subject of speculation represent old calculations. Because of
Regarding the project’s value of one billion euros, Andonov said that speculations emerging about the cost are based on old prices. With inflation over the past two decades, and especially in 2022, prices of building materials have been rising steadily, he said.
Andonov pointed out that according to calculations based on data published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for 2022, the cost of the new hydropower project was $2,881/kW.
Translated based on the capacity of Čebren and the Orlov Kamen hydroelectric power station, the investment is estimated at 1 billion euros, Andonov said.
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