April 3 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is looking for a consultant to assist Macedonia's government in preparing a conceptual design for the development of its hydropower sector.
The consultancy company or group of companies will elaborate the plan for the country's best hydropower development option from an environmental, social, economic and financial perspective, EBRD said in a procurement notice, published on Friday.
The assignment is envisaged to total 150,000 euro ($159,840) and will be financed by the EBSF, EBRD's shareholder special fund.
The consultant is expected to identify the most suitable hydropower development option including both upgrading and green field investments in order to meet the 2025-2030 Renewable Energy Action Plan (REAP) objectives as alternative to the Lukovo Pole and Boskov Most HPPs. Lukovo Pole and Boskov Most HPPs have appeared to be challenging from an environmental point of view due to their location in Mavrovo National Park and could not meet requirements of international financing institutions.
Afterwards the consultant has to prepare conceptual design for the preferred scenario.
The company or group of companies to be contracted will participate in kick-off meetings with the ministries in charge of energy, environment and finance and will then collect and review documents related to the country's and regional energy sector, the environment, the project's expected social impact and financial capacity.
Meeting the 2025-2030 REAP objectives could require rehabilitation or modification of existing schemes, equipment of existing hydraulic structures with turbines, new hydropower schemes with or without regulation capacity, or new pumped storage schemes, the EBRD said. After collecting and reviewing the documentation, the consultancy company will identify the various hydropower development options and will rank them for their strategic fit, basin scale approach, environmental and social impacts, technical challenges or uncertainties and financial viability. The objective is to identify two preferred options which then have to be checked through geological investigation, hydrological monitoring, biodiversity surveys and other field works. Finally the consultant has to prepare a conceptual design for the retained option.
The assignment is expected to start in May and to be completed within twelve months, the bank said.
Interested firms or groups of firms are invited to submit expressions of interest until April 28.
Hydroelectric production represents only around 20% of the total electricity production of Macedonia, despite the country's relatively abundant water resources given its small size.
($ = 0.9384 euro)